Tarzan The Ape Man is still an exciting adventure film even to today's more sophisticated eyes. Hamilton's interested in her, but when white jungle man Tarzan rescues O'Sullivan, Hamilton doesn't have a prayer. A lot of loose ivory to be picked up there without the danger of actually trying to kill the beasts. This was one of four films directed by her husband, essentially a showcase for Bo's naked body. Aubrey Smith and she finds that Smith and his partner Neil Hamilton are planning an expedition into some unexplored territory in search of the fabled elephant's graveyard. Bo Derek, the wife of director/cinematographer John Derek (30 years older than she was) - after her prominent appearance in Blake Edwards' comedy 10 (1979), appeared with top-billing as the producer of the R-rated redo Tarzan, The Ape Man (1981). Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane Parker comes to Africa to visit her father C. But quite frankly who cared when they saw him in a loin cloth. Later on he did become a competent enough actor. It's also obvious that Weissmuller couldn't act at all which was why he was only given grunts and dialog of one and two words. They never got further to Africa than Toluca Lake in the shooting.
It's fairly obvious that when you see shots of Neil Hamilton and Maureen O'Sullivan they're shot against a background of real natives. With tons of footage left over from MGM's African location film of Trader Horn, Tarzan The Ape Man had all the background needed to make the film look good. He kept Weissmuller's dialog to grunts, guttural jungle utterings, and a few choice words that Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane teaches her new jungle man toy. Mayer was nothing if not cautious in protecting an investment in a non-actor to be a lead in a major film. The records he set in the Olympics stood for many years, with today's athlete conditioning methods I can only speculate what he could do today if he were alive and in his prime. In the Roaring Twenties when each sport seemed to have an icon that became a legend, Weissmuller was that for swimming. A trader and his daughter set off in search of the fabled graveyard of the elephants in deepest Africa, only to encounter a wild man raised by apes. The fuss over swimming champion Michael Phelps is nothing compared to what Johnny Weissmuller's celebrity was like. With Johnny Weissmuller, Neil Hamilton, C.
As if no one in America, let alone the movie going public didn't know who Johnny Weissmuller was. Tarzan, the Ape Man Genres: Adult / Adventure Year: 1981 Language : English Director: John Derek Cast: Bo Derek / Richard Harris / Miles OKeeffe / John Phillip Law / Akushula Selayah / Steve Strong / Maxime Philoe / Leonard Bailey / Wilfrid Hyde-White / Laurie Main / Harold Ayer Storyline : The Tarzan story from Janes point of view. I hadn't seen Johnny Weissmuller's debut film Tarzan The Ape Man for many years so I was struck by the fact that Neil Hamilton and Maureen O'Sullivan got first billing with Weissmuller down the opening credits in an 'introducing' category.