Radio Recap: Tarzan

Tarzan of the Apes had a variety of different radio programs over the decades but at this stage, I want to talk about the 1930s Tarzan serials, each of which was adapted directly from Edgar Rice Burroughs' novels; they covered Tarzan of the Apes (1932-1934), Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher (1934, adapted from Tarzan and the Golden Lion) and Tarzan and the Fires of Tohr (1936, adapted from Tarzan and the City of Gold).

I wrote about what makes Tarzan problematic many years ago in a blog post about Tarzan's comic strips, and I published an essay about the inherent racism of Tarzan in my series of essays about the Black Panther (the one titled: "Exploring White Privilege in Christopher Priest's Black Panther: Part 2").

All of this is just to say you can't wander into Tarzan with your eyes shut. The amount of racism varies (since Black people in Tarzan stories are often barely visible) and they can be enjoyed as simple adventure tales. Caveat emptor.

According to John Dunning in On the Air: "The original Tarzan radio adaptation has come to be regarded as the first major syndicated serial." It was sponsored by Signal Oil, better-known to us as the sponsors of The Whistler.

Tarzan of the Apes had an interesting cast, with James Pierce as Tarzan; he'd played Tarzan on the big screen in Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927) and his wife, Joan Burroughs (Edgar's daughter) portrayed Jane Porter. Other cast members included Gale Gordon, Frank Nelson, Hanley Stafford and Jeanette Nolan - all terrific radio professionals (you can hear them in a lot of 1930s syndicated fare).

The latter two serials recast Tarzan with Carlton KaDell; apparently Edgar Rice Burroughs had withdrawn his support by then, which was probably why his daughter and son-in-law left the series.

I actually find these Tarzan serials to be a step-up from the majority of juvenile adventure serials; when you look at the best-regarded of the genre, I Love a Mystery, you find each episode tends to open on the characters recapping what happened to them in the previous installment; then each of the cast members will have a quick scene to remind listeners who they are; then in the last 2 minutes, something dramatic happens. By contrast, the Tarzan serials have a relentless pace - they don't follow a formula like I Love a Mystery, they just adapt from the books and go on and on until they run out of time! Consequently, the climax of each episode can be surprising because there are no cues to indicate when it's about to finish.

You can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection of Tarzan of the Apes episodes with the YouTube playlist below:

You can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection of Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher episodes with the YouTube playlist below:

You can hear the Old Time Radio Researchers' collection of Tarzan and the Fires of Tohr episodes with the YouTube playlist below: