Tarzan Escapes

Infobox Film | name =Tarzan Escapes


caption ="Tarzan Escapes" movie poster
director = Richard Thorpe
John Farrow (uncredited)
James C. McKay (uncredited)
George B. Seitz
William A. Wellman
producer =
writer = Edgar Rice Burroughs (characters)
Cyril Hume (screenplay)
starring =Johnny Weissmuller
Maureen O'Sullivan
John Buckler
Benita Hume
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = MGM
released = November 6, 1936
runtime = 89 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $1,058,000 (estimated)
imdb_id = 0028345
preceded_by = "Tarzan and His Mate"
followed_by = "Tarzan Finds a Son!"

"Tarzan Escapes" is a Tarzan film based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the third in the MGM "Tarzan" series to feature Johnny Weissmuller as the "King of the Apes".

Plot

Captain Fry (John Buckler), a hunter, attempts to take Tarzan to civilization so he can be put on public display. Meanwhile, Jane's two cousins Eric and Rita are with Fry and tell Jane about a fortune she had left for her back in their world. Tarzan is eventually caged but manages to escape with the help of elephants and Cheeta. He then forces Fry to again walk through a dangerous part of the jungle where Fry gets killed by hungry lizards.

Actor notes

*This was the final film of John Buckler who played Captain Fry. He died in a road accident along with his father Hugh Buckler (also an actor) on October 30, 1936, just one week before the film was released.

*Herbert Mundin who played comic-relief character Rawlins also died in a road accident in 1939 three years after Buckler.

Trivia

A scene, which took a week to shoot, featuring Tarzan fighting vampire bats was cut from the final film after test audiences found the scenes too intense. The first director James C. McKay shot many of the "gruesome" scenes, but he was replaced by John Farrow in 1936 who re-shot much of the film. Richard Thorpe would finally get credit for directing the film.