A bit of trivia about Tarzan and me
My depression and rage over the Orlando shooting are still with me, but I thought it was time for something different here.
Saturday night, I saw a long preview for the upcoming Tarzan movie. It reminded me of this bit of trivia, which I've never shared publicly.
When I was a kid, I would get up early on Saturday morning, turn on the TV, tune to our UHF channel, and hope to catch a Tarzan movie. They played many Saturdays between 5:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. When I was lucky, one would be on before I had to go outside to start mowing lawns. I loved those movies and watched them over and over.
Johnny Weismuller was my favorite Tarzan. I particularly loved his Tarzan yell.
I've always wanted to be able to make that sound, but I've never even come close. Some film lore claims that the call was an artificial one that a sound department made, but a lot of folks insist Weismuller could make the yell himself--and that he did so at random times for many years to come.
I expect I will never be able to make that yell, but I will always dream of doing so, and I will always love it.
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2 comments:
I'd have to agree with you Weismuller was probably the best Tarzan.
Not sure how well the film will do, most Tarzan films have been poor and the last ERB based film John Carter of Mars didn't do well. Don't know why I really enjoyed it.
I've since reread the John Carter books and they're still a good read if a little dated and a bit formulaic.
ERB certainly did create good story concepts, you just need to look at those which have been turned into firms:
Tarzan
John Carter
At the Earths Core
The Land that Time Forgot.
Unfortunatley in most cases when turned to films they were toned down for violence and lost a bit of their rdge.
Here is the supposed "history" of the Tarzan yell, and it does support his claim.
http://www.erbzine.com/mag14/1482.html
I, too, used to watch this on Saturday morning tv. You have to love a man in a loincloth swinging from the trees.lol
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