Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981 film)
Tarzan, the Ape Man | |
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Directed by | John Derek |
Written by |
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Based on | Tarzan of the Apes 1912 novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs |
Produced by | Bo Derek |
Starring |
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Cinematography |
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Edited by | Jimmy Ling |
Music by | Perry Botkin Jr. |
Color process | Metrocolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | United Artists (North America) Cinema International Corporation (international) |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $6.5 million[1] or $8 million[2] |
Box office | $36.5 million[1] |
Tarzan, the Ape Man is a 1981 American adventure film directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek, Miles O'Keeffe, Richard Harris, and John Phillip Law. The screenplay by Tom Rowe and Gary Goddard[3] is loosely based on the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but from the point of view of Jane Parker.
The original music score is composed by Perry Botkin Jr. Former Tarzan actor Jock Mahoney (billed as Jack O'Mahoney) was the film's stunt coordinator. The film is marketed with the tagline "Unlike any other 'Tarzan' you've ever seen!" The original actor cast in the Tarzan role was fired (or quit) early in production, resulting in the sudden casting of his stunt double, Miles O'Keeffe, in the title role. The film was panned by critics and fans of the books for its storyline, acting and R-rating, and in some circles has been considered to be one of the worst films ever made. Despite this, it was a box-office success, grossing $36.5 against a $6.5 million budget.
Plot
[edit]In 1910, Jane Parker (Bo Derek) travels to West Africa seeking adventurer James Parker (Richard Harris), the father she has never known. She pays for passage on a small boat, but when drunken sailors break into her cabin, she shoots at them and subsequently sails to Parker's camp on a supply boat. Parker is stunned when Jane steps off the boat, noting she looks exactly like her mother, Elizabeth. Harry Holt (John Philip Law), the expedition photographer, is surprised to learn Parker has a daughter and insists Jane take his tent. Holt also introduces Jane to her father's mistress, a native woman Parker calls "Africa" (Akushula Selayah).
That night, Jane dines with Parker and informs him that her mother recently died, leaving Jane a wealthy heiress. She hates her father for leaving shortly after her birth and only knows him through newspaper clippings of his adventures. Parker insists he loved them and still carries a photograph of his wife and baby daughter.
In the morning, Jane learns that her father is searching for the legendary elephant graveyard, and declares she is joining the expedition over Parker's objections. Jane is adamant, so Parker gives her a pistol, and they set off into the jungle. Later, they reach a mountain of rock that must be scaled. As they camp for the night, Parker announces Jane must return to base camp in the morning and report on his "remarkable" progress. That evening, they hear someone yell and Parker claims it is the legendary Tarzan (Miles O'Keeffe), a gigantic white man who might be half ape. The native porters are frightened of Tarzan and do not want to continue, so Parker offers more money. When Tarzan yells again, Parker orders Africa to shame the workers by telling them she is not afraid to continue.
The next day, Jane announces she is climbing the mountain, too, despite her father's protests. The rope wears thin as each person scales the mountain face, and as the last worker climbs, the rope breaks and the man falls to his death. Later, Parker shows Jane a map he found in a Cairo, Egypt, museum revealing the route taken by an Egyptian expedition 1,000 years ago to a graveyard of ivory near an inland sea. Jane is doubtful, but as they continue to hike through a river, Parker hears the sound of waves.
The group runs through the jungle and onto the beach of the inland sea. While the others continue on their trek, Jane insists on bathing alone, and plans to meet them at the campsite. After bathing, a lion runs onto the beach, and she dives back into the water. The lion watches her until Tarzan yells, and runs onto the beach to pet the animal. When a large wave washes over Jane, Tarzan attempts to save her, but she thinks he is attacking and tries to escape. Moments later, a shot scares the lion away and a second shot drives Tarzan away as Parker and Holt arrive to rescue Jane.
As they camp that night, Parker insists the "ape" desires Jane. Parker plans to kill Tarzan and hang his stuffed body as a trophy. However, Jane declares Tarzan is a man, and she knows he did not want to hurt her. As they journey through the jungle, the expedition is unaware that members of an unfriendly tribe follow them. Africa is abducted by the savage tribe, but Parker mistakenly thinks Tarzan kidnapped her and it fuels his desire to kill the ape man.
