''Tarzan, the Ape Man'' is a 1959 American action

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

released by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

starring Denny Miller as

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

, Joanna Barnes as Jane, Cesare Danova, and Robert Douglas. The film is loosely based on

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

' novel '' Tarzan of the Apes'', and is a remake of the classic 1932 film of the same name. The film was directed by Joseph M. Newman, and the score was composed by jazz musician Shorty Rogers. MGM would release another

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the film in 1981. MGM reused a fair amount of footage from their 1932 version rather than reshooting, including scenes of Tarzan swinging on vines and the elephants' destruction of a pygmy village. A scene of Tarzan fighting a crocodile was reused from '' Tarzan and His Mate'', the sequel to the 1932 film. Other footage was reused from '' King Solomon's Mines''. Tarzan's distinctive call was also taken from the original version. The "African" elephants in some scenes are clearly Indian ones with some sort of canvas "ears" added, and with the characteristic double humps on the forehead all too obvious. The "jungle" vegetation, from three different continents, an extremely phoney looking rubber mask used for close ups of a roaring leopard and the clumsy back-projection in the "underwater" scenes make it a treat for lovers of the ludicrous.

Plot

The plot of the film reprises that of the 1932 version, with James Parker ( Robert Douglas) Harry Holt ( Cesare Danova) and Parker's daughter Jane ( Joanna Barnes) on an expedition in Africa in which they encounter

( Denny Miller), a wild man raised by apes. Various adventures ensue.

Cast

* Denny Miller as

* Cesare Danova as Harry Holt * Joanna Barnes as Jane Parker * Robert Douglas as Colonel James Parker * Thomas Yangha as Riano (uncredited)

Production

The film was made at the same time as another Tarzan film, '' Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'' produced by Sy Weintraub. MGM had kept the remake rights to the 1932 ''Tarzan the Ape Man'', enabling them to make this film. The rights to the bulk of the Tarzan stories were owned by Weintraub.

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $660,000 in the US and Canada and $1,050,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $92,000.

Musical score and soundtrack

The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

was composed, arranged and conducted by Shorty Rogers and the soundtrack album was released on the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

label in 1960 as ''Shorty Rogers Meets Tarzan''.MGM Album Discography Part 5: E-3601 to E-3800 (1957–1960)
accessed October 3, 2016

Reception

The

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

review by Scott Yanow says "Although there are many short solos, the emphasis is on the dense and frequently exciting ensembles. The music, which is heard here in full-length form (unlike in the movie, where it is often buried behind the action), sounds quite self-sufficient apart from the action".

Track listing

All compositions by Shorty Rogers'' # "The Elephant Walk" – 3:25 # "Les Barbaros" – 1:40 # "Paradise Found" – 3:05 # "Trapped" – 1:55 # "Los Primitivos" – 2:14 # "Oomgawa" – 3:15 # "Tarzanic Suite" – 17:34

Personnel

* Shorty Rogers – flugelhorn, arranger, conductor * Buddy Childers, Don Fagerquist, Ollie Mitchell, Al Porcino –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

* Harry Betts, Frank Rosolino –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

* Bob Enevoldsen – valve trombone * Marshall Cram – bass trombone * Bud Shank –

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

* Bill Perkins – flute,

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

* Bob Cooper –

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

, tenor saxophone * Bill Holman – tenor saxophone * Bill Hood – tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone * Chuck Gentry – baritone saxophone * Pete Jolly –

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

* Buddy Clark, Joe Mondragon – bass * Frank Capp –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Frank Guerrero – timbales * Modesto Durán, Rafael Rosario –

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

* Chacho González – bongos

References

External links

* * *
ERBzine Silver Screen: ''Tarzan, the Ape Man''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarzan the Ape Man (1959 film) 1959 films 1950s action adventure films 1950s fantasy adventure films American action adventure films Remakes of American films Films based on American novels Films directed by Joseph M. Newman Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Tarzan films American fantasy adventure films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films English-language action adventure films English-language fantasy adventure films