Edgar Rice Burroughs Movies

WALL-E's Andrew Stanton steps out from the world of animation into live-action with this adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs character. Taylor Kitsch stars as John Carter, a Civil War soldier who finds himself magically teleported to the planet Mars, with fellow Wolverine star Lynn Collins joining him as love interest Dejah Thoris. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

Carl Schenkel directed this Tarzan film "based on the stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs." In England of 1913, Tarzan (Casper Van Dien) is due to marry Jane (Jane March), but he suddenly chooses to return to the jungle to prevent villainous explorer Nigel Ravens (Steve Waddington) from burning and killing in his quest for the lost city of Opar. Jane's pursuit of the vine-swinging Lord of the Apes forces her to confront snakes and other jungle perils. The film's inane dialogue is heard amid magnificent South African locations. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

John Derek directed this 1981 vanity production of the Tarzan tale as a bon-bon for his wife Bo Derek. The Bo Derek version answers any questions viewers may have had concerning Tarzan and Jane's sex life. The film begins as Jane (Bo Derek)'s father Parker (Richard Harris) heads to the African interior on the pretext of searching for hidden jungle secrets. He is actually looking for Tarzan (Miles O'Keeffe), whom he plans to kidnap and bring back to England dead or alive. Jane accompanies her manic father, along with his unassuming assistant Holt (John Phillip Law). Realizing that Parker is on his trail, Tarzan kidnaps Jane and it is love at first sight. Parker forges on, trying to capture Tarzan and save his daughter. But Tarzan finally saves the day when Jane is kidnapped by a band of African mud worshippers, who are preparing her to be sacrificed to the gods. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This is the second sci-fi adventure based on a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first being 1975's The Land That Time Forgot. At The Earth's Core stars Doug McClure as explorer David Innes and Peter Cushing as professor Abner Perry, whose experimental "iron core" drill goes out of control and leads them to the underground kingdom of Pellucidar, where the Wing People are ruled by the monstrous, flying Mahars. With the help of the professor, Innes leads the Wing People in revolt against their evil masters. Monsters and mayhem abound in what is essentially a well-produced, if somewhat juvenile, knockoff of The Time Machine. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Unavailable for decades, this 15-chapter serial from Republic Pictures was finally re-released on video tape in the late 1990s. Based on a story by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jungle Girl featured former Paramount starlet Frances Gifford as Nyoka, a white girl raised by her father, Dr. Meredith (Trevor Bardette), among the savages of Darkest Africa. But the good doctor is mercilessly bumped off by his identical twin (also Bardette), who along with American gangster Slick Latimer (Gerald Mohr is searching for the famous Nakros diamonds. Along come Yankee fly-boys Jack Stanton (Tom Neal) and Curly Rogers (Eddie Acuff) who, again and again, are forced to rescue either Nyoka or each other from the evil machinations of both the girl's uncle and nasty witch doctor Shamba (Frank Lackteen). Miss Gifford, suffice it to say, is attractive if not much of an actress this early in her career, while Neal, who is best remembered today as the unfortunate protagonist in the noir classic Detour (1946), appears customarily dashing. Comic relief is provided by Acuff, who is never too tiresome, and Frank Lackteen adds his patented exotic villainy. All in all, if the viewer can get past the natives' fright wigs a la Harpo Marx, an overly cute child actor (Tommy Cook) who speaks pidgin-English and the build-in repetitiveness typical for action serials, there is much to enjoy, including eye-popping acrobatic stunts performed by the likes of Yakima Canutt, David Sharpe, Tom Steele and Carol Thurston, the latter doubling for Gifford. Jungle Girl was successful enough to warrant a sequel but by the time Perils of Nyoka was ready to go before the cameras, Frances Gifford had become unavailable and was replaced by former Powers model Kay Aldridge. In typical serial fashion, footage from both chapterplays ended up in Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955), starring Phyllis Coates in a skimpy yet tasteful outfit identical to those worn by her predecessors. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Unhappy with the Tarzan pictures being made in Hollywood, author Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of the "Lord of the Jungle," set up his own production company, Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises. The only Tarzan opus to emerge from this short-lived enterprise was the 12-chapter serial (and simultaneously released feature-length version) The New Adventures of Tarzan, filmed on location in Guatemala with Olympics decathlon champion Herman Brix (aka Bruce Bennett) in the lead. The serpentine plots finds Tarzan (well-educated and articulate for a change) joining an archeological expedition to South America in search of a rare, jewel-encrusted Mayan idol. The villain of the piece is the mercenary Raglan, who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the ancient artifact. There's no Jane in this one, but Tarzan does have a leading lady in the shapely form of Ula Vale (Ula Holt). Very cheaply produced, with