MovieChat Forums > Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) Discussion > Did they acully hurt/kill the animals?

Did they acully hurt/kill the animals?

posted 18 years ago by babyblue04002
11 replies | jump to latest

I know it sounds sort of juvinile (bad spelling i know) but it was 1932 and all so did they really hurt and kill the animals in the movie?

[–] Mr_McLaurel 18 years ago

Maybe this is just because the film was a little unclear, but those scenes where the Hippos are getting shot sure looked pretty authentic, didn't they?

[–] clh-1 17 years ago

I don't know about this one, but in the first Tarzan movie, 1918's "Tarzan of the Apes", the actor playing Tarzan (his name is Elmo Lincoln), killed a lion on set. The story goes that the animal was partially sedated to make it more managable, and that as the drugs started to wear off, it became groggy/cranky, and a stunt went a awry, and he was forced to pull his knife in self defense. The scene is supposedly included in the finished film, and when he put his foot on the animal in a pose of triumph it pushed the remaining air out of the lion's lungs and made a rather unpleasant whoosh-noise, and if you watch the movie, you can see a slightly startled expression on Lincoln's face as it's happening.

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[–] anneandwalt-1 17 years ago

Sadly, the lives and limbs of animals were very expendable in Hollywood in the early years.
I believe it was only after movies like the Errol Flynn-version of Charge of the Light Brigade, in which many horses died in filming, that rules and laws were brought in to protect animals.
When you see stock footage of a charging lion being shot in Tarzan films and it looks real - you can bet it probably was.

[–] dahoss65 17 years ago

Animals were treated alot less humane in those days. The life of any animal had little vaule. And this still holds true in many parts of the world today and by some Americans today as well.

You wanna get an idea of how animal abuse was in Hollywood back then, then check out Charlie Chaplin's movie Sunnyside(1919)

[–] chelseaal 17 years ago

I loved the old Tarzan movies as a kid, but cannot watch them now as its so obvious that the footage of lions being shot is very real.

[–] porfle 17 years ago

They aren't shooting real hippos in the raft scene, but that charging lion being shot is probably actual safari footage left over from TRADER HORN. I'm drawing a blank on any other scenes from the Weissmuller TARZAN movies that seem to feature real animals being killed.

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[–] dioro 17 years ago

Sure looks like they killed that elephant near the end. It looked like a pretty old one, so it probably wasn't going to live that long anyway. Because of the advanced age of the elephant, I thought it was more likely that he was really speared and killed.

I'd like to know if they really killed any of those Negroes.

[–] porfle 17 years ago

I doubt if any actual elephants or Negroes were killed during the making of the film.

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[–] chelseaal 17 years ago

When the natives were beaten and tortured, their screams seemed VERY real. I remember when they were split into two with those palm trees pulled criss-cross and being tied to them and then let go......ouch!!

[–] faust6 14 years ago

Yes in the 1916 Elmo Lincoln version. The lion was
drugged and was killed with a butcher knife, by the star

[–] DJ-Chojin 14 years ago

i looked it up and found thanks to the bbfc that cuts for animal cruelty are trip wires triping up animals lions ect and a native blow darting a monkey which was real no killing of real animals

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