Tarzan of the Apes (1918)

Good idea lost in the noise

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The 1918 version of TARZAN OF THE APES came out just six years after the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel debuted. Seen today, it stands up pretty well, feeling obviously dated but at the same time sticking close to the plot of the original novel, closer than some adaptations that have come since. All of the correct plot ingredients are present and correct and if it's not as lavishly mounted as later instalments, well that's understandable. The interaction with chimps and the like are handled particularly well, and overall despite the creakiness this has a feeling of authenticity.

I've always enjoyed Tarzan and his infinite incarnations, but this silent work has made me an official Tarzan fan. It's current running time doesn't really allow for the whole story to be told and it leaves you wanting more. Some have complained about Elmo Lincoln not having the physical appearance of Tarzan, but I COMPLETELY disagree. It's nice to see a great, expressive actor like Elmo looking like an unkempt linebacker instead of the endless thin, clean looking Tarzans we would see in the years to come. Although the entire cast is made up of excellent actors, the real shining star of this film is Gordon Griffith as young Tarzan. The stunts are great and the film is action packed. The sets and location filming in Louisiana make an excellent substitute for the jungles of Africa and the mixture of real animals with costumed ones is used well, even if one or two of the ape costumes look a bit ridiculous. My biggest, if only complaint, is the soundtrack. Although the sound effects were nice touches, the actual "music" sounds closer to the background music of a Commodore 64 game as opposed to a score written for a 1918 feature film. If you have any interest in Tarzan, Burroughs or silent film then this needs to be in your collection

Ever since I started reading Edgar Rice Burroughs' original Tarzan novels, I've been anxious to get my hands on the different interpretations of Jane's "forest god." Well, maybe silent movies aren't my thing, however, like the guy who said he likes to watch silent movies and imagine what it would have taken to create such a picture with the technology they had at the time, I suppose it was interesting. You think they would have had better cutting of the shot with the lion, seeing as it was touted as an actual lion kill. (Hell, just let the camera roll!) But I guess the stuff of legend is mysterious, cryptic, and inspired by what may have been.I cram to understand how somebody can call this "very interesting," but let it be said that I agree wholly with John G. Olson.

...because of his already established reputation as a Hollywood strong man (e.g. his role as the Mighty Man of Valor in the 1916 DW Griffith classic "Intolerance").Also, the image of Tarzan in 1918 was not that of a lithe gymnast like Christopher Lambert in "Greystoke", but of a man powerful enough to wrestle lions. Strength equalled bulk.There's an interesting piece of trivia attached to that movie and Uganda (that's in East Africa) where I'm now based. There's a popular myth around here that the 1918 version of "Tarzan of the Apes" was filmed on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. In fact it was shot, I believe, in Louisiana.