Finding the right balance between the Tarzan of the Books and what can be realistically recreated on film is tough to accomplish. No screen ape man can travel through the trees as does our inner vision crafted from the words of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Drat!--we can't have that because no human alive can duplicate the feats described in the books. What are we left with? Fortunately, ERB had a tried and true formula which made nearly all his Tarzan stories a good read and (bear with me) extremely adaptable to film. Film also has tried and true formulas that produce good box office. When the two formulas are pasted together the apeman's jungle does emerge with varying degrees of success. Translating from one medium to another is the main issue. For example, 72 to 90 minutes is all the time film directors and screen writers have for the average feature film and that's just about the attention span of the average movie goer.

The limitation of time means only the highpoints can be covered. However, there's a side benefit: film provides more immediate information (sight, sound, action) that takes multiple paragraphs to describe in books, so we do not lose as much as first appears. That said, since no human can perform the same feats as Tarzan of the Books, adjustments have to be made to present the story on screen. It is a little known fact that early on Edgar Rice Burroughs only granted film makers the right to use the Tarzan name and darn little else. Therefore script writers and directors devised their version of the now famous tale.

I'm suggesting we enjoy Tarzan in whatever genre he appears--and quietly sigh and moan when the character does not come up to OUR PERSONAL expectations. Tarzan the Animated series, Tarzan of the Comix, Tarzan of the Radio, are probably more satisfying versions of the apeman than the fantasy character we see in film or tv, yet for all the modifications, we still get the basic elements of Tarzan!

I was moved to tears (almost) watching Weismueller's Tarzan Escapes because a willing suspension of disbelief is what makes books, movies, music or art happen for me. Weismueller and O'Sullivan played parts that worked equally as well the characters of Made For Each Other or any of the other sappy "I love you so much I'm willing to sacrifice all for YOU" films which were the rage of the time period (mid-1930s). The first three Johnny and Maureen movies are fantastically well-done adult erotica that just manages to stay within the realm of good taste while probably hastening the advent of movie censorship. These films were hot stuff for those who know what the long looks really meant, but tame enough to be "mushy stuff" as far as the kids are concerned.

ERB never wrote carnal episodes, nor did he have to for the same reasons that early Tarzan film goers needed no diagrams to understand the by play between Tarzan and Jane. The truly epic adventure is the love between a man and a woman which holds firm regardless of situation or circumstance. Tarzan and Jane, particularly of the movies, is a celebration of that adventure.