Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981)

Tarzan, the Ape Man is a 1981 American adventure film directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek, Miles O'Keeffe, Richard H...

Tarzan, the Ape Man is a 1981 American adventure film directed by John Derek and starring Bo Derek, Miles O'Keeffe, Richard Harris, and John Phillip Law. The screenplay by Tom Rowe and Gary Goddard is loosely based on the 1912 novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but from the point of view of Jane Parker. {full_page}

The original music score is composed by Perry Botkin Jr. Former Tarzan actor Jock Mahoney (billed as Jack O'Mahoney) was the film's stunt coordinator. The film is marketed with the tagline Unlike any other "Tarzan" you've ever seen! The original actor cast in the Tarzan role was fired (or quit) early in production, resulting in the sudden casting of his stunt double, Miles O'Keeffe, in the title role

  

The film was panned by critics, and in some circles has been considered to be one of the worst films ever made. Despite this, it was a box-office success, grossing $36.5 against a $6.5 million budget.

James Parker is a hunter in Africa, searching for a mythical "white ape". He is joined by his estranged daughter, Jane, after her mother's death. They discover the "white ape" is actually Tarzan, an uncivilized white man raised by apes living in the jungle. James continues to pursue Tarzan with the purpose of capturing him, dead or alive, and bringing him back to England.

Realizing that James is on his trail, Tarzan kidnaps Jane. Jane and Tarzan become fascinated by each other.

Jane is then kidnapped by natives who intend to make her the wife of the tribe leader, forcing Tarzan into action.

Jane is then kidnapped by natives who intend to make her the wife of the tribe leader, forcing Tarzan into action. James is killed by the Ivory King, the huge brutish ruler of the tribe, and the natives remove Jane's clothes and tie her up. They wash her naked body in plain view, laughing at her shocked, humiliated protests, and then smear her with paint.

Tarzan arrives and kills the Ivory King in single combat by breaking his neck, then performs the Tarzan yell before rescuing Jane. The final scene shows Tarzan and Jane making love and interacting with the animals peacefully.

Cast

Bo Derek as Jane Parker, James' daughter and Tarzan's lover 

Richard Harris as James Parker, Jane's father 

John Phillip Law as Harry Holt 

Miles O'Keeffe as Tarzan, Jane's lover 

Steven Strong as Ivory King, the tribe leader 

Maxime Philoe as Riano 

Leonard Bailey as Feathers 

C.J. the Orangutan as Orangutan

Bo Derek was extremely popular at the time due to her appearance in 10. After making A Change of Seasons, she was meant to appear in High Road to China but pulled out of the film saying she wanted to be directed only by her husband John.  In February 1980, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced the studio was making a Tarzan film with the Dereks. Warner Bros. complained, as that studio was also developing a Tarzan film with Robert Towne called Greystoke and they had the rights to the character from the Burroughs estate. MGM argued the Derek film would be the second remake of their 1932 film Tarzan the Ape Man which they had the right to do, having released the first remake in 1959. The Burroughs estate sued MGM.

In a 2012 interview with the film history magazine Filmfax, co-writer Gary Goddard revealed that he had originally been commissioned to write a screenplay for Bo Derek based upon the Marvel Comics superheroine, Dazzler; a 30-page treatment was completed before the project was canceled and work instead proceeded on Tarzan, The Ape Man which initially carried the working title Me, Jane reflecting its focus on Jane Porter as a showcase for Derek.  Goddard, who became better known for his work in theme parks, said he wrote the script in two weeks.

Filming took place in Sri Lanka in February 1981.  The original Tarzan was Lee Canahalin. He injured his knee in 1980 meaning he was reliant on his stuntman. His stuntman had to undergo an emergency appendectomy when filming started. This resulted in Canahalin being replaced by Miles O'Keeffe.  Richard Harris enjoyed working with the Dereks; Bo had played a supporting role in his movie Orca, four years prior to Tarzan.

 

Origin Wikipedia......