Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) on Netflix
James Parker and Harry Holt journey through Africa after a fabled elephant graveyard and its ivory. Parker's daughter Jane joins the expedition unexpectedly, and Tarzan carries her off.
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Trailer
Plot summary
James Parker and Harry Holt are in Africa after a fabled elephant graveyard and the ivory buried there. Parker's daughter Jane arrives unexpectedly to join the expedition. Holt is drawn to Jane and tries to shield her from the dangers of the jungle. Hippopotami and crocodiles attack the party. A mysterious man, Tarzan, drives the animals away and then carries Jane off to his ape friends.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- MGM only signed Olympic swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller to play Tarzan after buying him out of his contract to model BVD underwear, agreeing to feature actresses such as Greta Garbo and Marie Dressler in BVD advertisements.
- Because the elephants used were Indian, with smaller ears than African elephants, large fake ears and fake tusks were fitted onto the animals to make them look authentic.
- The tribe of African dwarfs in the film, all of them male, was actually played by several white midgets wearing blackface to make them look like pygmies.
- Lions in the film were borrowed from nearby Goebel's Lion Farm in Thousand Oaks, California, and Goebel himself would often camp by the filming site near Lake Sherwood to watch his lions during filming.
- Stock footage made in Africa for W.S. Van Dyke's earlier film Trader Horn was added to location work shot in the then-undeveloped Toluca Lake region north of Los Angeles.