As they continue through the jungle, Jane stops at the river to fill her canteen and Parker orders Holt to watch her. However, Holt turns his back for a second and Tarzan pulls Jane under the water and they disappear. He carries her through the jungle, swinging on vines. When they stop, Jane fires her gun as a warning, and Tarzan runs away.
Jane maneuvers through the jungle and hears a shot fired in the distance as Parker and Holt try to locate her. She fires in response and leans against a tree to wait for them. However, an enormous snake wraps itself around her and she falls into the water while struggling to escape. Tarzan swings to the rescue, battles the snake, and carries Jane off. He swings her through the jungle until he cannot move anymore, then drops to the ground, unconscious. Chimpanzees and an orangutan surround their friend, and an elephant lifts Tarzan with its tusks and carries him to a nearby river. Jane follows and rips a piece off her skirt, wets the cloth and bathes Tarzan. When Tarzan awakens, Jane realizes he does not understand what she is saying. The humans and monkeys swim together and when it gets dark, Tarzan takes Jane to his bower in the trees where they sleep. In the morning as they bathe, Tarzan is intrigued by Jane's bare breasts. Although he cannot understand her, Jane confides that she is still a virgin and assumes he is one, too.
Meanwhile, Parker, Holt and a guide lead separate search parties looking for Jane. Unknown to Parker and Holt, the guide's group is captured by the evil tribe. Later, Parker and Holt meet on the beach. Jane tracks the search parties' shots and runs onto the sand, followed by Tarzan. Parker aims his rifle, but Jane tells him not to shoot, and Tarzan escapes into the trees. As Jane reveals that Tarzan did not abduct Africa, the evil tribe surrounds them. They kill the native workers and kidnap Jane, Parker and Holt, taking them by canoe to the village of the "Ivory King."
Parker and Holt are tied up, while Jane is stripped, bathed and painted white from head to toe in preparation for being raped by the Ivory King. However, Tarzan leads a pack of elephants toward the camp and kills the guards. As the king moves toward Jane, Parker frees himself and attacks. The king knocks Parker aside and spears him with an elephant tusk. Tarzan's yell announces his arrival as he swings into camp and fights the king. The other tribesmen do not intervene, but allow the two to battle until Tarzan snaps the king's neck. Jane rushes to her dying father's side and they admit their mutual love. Jane asks Holt to tell the world of her father's success, then leaves to live with Tarzan in the jungle.
Cast
[edit]- Bo Derek as Jane Parker, James' daughter and Tarzan's lover.
- Richard Harris as James Parker, Jane's father.
- John Phillip Law as Harry Holt
- Miles O'Keeffe as Tarzan, Jane's lover.
- Steven Strong as Ivory King, the tribe leader.
- Maxime Philoe as Riano
- Leonard Bailey as Feathers
- C.J. the Orangutan as Orangutan
Production
[edit]Bo Derek was extremely popular at the time due to her appearance in 10. After making A Change of Seasons, she was meant to appear in High Road to China but pulled out of the film saying she wanted to be directed only by her husband John.[4]
In February 1980, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced the studio was making a Tarzan film with the Dereks. Warner Bros. complained, as that studio was also developing a Tarzan film with Robert Towne called Greystoke and they had the rights to the character from the Burroughs estate. MGM argued the Derek film would be the second remake of their 1932 film Tarzan the Ape Man which they had the right to do, having released the first remake in 1959.[5] The Burroughs estate sued MGM.[6]
Development
[edit]In a 2012 interview with the film history magazine Filmfax, co-writer Gary Goddard revealed that he had originally been commissioned to write a screenplay for Bo Derek based upon the Marvel Comics superheroine, Dazzler; a 30-page treatment was completed before the project was canceled and work instead proceeded on Tarzan, The Ape Man which initially carried the working title Me, Jane reflecting its focus on Jane Porter as a showcase for Derek.[3]
Goddard, who became better known for his work in theme parks, said he wrote the script in two weeks.[7]
Shooting
[edit]Filming took place in Sri Lanka in February 1981.[8]
