This week I reviewed Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs which I found to remain an exciting adventure story as I remembered from childhood. Art by Boris Vallejo 1 ) Burroughs wrote 25 sequels to Tarzan of the Apes, there are also three authorized books by other authors. 2 ) Burroughs sold the film rights for his novel, Tarzan of the Apes for $5,000 in cash advance (a record at the time) and 5% of gross receipts. 3 ) The 1918 version of Tarzan of the Apes, a silent film starring Elmo Lincoln, was the first movie ever to gross a million dollars. 4 ) There were three more silent Tarzan films, the last one starred Frank Merrill as our hero. Merrill was an acrobat and the studio worked his skills into the script, since then Tarzan swinging on vines (never in the books) through the trees has been seared into the public’s mind. 5 ) Many people know that the most famous actor to portray Tarzan, Johnny Weissmüller, was an Olympic record holder swimmer (winning 5 gold medal and 1 bronze), however, many don’t know is that he was also a yodeling champion and came up with…
