In our class at Rollins College titled "Florida Goes to the Movies," we studied my all time favorite Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller. He was born in what is now Romania in 1904 and was one of the world's fastest swimmers, winning 5 Olympic gold medals.
Several of the scenes in the Tarzan movies were shot in Cypress Gardens, here in Florida. Why? Because the water, at that time, was crystal clear.
In our class we first saw a clip from "Tarzan the Ape Man, filmed in 1932. This was a far more sensuous film than the later ones that came after the Motion Picture Production Code (sometimes called the Hayes Code) that was put in place in the late 1930s. Prior to that time there were some pretty sexy movies and "Tarzan the Ape Man" was one of them.
However, when "Tarzan Finds a Son" was made in 1939, it was a far different story. Tarzan and Jane couldn't have a baby, they had to find a baby. (Actually Cheetah found the baby.)
In this film there is a remarkable swimming scene. Tarzen and Boy swim and play in the water, along with a baby elephant at one point, in the African jungle - but really they are at Cypress Gardens, Florida swimming in a deep lagoon.
This scene, called "Swimming Shenanigans." is on YouTube and is pretty amazing. Here's the address.
https://youtu.be/QMj5Ztme-ZI
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| Scene from sexy "Tarzan the Ape Man" |
In our class we first saw a clip from "Tarzan the Ape Man, filmed in 1932. This was a far more sensuous film than the later ones that came after the Motion Picture Production Code (sometimes called the Hayes Code) that was put in place in the late 1930s. Prior to that time there were some pretty sexy movies and "Tarzan the Ape Man" was one of them. However, when "Tarzan Finds a Son" was made in 1939, it was a far different story. Tarzan and Jane couldn't have a baby, they had to find a baby. (Actually Cheetah found the baby.)
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| Tarzan and Jane don't know where babies come from so they have to find one. |
In this film there is a remarkable swimming scene. Tarzen and Boy swim and play in the water, along with a baby elephant at one point, in the African jungle - but really they are at Cypress Gardens, Florida swimming in a deep lagoon.
This scene, called "Swimming Shenanigans." is on YouTube and is pretty amazing. Here's the address.
https://youtu.be/QMj5Ztme-ZI
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