Tarzan the Ape Man

TARZAN THE APE MAN - 1981


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Director

John Derek

Producer

Bo Derek

Story

Edgar Rice Burroughs

Screenplay

Gary Goodard

Stunt Coordinator

Jock Mahoney

MAIN CAST

Tarzan

Miles O'Keefe

Jane

Bo Derek

Parker

Richard Harris

Holt

John Phillip Law

Africa

Akushula Selayah

Ivory King

Steve Strong

Riano

Maxime Philoe

Club members

Wilfred Hyde-White, Laurie
Mains & Harold Ayer

BACKGROUND

• Dark and handsome matinee idol, John Derek (left), turned to directing after a series of indifferent roles in the 1950s. He took advantage of the opportunity presented by his succession of attractive, but icy, actress-wives to produce a string of weak, unmemorable films. His second wife, Ursula Andress appeared in Once Before I Die (1965), more

memorable for the inclusion of TV Tarzan, Ron Ely. His third wife, Linda Evans, appeared in the forgettable Childish Things (1969). Derek finally hit pay dirt in 1973 when he discovered a beautiful 16-year-old CaIifornian girl named Mary Cathleen Collins who, as Bo Derek, eventually became his fourth wife. The Dereks' less-than-brilliant idea to remake, yet again, the original Weissmuller Tarzan film as a dismal, self-indulgent vehicle for Bo downgraded the entire series. It inspired Leonard Maltin's "Movie and Video Guide" to comment that this film "nearly forced the editors of this book to devise a rating lower than BOMB". The Net is full of comments by not-too-bright males salivating over Bo's frequent nudity, but the reviewer who said this film is "about as erotic as a Shirley temple musical" was closer to the mark. Bo's acting skills consist of putting her thumb-nail to her bottom lip to convey terror, confusion, panic and (eek!) sexual arousal. Not surprisingly, they all appear identical. Richard Harris behaves as if he soon realised that this turkey would never fly and gives an excruciatingly-bad, over-the-top performance. Miles O'Keefe, who grunts a few times and never speaks, has the best lines in the film. (Fury & IMDB)

APE CRY
• To hear the ape cry used in this film click on the image at right

PLOT - Note: Spoiler warning
• A 1980's beach babe, Jane, is mysteriously transplanted to 1910 Sri Lanka to work on her all-over tan. She hires a boat to find her estranged father and manages to skinny-dip on route. She joins her father, James Parker, an endearing deranged egomaniac who yells a lot, and his grinning assistant, Holt, in a search for the elephants' burial ground (above). Naturally, she decides to get naked and go for a swim instead. Jane is abducted by a mute male model who lives with primates from different continents and after he has inspected her mysterious bosom (left) they stare at each other a bit. The party is abducted by natives who live in a fun park with some topless Hollywood hopefuls and their chief, a rock-and-roll wrestler. The bimbo manages to get naked again and they are rescued by the male model. The credits roll and Jane gets naked again in case you missed it the other three times. The end (purrlease).

MOVING PICTURES

Click on the image below to view the trailer for this film:

LOBBY CARDS

Click on the image below to view a complete collection of Spanish lobby cards for this film:

SOURCES
• Kings of the Jungle by David Fury, 1994, McFarland Classics
• IMDb's (Internet Movie Database) John Derek biography
PHOTOS
• The movie poster for this film was pilfered from a Heritage Auctions item
• The photo of John Derek is from The Movie, Orbis Publishing Ltd, GB, 1982
• Both photos are screenshots from the DVD of this film, Warner Home Video Inc. 1981
• The video of the trailer was uploaded to Youtube by me specifically to embed in this web page
LYNX
• To read three pretty funny reviews of this disgustingly bad film click here
• For those with a strong stomach - The Official Bo Derek Site
CAPTURE
• Bag yourself a copy of this film on DVD at Amazon.com or eBay

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