particularly bad sound quality (there is in fact an opening title apologizing for the poor sound), The New Adventures of Tarzan nonetheless has a great deal of energy, and Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett is physically quite impressive as Tarzan. Years after its original release, New Adventures of Tarzan was reissued with a newly recorded soundtrack, featuring an entirely different cast. Incidentally, though Don Castello is billed as Raglan, Castello fell ill just before shooting started and was replaced by Edgar Rice Burroughs' business partner Ashton Dearholt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the opener of Universal's 15-chapter serial Tarzan the Tiger, Tarzan, aka Lord Greystoke (Frank Merrill), returns to Africa with his bride, Lady Jane (Natalie Kingston), hoping to locate the famous Jewels of Opar and thus save the Greystoke estate in England. At their plantation, the noble couple is entertaining seemingly friendly scientist Albert Werper (Al Ferguson) who, unbeknownst to the Greystokes, is in reality a greedy soldier of fortune. To Werper, Tarzan explains how he, years ago, rescued Lady Jane from La (Mme. Kithnou), the jealous Queen of Opar. "Have you no pity for me -- a woman like yourself," a tied-up Jane had pleaded, but to no avail. Happily, Tarzan had arrived with not a second to spare to rescue Jane from certain death. Now, and despite Jane's misgivings, the Englishman is planning to return to Opar. Werper, meanwhile, conspires with Tarzan's enemy, slave trader Achmet Zek (Sheldon Lewis), to sell Lady Jane to the highest bidder. The following night, while Tarzan is fighting the ferocious lion Numa, Zek and his band of Nomads kidnap a prostrate Jane. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Produced by poverty row company National Film Corp., the sequel to Tarzan of the Apes (1918) and The Return of Tarzan (1920) proved a troubled production throughout. Burgeoning Western star Jack Hoxie (then known as "Hart Hoxie") had been pegged to co-star as the King of the Jungle, but in one of film history's more notorious blunders, Hoxie's wife, Kalem star Marin Sais, convinced him to stick with Westerns and turn the role down. Instead, casting director Jean Temple chose P. Dempsey Tabler, a dignified Englishman who sorely lacked the brawny physique of his predecessor in the role, Elmo Lincoln (or, for that matter, Hoxie), but actually fit "Tarzan" creator Edgar Rice Burroughs' description of the English nobleman. Tabler, however, was not quite up to the strain of serial-making and was seriously injured during filming of a fist-fight with villain Eugene Burr. Lucille Rubey, the untalented wife of National president E.R. Frey, was at first forced forced upon the production as "Meriem," the leading lady, but director Harry J. Revier dismissed her in favor of Kathleen May. For unknown reasons, Miss May also failed to get the part which instead went to Manilla Martans. Little Gordon Griffith played Korak, The Son of Tarzan, as a boy but the real star of the 15 chapter serial proved to be Kamuela C. Searle, a native of Hawaii, as the young adult Korak. The plot followed Rice Burroughs' original story closely enough: Lord Greystoke's young son, Jack, is kidnapped in England by an evil Russian, Ivan Paulovitch (Burr), and carted off to Africa. With the assistance of a clever chimpanzee, Akut, Jack manages to escape into the jungle where he saves a little white girl, Meriem (Mae Giraci), from a gang of vicious Arabs. Jack (now known as Korak and played by Searle) and Meriem (Martans) grow up together in the jungle, love, of course, blossoming along the way. They are soon reunited with Korak's famous father and lady Greystoke (Karla Schramm, recreating the role she had played in Revenge of Tarzan earlier that year), but Meriem proves to be an heiress and the Arabs and Petrovitch soon reappear. The serial continued to be cursed by freak accidents, the most serious of which occurred when Searle was nearly trampled to death by an elephant. The young Hawaiian (known as Sam Searle to his friends) never recovered from his injuries, passing away at the age of 33, February 14, 1924. Tragically, Searle's stunt-double, Ray Thompson, later drowned in Alaska's Copper River during the epic filming of The Trail of '98, (1927). The Son of Tarzan was released between May of 1920 and February of 1921 to generally generous reviews. Songwriters Norman Stuckey and Osborne Tedman composed a ballad, Tarzan, My Jungle King, to be played during the screening of the serial. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

When William Bankinton (Will Machin) is shipwrecked, his loses his memory. He is able to make his way in the wilds with the help of a lion. Sheik Ali-Es Hadji (Al W. Filson) lives nearby, and Bankinton meets and falls in love with his daughter, Nakkla (Vivian Reed). But Nakkla is being pursued by an ardent and imperious bandit chief, Ben Saada (Charles LeMoyne). Saada tries to kidnap Nakkla, but the lion jumps in and kills him, while Bankinton rescues her. In the melee, Bankinton falls and his memory is restored. His gets his sense of civilization back, along with getting the girl. If this story seems to bear some similarities to Tarzan, it's no surprise since it was written by Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs. Apparently, the lion chosen for the film was not as docile as he was supposed to have been, thus it was necessary to use trick photography in the scenes where lions and humans comingled. Unfortunately, no known copies of The Lad and the Lion have survived. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide