This film, The Adventures of Tarzan, was based on two Burroughs works, The Return of Tarzan and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. A new Jane, 16-year-old Louise Lorraine, was hired. She would eventually go on to become the "Queen of the Serials."  The seductress priestess La of the Atlantean city of Opar was played by Lillian Worth.

The jungle was recreated entirely on a studio set with desert scenes shot on location in Arizona.  Lincoln was expected to perform most of his own stunts but, to his displeasure, the film's bonding company refused to allow the star to place himself at risk. Stunt double Frank Merrill also played the role of an Arab guard, experiences that would would serve him well in a few years when he would take over in the starring role of Tarzan the Mighty and Tarzan the Tiger.

Critics and audiences alike were thrilled to see Lincoln return to the role and the film became the fourth biggest money-earner in 1921 -- outearning even Valentino's The Sheik and D.W. Griffith's Dream Street. Even the animal stars Tantor the elephant and Numa the lion became household names. Lincoln's success in the role of Tarzan was a mixed blessing, however, since it typecast him as a wild jungle man and action hero. The starring roles came to an end with the end of the silent era but he reemerged as a successful character actor in Laughton's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Olivier's Carrie, and ironically Tarzan Magic Fountain with Lex Barker..

Our official Elmo Lincoln site is featured in ERBzine0283: My Father: Elmo Lincoln
See more of Elmo's work in Tarzan of the Apes and The Romance of Tarzan
 

• Between Tarzan roles, Elmo Lincoln had starred in three Universal serials: The Flaming Disk, Elmo the Mighty and Elmo the Fearless.
• The scene of Tarzan (Elmo Lincoln) killing the lion was a result of the lion being annoyed at having its tail pulled. Lincoln was forced to fight for his life, and his victory can be viewed in the movie.
• This silent serial was rereleased in 1928 with sound effects in shorter version.
• Film locations: L-KO Studio (Numa backlot jungle) and Universal City Studios backlot ~ California locales and Arizona desert
• The film stuntman, Frank Merrill went on to play the lead roles in Tarzan the Mighty and Tarzan the Tiger
• Bert Wheeler who had a small role in this film went on to star on Broadway and the Ziegfield Follies. He teamed with Robert Woolsey to and together they became major stars in vaudeville, stage, moves and radio.
• Veteran serial director, Robert F. Hill, claimed this serial to be his greatest work.
• Over 3,000 extras, of every nationality, appeared in the film.
• Numa pictures claimed that more time had been given to the production of this film than any serial yet produced.
• A jungle fire sequence filmed at the Great Western Studio nearly burned down the studio buildings.
• The producers claimed that more wild animals were used in this production than in any serial produced to date.
• On July 15, 1921 five actors were hospitalized, three cameras destroyed, the film from the day's shoot was ruined  and the many people on the set narrowly escaped injury when three lions ran amok.
• The production wrapped up by August 13, 1921
• A 10-chapter version of the serial has been preserved and restored by UCLA and various other versions have appeared over the years, including the most recent restoration to DVD by the Serial Squadron company.
• A synopsis of all 15 chapters along with numerous screen captures is featured in Jerry Schneider's ERB and the Silver Screen: Volume I The Silent Years published by ERBville Press.
• Elmo Lincoln spent the first quarter of 1922 on a promotional tour for the serial in which he visited at least 10 states and possibly made appearances in Canada as well.

Director Robert F. Hill credited author Edgar Rice Burroughs for much of the success of the film: ""... this serial embodies all of the mystery, the charm of action for which Mr. Burroughs' novels are noted. The author has been of invaluable assistance to me throughout the entire production in securing the proper jungle atmosphere, garbing the various characters correctly and in injecting the proper suspense. Mr. Burroughs spent many days on location and in the studios with us in this work. His expression of keen approval during a recent screening of "Adventures of Tarzan" has well repaid the expenditure of time and effort."

Vernell Coriell, founder of the Burroughs Bibliophiles and a friend of Elmo Lincoln related the following anecdote:

"Mrs. Greenburg (in charge of production) and Elmo did not get along well during production. One day after she and Elmo had words, the big man left in a huff. Production was held up for several days when Elmo refused to return to work. Someone came up with the idea of having a witch doctor perform some mumbo-0jumbo on Tarzan, making him look like Frank Merrill (Lincoln's stunt double), who would finish the picture. Elmo heard about this and promptly returned to work."

 
After finally getting a chance to view the Adventures of Tarzan with Elmo Lincoln, now out at last on DVD, a few of my questions were  answered that I had about the movie. All my life I have been curious as to what this movie might be like. It is roughly supposed to be an adaptation of The Return of Tarzan, at least the second half of that novel. First, a brief digression to explain the Tarzan silents.

