TARZAN -- PRODUCED BY ERB, INC.
by Robert Barrett
Tarzan and the Fires of Tohr was the second serial produced by Burroughs.
For whatever reason, the serial got off to a slow start (possibly because
they wanted to see what the results would be for their first serial before
spending money on a second one).
Recording was eventually completed in late 1935. Tarzan, once again,
was played by Carlton Kadell with Ralph Scott as D'Arnot. John McIntire
only narrated through episode fourteen, after which director Fred Shields
took over the narration duties. Gale Gordon, who had the role of Cecil
Clayton in the Dahlquest programs, played one of the male leads in this
serial. Barbara Luddy played the role of Queen Ahtea.
Tarzan and the Fires of Tohr would have to be construed a failure.
It didn't play on enough radio stations to make its production worthwhile.
One of the reasons was that there was just too much time wasted between
the completion of Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher and the completed recording
of Tarzan and Fires of Tohr. By the time it was ready, most of the
radio stations (after begging for another Tarzan serial) had filled their
airtime with other shows. As a result, Tarzan and the Fires of Tohr
only
played on ten stations, including Hawaii, Canada and Australia.
Burroughs made two aborted attempts at getting Tarzan, once again, onto
radio in 1938 when an unnamed sponsor seemed to show some interest. He
hired a new writer, Jerry Cady, and retained Rob Thompson. A synopsis and
scripts for episodes 1 and 2 survive by Jerry Cady. Nothing seems to have
survived of the second attempt except for a letter from Rob Thompson to
Burroughs asking him what he thinks of titling serial No. 4, "Tarzan,
Lord of the Jungle." A note was scribbled across the bottom of the
letter in Ed's hand stating that he liked the title "but it will be confusing
because of the same book title."
Thompson would continue his association with Tarzan by scripting two
sets of Tarzan records for Decca in 1941, produced by ERB, Inc. and starring
well-known radio personality Elliott Lewis as Tarzan. Thompson also scripted
the first three Dell Tarzan
comic books in the late 1940s and scripted the Tarzan newspaper script
for United Feature Syndicate until 1950.
Ref: Edgar Rice Burroughs' TARZAN ON RADIO
An Anecdotal Guide to Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan On Radio
Published by Radio Spirits, Inc.
by Robert Barrett
Pages 29 & 30