Let’s Hear it for Tarzan of the Apes, (the 1918 Movie) On Its Centennial Today

The folks at ERB Inc. are celebration, as well they should, because one hundred years ago today, the 1918 movie Tarzan of the Apes starring Elmo Lincoln and Enid Markey, opened in New York at the Broadway Theater, where it played to packed audiences resulting in an extended run all the way to April 2 en route to becoming one of the first movies to earn over $1m at the box office. All of that is pretty cool, and I hope you enjoy the video above from ERB Inc., which we made for the occasion.

For a great summary of the movie please check out Erbzine’s ERB of the Silver Screen: Tarzan of the Apes (1918). I won’t try to re-invent the wheel here — read the Erbzine page, which has all the basic info and a lot of great trivia and production details.

Here are some stills and posters and, all the way at the bottom, some very fun trade articles about the movie from the Daily Mirror — the “Hollywood Reporter” or “Variety” of the day.

 

One fun thing I did in looking for material for the video clip above was to search the archives of the “Dramatic Mirror” — the great theatrical and motion picture trade publication of the day (Think Hollywood Reporter , Variety, etc). It ran from 1879 until 1922. I found the archive for the whole period leading up the release of Tarzan, and until well after the release, when they were putting together the sequel. It tells a great story all by itself, without too much intervention from me.

First, the cover of the mag, and the logo. (How can you not love a mag with a headline: “What’s wrong with the booking system?”)

 

So now, here are articles about Tarzan.  They start just before the release and go through June 1, 1918. The last one’s a doozy, so read all the way to the end.