The silent Tarzan movies fall into two groups, between which there is about a 5-6 year gap. The first group I call the "Elmo" group, the first five:

Tarzan of the Apes (1918) Elmo Lincoln. This film roughly adapts the book up to the point where Tarzan rescues D'arnot and Jane leaves to go back to America. However, in this version there is no D'Arnot, and the person who teaches Tarzan to read (and also talk) is a shipwrecked sailor named Binns (who replaces Black Michael). This occurs during his growth to manhood, so he is not alone in the jungle, but is mentored by old Binns. This is a significant departure from the book. Also the film ends as if Tarzan and Jane have found happiness together.

The Romance of Tarzan (1918) Elmo Lincoln. Supposedly adapted from the conclusion of TA, it bears little resemblance to the book. Because of William Cecil's betrayal, the ship leaves without Tarzan. Tarzan strikes out into the ocean to swim after them, and he lands on a desert island. This time a Father Raoul teaches Tarzan the ways of  civilization, and Tarzan reaches Southern California, where he rescues Jane from Mexican bandits. Again Clayton tries to betray Tarzan so he can marry Jane, and as a result Tarzan returns to Africa in consternation. Jane, realizing the truth, convinces her father to take a journey back to Africa to find Tarzan. This film has little relevance to the book.

The Revenge of Tarzan (1920) Gene Pollar. This movie is perhaps the most faithful of these. It is a close adaptation of the first half of Return of Tarzan, describing his adventures in Paris, including the duel with DeCoude, and his adventures in North Africa as an French agent. It truncates the end of the book by having Tarzan swim to a desert island after he is pushed overboard by Rokoff, and there he meets Jane who was shipwrecked onto the island also.

The Son of Tarzan (1920) An adaptation of Son of Tarzan.

The Adventures of Tarzan (1921) Elmo Lincoln. 

The second batch of silent films were the three done in the late twenties:

Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927) A loose adaptation from the book.

Tarzan the Mighty (1928) An original story, a pseudo-version of his origin in the style of later films like the Buster Crabbe, with a Mary instead of Jane, has no relation to the books, but it more related to the sound films of the thirties in its alternative take on Tarzan, not referencing the books.

Tarzan the Tiger (1929) Frank Merrill. A long episodic adaptation of Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. Merrill plays one of the most authentic Tarzans physically, perhaps second only to Mike Henry. Merrill is tall, and dark haired, and has a truly ripped physique.

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In the opening of Adventures of Tarzan, we find that Clayton, Rokoff, Jane, and also, further up the beach, Professor Porter, have been shipwrecked in Africa at the location of Tarzan's cabin. Porter gets lost in the jungle. Tarzan finds Jane but Clayton sides with the dastardly Rokoff to try to set a trap to kill him. The actress playing Jane is as cute as she can be, but she has black hair rather than blond as in the book. Elmo plays a heroic Tarzan. He is just a bit too chunky for the part, but he is young and tall and has an heroic bearing. He seems to be in better shape than he was in TA. What is fascinating about this film is that it was made without any knowledge of Weissmuller whatsoever, and only draws upon the books for inspiration. It is far from a literal adaptation, but it stays somewhat within the parameters of the books. Many new episodes and incidents are invented for the movie. 

It is unclear what happens to William Cecil Clayton -- at some point he disappears from the story and does not return. At the cabin, Rokoff and Jane are captured by the beastmen of Opar and Tarzan is knocked out. At Opar, La decides to sacrifice Jane immediately. Somehow Rokoff saves Jane for his own purposes, and together they find the treasure vaults. Tarzan arrives just as an earthquake occurs, which opens a passage to the inner city into which he tumbles. The quake also releases lions into the city. Lions are everywhere in this jungle and in this film; it is infested with hungry lions. Tarzan saves Jane from the lions and takes her back to the cabin. Rokoff also escapes and makes rendezvous with Lt. Gernoit, a renegade officer leading a troop of Arab slavers. Rokoff and Gernoit lead an attack upon the Waziri village to steal their ivory. Tarzan helps the Waziri refugees to fight back by shooting from the trees. The Waziri make him their "Big Bwana" and King of the Jungle. 

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On disc two, Rokoff and Gernoit manage to capture Jane and take her to an Arab city, where Tarzan finds them and saves Jane again, etc.

One thing they added, that was not in the novel, was the bizarre notion of having the map to Opar tattooed onto Jane's back shoulder. This makes her body a necessity for not only Tarzan but the bad guy, Rokoff and company. 

