Tarzan of the Apes
This week, I decided to surprise Joy with a 'date night' to the movies to watch The Legend of Tarzan, which she's been hinting at since she saw the first advertisement.
Joy spent a lot of her youth reading the Tarzan adventure stories, as well as listening to all of the old time radio shows. In contrast, I'm quite the opposite! Growing up, I always had my head in a sci-fi book, or detective 'whodunit'.
As perhaps one of the best-known literary characters in the world, I'm not sure why I never read, watched or listened to the Tarzan tales during my childhood, but things were about to change...
Edgar Rice Burroughs published his first tale of Tarzan of the Apes in a magazine in 1912, followed by the published book in 1914, and from there our ape man appeared in magazines, novels, comic books, movies, radio, cartoons, and television shows.
In this modern day re-boot, Tarzan is played by rather spectacular Swedish actor, Alexander Skarsgård - who I admit, I'd never heard of.
The story begins with Tarzan, now Lord Greystoke, John Clayton III, living in England after being rescued from the Congo.
As an infant, his parents had died and he had been adopted by the great apes. He'd thrived in the jungle environment - whereas in British society, Tarzan has found it hard to adjust. When he is asked to help expose a slavery ring in the Congo, he is drawn back to Africa where he discovers man's cruelty and he must takes sides to protect his adopted tribe of primates and protect his homeland.
Before the movie, I had decided to dig out some of the Tarzan classic old time radio shows, and in addition to the 150 broadcasts already on RUSC, I discovered a whole heap more from 1932 starring James Pierce - the actor chosen by Edgar Rice Burroughs himself to star as Tarzan in his next silent movie, Tarzan and the Golden Lion in 1927.
After the movie had finished and we'd grabbed a bite to eat, Joy and I drove home, listening to several of these 'new' old time radio adaptations. Both wild and romantic at the same time, they are fabulous to listen to, and I'll make sure to add these to the RUSC website over the coming weeks.
Are they as good as David Yates latest blockbuster? Well, I think you should go and see The Legend of Tarzan for yourself, and then you can tell me in the comments below what you think?
Happy listening my friends,
