• The success of the National
Film Corporation Tarzan pictures soon had other studios competing
for rights to an ape-man property. ERB's contempt for
Bill Parsons persuaded him to accept a deal with Numa Pictures
Corporation to film his second Tarzan novel, The
Return of Tarzan, believing theirs to be the best offer. Numa
Pictures, an offshoot of Artclass Pictures Corporation, which
had a reputation for producing shoddy and cheap products, was
run by the three Weiss brothers, Louis, Max and Adolph. They
approached Elmo Lincoln to star but his commitments with serials
for Universal prevented him from accepting. His replacement
was a tall, stocky, athletic New York fireman named Joseph C
Pohler who had aspirations of being an actor. He was a
giant of a man for the times and stood almost 6 feet 2.5 inches
tall (189 cm) and weighed 215 pounds (97.5 kg). Joe Pohler,
who had no acting experience, was persuaded to change his name
to Gene Pollar and the petite Karla Schramm was cast as Jane.
New York, Florida, and Balboa, California were used for
the location shooting and an orangutan named Joe Martin,
a famous screen ape, an elephant named Charlie and seven lions
were utilised. In April 1920 Numa, seeking a quick profit,
sold the film to Goldwyn Pictures for $100,000. Goldwyn
changed the name to The Revenge of Tarzan believing
that The Return of Tarzan gave the impression it was
a re-release of an earlier Elmo Lincoln picture. In an
interview in the May 1934 edition of Screen Play magazine
ERB had the last word on Pollar's performance as Tarzan - "As
an actor, Gene was a great fireman." (Essoe & Fury)
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PLOT
- Note: Spoiler warning
• The complex plot follows, more or less, that of ERB's
second Tarzan novel, The
Return of Tarzan. Tarzan makes enemies of a pair
of shady Russians, Rokoff and Paulovich, when he rescues the
Count de Coude from a card hustle on board a ship to Paris.
On arrival the villains fail in their attempt to kill
Tarzan using a distressed woman as bait. They then resort
to damaging his reputation by contriving an embarrasing situation
in which the Count discovers Tarzan alone with his wife (right).
Tarzan leaves for North Africa and encounters an attractive
native girl in the desert when she helps save him from an attacking
lion. He makes his way to a port and embarks for Capetown
but on board he is hijacked by the Russians and thrown overboard.
He reaches a tropical island where, coincidentally, Jane,
Rokoff and Paulovich, also arrive following a shipwreck. The
villains argue over possession of Jane and Tarzan must intervene,
saving Jane from a lion in the process. The lovers are
finally peacefully reunited. (Fury) |
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| SOURCES |
• Tarzan of the Movies
by Gabe Essoe, 1968, The Citadel Press
• Kings
of the Jungle by David Fury, 1994, McFarland Classics
• Both photos are from Essoe |
LYNX
• Essay: Five
Tarzans - The Silent Apemen by Gene Popa
• Jerry L Schneider's web page devoted to The
Weiss Brothers & Numa Pictures Corporation
• Essay: Five
Tarzans - The Silent Apemen by Gene Popa
•
Learn much more about this film at Bill Hillman's comprehensive The
Revenge of Tarzan page
CAPTURE
•
There are currently no surviving copies of this film |
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TARZAN®
is the property of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Tarzana CA.
This independent, fan-based analysis of the Tarzan material is copyright
© 2002 Paul Wickham
This page was updated April 2007
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