The original Tarzan was Lee Canalito.[9] He injured his knee in 1980 meaning he was reliant on his stuntman. His stuntman had to undergo an emergency appendectomy when filming started. This resulted in Canalito being replaced by Miles O'Keeffe.[10] However, there was another version which says that Lee Canalito was replaced by Miles O'Keefe because Bo Derek said that "Lee was too fat. There was too much jiggling on him when we saw the first rushes".[11]
Richard Harris enjoyed working with the Dereks; Bo had played a supporting role in his movie Orca, four years prior to Tarzan.[12]
Reception
[edit]The film was widely panned upon its release. Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin considers Tarzan, the Ape Man one of the worst films ever; in his popular Leonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide, he wrote: "Deranged 'remake' lacks action, humor and charm...Forget about comparisons to Johnny Weissmuller; O'Keefe makes Elmo Lincoln seem like Edwin Booth...Should you feel an earthquake while watching this picture, chances are it's Edgar Rice Burroughs reeling in his grave." Leslie Halliwell described Tarzan, the Ape Man as "certainly the worst of the Tarzan movies and possibly the most banal film so far made; even the animals give poor performances."[13] In a discussion of Tarzan films, Thomas S. Hischak was also negative: "Produced and directed without a shred of talent by John Derek, Tarzan, the Ape Man often ranks high in the lists of the worst movies ever made."[14]
The sexual innuendos provoked laughter and the Hollywood trade publication The Hollywood Reporter called the film "ludicrous" with "stilted dialogue and ridiculous situations" and labeled the final scene, in which Jane and an orangutan are involved in what "looks like sexual foreplay" as "almost pornographic." The scene was subject to much argument and controversy. The heirs to Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs sued John Derek's Svengali Productions and distributor MGM, and a judge ordered the four-minute-long final scene to be cut to less than one minute.[15]
Critic Roger Ebert offered a somewhat more positive review of Tarzan, the Ape Man, awarding it two and a half stars out of a possible four. According to Ebert, the film was "completely ridiculous, but at the same time it has a certain disarming charm." Ebert thought Harris's talents were completely wasted and the film's dramatic peak was "incomprehensible," yet he praised the forthright depiction of the sexual passion and tension between Tarzan and Jane, which had more typically been downplayed in film adaptations of the characters: "The Tarzan-Jane scenes strike a blow for noble savages, for innocent lust, for animal magnetism, and, indeed, for soft-core porn, which is ever so much sexier than the hard-core variety."[16]
Reviewing Tarzan, the Ape Man retrospectively for The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, John Grant commented that the film "is widely regarded as the direst of the Tarzan movies, but it has enough good bits (including some spectacular photography and moments of exquisite wrongness) that, if cut by about 40 minutes, it would be highly regarded. As it is, it leaves a nasty taste: its intention seems to be to appeal to those who find eroticism in the sexual humiliation of women."[17] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 10% based on two positive and 19 negative critic reviews.[18]
Box office
[edit]Despite its negative reviews, the film was a success at the box office. During its opening weekend, it was the highest-grossing film in the U.S. with receipts of $6,700,809.[19][20] It grossed a total of $36,565,280 in the United States and Canada.[21]
Awards and nominations
[edit]Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result | Ref. |
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Golden Raspberry Awards | March 29, 1982 | Worst Picture | Tarzan, the Ape Man (MGM, United Artists) | Nominated | [22] |
Worst Director | John Derek | Nominated | |||
Worst Actor | Richard Harris | Nominated | |||
Worst Actress | Bo Derek | Won | |||
Worst New Star | Miles O'Keeffe | Nominated | |||
Worst Screenplay | Tarzan, the Ape Man – Tom Roew and Gary Goddard | Nominated | |||
Jupiter Award | 1982 | Best International Actress | Bo Derek | Nominated | |
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards | 1982 | Worst Picture | Tarzan, the Ape Man (MGM, United Artists) | Won | [23] |
2007 (expanded ballot) | Nominated | [24] | |||
Worst Director | John Derek | Nominated | |||
Worst Actress | Bo Derek | Nominated | |||
Worst Screenplay | Tarzan, the Ape Man (MGM, United Artists) | Nominated | |||
Worst Remake | Won |
DVD
[edit]Tarzan, the Ape Man was released to DVD by Warner Home Video on June 8, 2004, as a Region 1 widescreen DVD.
