Tarzan of the Apes Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Tarzan of the Apes Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 15, 2022

Note: This film is available as part of The Tarzan Vault Collection.

According to several online data aggregators, as well as the vaunted Guinness Book of World Records, Sherlock Holmes is the fictional character who has been portrayed the most times on stage and screen. Perhaps surprisingly, and admittedly probably not authoritatively since I was only able to find a few "Top 10" lists of literary characters matriculating to the movies and/or television, Tarzan doesn't even seem to be anywhere near the head of any list, which seems positively unusual given the plethora of movie and television outings featuring the character, though I did find one site that had the character in the Number 4 position. Many folks probably almost automatically default to thinking of Johnny Weissmuller as the character, since he was so memorable in the role starting with 1932's Tarzan the Ape Man, and also because the Weissmuller Tarzan films have long been such a staple of television broadcasts where generations have literally grown up watching them. But of course other fans will have a whole glut of alternatives to choose from in terms of a "favorite Tarzan", and this new set from The Film Detective kind of ironically follows in the footsteps of the label's The Sherlock Holmes Vault Collection in providing some early examples of film adaptations of a legendary literary character, including the first ever feature film to present Edgar Rice Burroughs' legendary tale.

If Johnny Weissmuller can be the "default Tarzan" for at least some viewers, he wasn't the first, and in fact as is discussed in some of the supplements on this release, he wasn't even the first choice for the film series he famously starred in. The first feature film adaptation of Burroughs' tale came along in 1918, some six years after Edgar Rice Burroughs thrilled readers with his novel. For the hordes of fans who have watched and loved the countless other Tarzan films but who have yet to see this early silent, the good news is that the film actually hews quite closely to Burroughs' source tome, and in fact in some ways it may be the most "accurate" accounting of the overall storyline, at least in terms of picking up the major plot points from Burroughs and without the accretion of many additional "improvements".

John Clayton, Lord Greystoke (True Boardman) and his wife Alice, Lady Greystoke (Kathleen Kirkham) are passengers on a ship bound for Africa when mutiny breaks out. Their mission to stamp out human trafficking is ironically turned on its head when a kindly sailor named Binns (George B. French) rescues them from certain doom, with the pair being deposited in an apparently deserted jungle, while Binns then endures being slave traded himself, something that keeps him from immediately going for help. (Binns is one addition to the original story.)

Of course fans of this timeless tale will know the broad outlines of the rest of the story, which at least in dribs and drabs has shown up innumerable times in other Tarzan outings. The Greystokes aren't long for the world, and their newborn son (played as a young boy by a rather remarkable child actor named Gordon Griffith) is raised by apes, including his mother figure, Kala. Years later, Binns is able to bring an expedition back to search for the Greystokes, and that's where Professor Porter (Thomas Jefferson, and, no, not that one) and his lovely daughter Jane (Enid Markey) play into things. By this time, Tarzan has grown into a rather beefy adult played by Elmo Lincoln, who of course has gone down in history as the first (adult) actor to portray the character.

The narrative here is occasionally a little clunky, but the through line is always clear, and while a silent film can't provide the sonic "color" of the jungle, Louisiana locations actually suffice surprisingly well. There are undeniable vestiges of probably inherently racist attitudes that were probably more prevalent in those days, at least in terms of the depictions of "natives", but there's also a kind of sweet naïveté that actually shows up recurrently in many later Tarzan films as well.

Tarzan of the Apes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tarzan of the Apes is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Film Detective with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. Both of the Elmo Williams films in this set bear a closing credit of Archival Classic with a copyright date of 2009 assigned to Independent International Pictures, which may suggest these transfers, or at least the masters, were done some time ago. The historical nature of this relatively early silent probably outweighs any qualms about quality, but this is often pretty shoddy looking, with a lot of damage, albeit none of the emulsion blight that I've seen in other silent curios from this era. Instead, there's everything from manifest scratches and nicks, to warped frames, image instability (especially noticeable in intertitles), and inconsistent contrast. Large portions of the film look positively blurry (something that is also quite noticeable on printed intertitles but extends to the rest of the presentation), something that may contribute to grain looking more like haze or smoke at times. Things tend to improve around the 2/3 mark, where suddenly black acquire new depth and damage lessens, but one way or the other this is far from an optimal video presentation.

Tarzan of the Apes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tarzan of the Apes features DTS 2.0 Mono* and Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono renderings of the apparently archival orchestral score accompanying this silent film. My ears could frankly not distinguish much of a difference between these two tracks, both of which sound pretty narrow, thin and boxy, something that can be especially apparent when those "jungle drums" are beating and there's relatively little energy in either the midrange or low end. Some of the more classically oriented string cues sound considerably better, if a bit brash. There's noticeable background hiss and occasional pops.

*Kind of interestingly, and I think maybe for the first time in my reviewing life, all of my players show this as a DTS track, while BD Info stated DTS-HD Master Audio, but there sure wasn't that "bump" from lossy to lossless that typically accompanies toggling between tracks, which I did.

Tarzan of the Apes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Film Detective has packaged Tarzan of the Apes and Adventures of Tarzan on one disc, and that disc has the following supplements:

• Law of the Jungle: The Cinematic Adventures of Herman Brix (HD; 27:52) is a great archival interview with Herman Brix, who later changed his name to Bruce Bennett to try to escape being thought of as Tarzan. Brix gives quite a bit of biographical background, including the little trivia factoid that he was supposed to be the star of what became the Weissmuller franchise, but broke his shoulder appearing in a football film, which took him out of the running, for a while, at least.


• Adventures of Tarzan Commentary with Ed Hulse

Tarzan of the Apes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This first Tarzan film hits most of the major plot points, and it's cool to see so much of the story devoted to "young Tarzan". "Old Tarzan" may strike some as a bit on the "Dad bod" side, at least compared to some of the buffer guys who later played the role. Some of the depictions of the natives will also probably rub more PC types the wrong way. Technical merits are pretty iffy, but both the commentary and Brix featurette are really interesting, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.