They obviously try to make Tarzan as macho as possible. In one scene, he and Jane are trapped in a cellar, and Tarzan pulls the iron bars from the window. In another scene, he and his ape are attacked in the desert by three armed arab riders, and in the end, Tarzan rides off truimphantly with one of the horses. One can almost see some of Robert E. Howard's Conan in this film. I would assume that REH saw it. It has been lost to all subsequent generations until recently though. And even now not every episode has been recovered. Apparently they found a copy of the movie version, and then attempted from that to restore it to its original serial form. 

After a while I got really tired of hearing the Serial Squadron's jungle music, so I turned down the volume and put on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which seemed to work much better, for me at least. 

 The rest of the film is about how Rokoff and Lt Gernois, who played only a small role in the book, along with their Arab allies, attempt to find Opar and loot its gold. Unlike the lost valley in the book, this city of Opar is entirely hidden underground inside a hill, and only a couple of secret entrances lead to the inside of the chambers of Opar. Once inside though, it is pretty much like the book. Beautiful, barbaric maidens paired with small shaggy cavemen. Queen La does fall for Tarzan in this and her romantic grief is a highlight of the movie. 

At one point Rokoff sets Tarzan's beach cabin on fire, with Professor Porter and Jane inside, and who would have known that Tarzan had a tunnel under a trapdoor that led to freedom? Perhaps Lord Greystoke had dug the tunnel as a shelter from hurricanes, who knows? This tunnel had also appeared earlier in the film of Tarzan of the Apes.

Lions are everywhere. Extremely dangerous jungle. Every time you turn the corner there are some more lions running along. Once Tarzan is hung upside down by his ankles and a lion rushes up to eat him, but then it gets into a fight with another lion, a really savage scuffle that gives Tarzan time to get untied. Tarzan does his rope trick on a bad guy, hauling him up into the trees, and another time he hauls up a wild hog.

The plot makes very little sense. The scenes skip about from the Sahara Desert to the cabin by the beach, to Opar, as though they are only a few hours or even minutes apart. I don't know why Rokoff has such a hard time reaching Opar since it appears to take Tarzan about ten minutes or so to get there. This Opar is especially hard to find though, since it is buried under a hill, with no visible or external evidence of its presence.

The ending is pretty much like the book -- Tarzan has Jane in his arms beside the cabin on the beach, the French warship is pulling up into harbor, and Rokoff and Gernois are tied up and awaiting arrest for their crimes. Professor Porter plays a supporting role, much larger than his role in the book, playing nursemaid to Jane everytime Tarzan can find him, so that he can fly off to try to stop Rokoff from reaching Opar. Tarzan seems to be more concerned about keeping Rokoff from Opar than he is about Jane. 

For me, to finally find this movie after all these years, Elmo's sequel to his Tarzan of the Apes, is kind of like the feeling I had when I found out there was a sequel to Haggard's SHE. Kind of a sense of closure to all that. Kind of a needed sequel. Some sequels are necessary I think.

~ Steve Allsup

ELMO - KING OF THE JUNGLE
Boys' Cinema Magazine
October 7, 1922 The pictures on this page show one of the greatest wild animal films ever produced, in which Elmo Lincoln and Louise Lorraine take the leading parts. 

Elmo Lincoln, the original Tarzan, is acknowledged to be the strongest man, physically, appearing before the camera. Famous for his daring and superhuman feats of strength in his various Tarzan films, he outdoes himself in his latest work. Amongst other performances, he lifts bodily three grown men, carries a huge boulder weighing 140 pounds for several feet, and supports on his chest a large plank, on which stands Louise Lorraine, mounted on a huge horse, for this Jury photoplay.

Lincoln has to keep in constant training and has at various times issued challenges to the champion strong men of the world for a test of physical prowess.

Many animals appear in this film, and one day there was a nasty accident. During the shooting of the twelfth episode three lionesses broke loose and attacked several players, dressed as Arabs. Five were so badly mauled that they had to be taken off to hospital, but Elmo and Louise, who were on the scene, luckily escaped unscathed. Several cameras were destroyed and two of the wild beasts had to be severely wounded before the panic could be stopped, for at the time of the accident there were twelve lions and lionesses, and two leopards on the scene.

One of the animals is well known to all. This is Joe Martin, who has a leading role in the production, whilst another is Tantor, the elephant, said to be the largest in the world. 

Talking of accidents, Elmo had a lucky escape, for in episode two a lion broke away and pounced on him, but with superhuman strength Elmo managed to get the beast off his back; however, hot before he had been badly mauled. The star was laid up for several weeks.