In popular media
[edit]The Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure references this movie in chapter 265, the final chapter of the manga's third part, Stardust Crusaders. Jōtarō Kūjō tests his grandfather Joseph Joestar with trivia questions, including "Who's the female lead in the 1981 film, Tarzan, the Ape Man?", which Joseph correctly answers with "Bo Derek". This scene is also featured in the last episode of the second season of the manga's 2012 anime adaptation.[citation needed]
Cancelled sequel
[edit]Gary Goddard said he was going to write more films for the Dereks including one called Pirate Annie.[7] However, financing for Annie was withdrawn when the studio, CBS, read the script and were unhappy with what they considered too small a role for Bo Derek.[25]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Harmetz, Aljean (September 9, 1981). "Hollywood is Joyous Over Its Record Grossing Summer". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
- ^ Boyer, Peter J; Pollock, Dale (March 28, 1982). "MGM-UA And the Big Debt". Los Angeles Times. p. L 1.
- ^ a b Moore, David J. (Summer 2012), "Me, Jane!", Filmfax (131): 63–64
- ^ "Bo Takes High Road to Play Tarzan's Jane: Movie News". Los Angeles Times. February 19, 1980. p. G 1.
- ^ Aljean Harmetz (February 22, 1980). "M-G-M Buys Rights to 'Whose Life Is It Anyway?': 'Teeming Melting Pot' Legal Problems Possible". New York Times. p. C 9.
- ^ "Tarzan the Apeman, MGM Are Swinging Into Legal Troubles: Descendants of Book's Author Sue to Prevent Remake With Bo Derek as Jane". Wall Street Journal. May 16, 1980. p. 48.
- ^ a b Hawn, Jack. (July 25, 1981). "'Tarzan' Publicity a Blessing for Some". Los Angeles Times. p. B 10.
- ^ "Bo is Star, Producer of 'Tarzan'". Boston Globe. February 6, 1981. p. 1.
- ^ Daly, Maggie (July 15, 1980). "Bo brings sexy peel to jungle Jane role". Chicago Tribune. p. D 6.
- ^ Pollock, Dale (February 25, 1981). "Film Clips: Show-Biz Segue: From Agent to Studio Chief". Los Angeles Times. p. H 1.
- ^ "Panorama" newspaper; 12/10/1981; Page 11
- ^ Mann, Roderick. (April 19, 1981). "Movies: Harris: The Once and Present King". Los Angeles Times. p. L 15.
- ^ "Leslie Halliwell, John Walker, Halliwell's Film Guide. HarperPerennial, 1996 (p. 1119)".
- ^ Thomas S. Hischak, |American Literature on Stage and Screen: 525 Works and Their Adaptations McFarland, 2012. ISBN 0786492791 (p. 237).
- ^ Panorama newspaper; 12/10/1981; Page 11
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "Tarzan, The Ape Man Movie Review (1981) – Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com.
- ^ Clute, John and Grant, John. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy London: Orbit Books, 1997. ISBN 978-1-85723-368-1, entry under "Tarzan Movies".
- ^ "Tarzan, the Ape Man". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
- ^ "Weekend Domestic Chart for July 24, 1981". The Numbers. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ^ Ginsberg, Steven (July 27, 1981). "Derek Keeps Miles O'Keefe Silent, Off Publicity Vine". Daily Variety. p. 22.
- ^ "Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) – Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com.
- ^ "IMDb: Razzie Awards: 1982". IMDb. Archived from the original on March 7, 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
- ^ "Past Winners Database". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
- ^ "STINKERS BALLOT EXPANSION PROJECT: 1981". The Stinkers. Archived from the original on May 4, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
- ^ Boyer, Peter J. (November 6, 1981). "Film Clips: A Little Bo Peep vs. a Lot Film Clips: Too Little Bo Peep?". Los Angeles Times. p. H 1.
External links
[edit]- 1981 films
- 1980s fantasy adventure films
- American fantasy adventure films
- American satirical films
- 1980s English-language films
- Films directed by John Derek
- Films scored by Perry Botkin Jr.
- Films set in the 1910s
- Films set in 1910
- Films set in Africa
- Films shot in Seychelles
- Films shot in Sri Lanka
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
- American sexploitation films
- Tarzan films
- Golden Raspberry Award winning films
- 1980s American films
- English-language fantasy adventure films
- Stinkers Bad Movie Award winning films