100 years ago, the first filmed Tarzan hit.

by Nathaniel R
On this weekend in 1918 the first filmed version of Tarzan of the Apes movie appeared. You may recall that I have a bit of an...um... problem with Tarzan that stems from childhood. I'd never seen the first Tarzan but it is streaming on YouTube and is only 60 minutes long. It has all the typical Tarzan controversial flashpoints (whitewashed pro-coloniaism history and in-the-now-whenever-that-happened-to-be gender politics) plus the origin story and even the yodelling (you can't actually hear it, mind you, but he does beat his chest while wailing so you know that's what's happening.
Despite the worst Tarzan wig that ever existed and the lack of jungle animals (it was shot in Louisiana) it's significant for having launched a now 100 year old franchise...

