ERBzine 0010: ERB Trivia Motes & Mots

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TRIVIA MOTES & MOTS

The world's first picture of Tarzan was Clinton Pettee's cover for the October 1912 issue of The All-Story Magazine, in which Tarzan of the Apes was first published.
ERB's Tarzan: ...never lived in a tree house ...never had a son named Boy ....had a real son named Korak ...never said "Umgawa" ...was an English Lord (Greystoke) ...spoke fluent English and many other languages ...was happily married to blonde American Jane Porter ...the first languages he learned to speak were "Ape," French, and English (in that order) ...served as a Colonel in the RAF in WWII ...
The first Tarzan motion picture opened in New York on a wartime Sunday in 1918. Below is the text from the display ad which greeted the staid members of the New York Times the morning of January 27, 1918.
Moving Pictures: Broadway Theatre - Broadway at 41st Street: Commencing Tonight 8:30 - The Most Stupendous, Amazing, Startling Film Production in the World's History
TARZAN OF THE APES
From the Original Story by Edgar Rice Burroughs
SEE
Tarzan's struggle with the lion - the elephant raid on the cannibal village - battle between an ape and gorilla - abduction of the white girl by apes.
With ELMO LINCOLN -- ENID MARKEY and 1,000 Others
Produced in the Wildest Jungles of Brazil at a Cost of $300,000 -- Staged with WILD LIONS, TIGERS, ELEPHANTS, BABOONS, APES, CANNIBALS by the
NATIONAL FILM CORPORATION OF AMERICA
WILLIAM PARSONS, Pres; Hollywood, Cal.
TWICE DAILY - 2:30--8:30. eves. 25c TO $1.50. MATS. 25c-50c-75c

Tarzan of the Apes
Jungle Story Appears in Film Form at the Broadway:
Tarzan of the Apes which excited considerable interest among the readers of popular-priced fiction several years ago, was shown at the Broadway theatre last night in film form. Being the story of a primeval man--or, rather, of a man brought up among apes and endowed with many of their abilities -- it presents not a few difficulties to the movie maker. All of these have been overcome in the film at the Broadway, and apes swing realistically from bough to bough in the jungle the while lions and leopards seek their prey on the ground below. Intertwined with the jungle story is a domestic narrative which grows tedious at times, and the expedient of the cutback is resorted to a trifle too freely. All of this is more than compensated for, however, by the stirring scenes of the jungle. A majority of these were photographed in Brazil, and several hundred natives appear before the camera. The picture as a whole, in addition to being interesting, also has a touch of educational value. An actor named Elmo Lincoln meets the difficult requirements of the hero satisfactorily --Review--The New York Times, Jan. 28, 1918
Joan Burroughs Pierce (ERB's only daughter)
    --The Burroughs family pronounced Joan's name: Jo-anne.
J. Allen St. John illustrated Burroughs books from 1915 (The Return of Tarzan) to 1943 (Skeleton Men of Jupiter) -- Dust Jacket illustrations were taken over in 1937, however, by John Coleman Burroughs (The Oakdale Affair and The Rider).
Tarzan's third appearance in book form was not in The Beasts of Tarzan but a short cameo in The Eternal Lover.
DECEMBER 16, 1930: ANNOUNCING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN INDEPENDENT POST OFFICE AT TARZANA, CALIFORNIA, AND OUR CONSEQUENT CHANGE OF ADDRESS FROM RESEDA, CALIFORNIA TO TARZANA, CALIFORNIA -- Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Tarzana Ranch, Tarzana California
The last chapter of Tarzan and the Lion Man, which bears the title, "Hello, Hollywood!" exists also as a separate Burroughs manuscript entitled, "If Tarzan Came to Hollywood."
ERB originally gave Tarzan the title of Lord Bloomstoke but before completing the first Tarzan manuscript, he changed to the name of Greystoke which he had already introduced in The Outlaw of Torn.
In the Foreword to A Fighting Man of Mars, there is mention of Jason Gridley's work at Tarzana in establishing radio communication with Pellucidar, which eventually led to contact with Mars. This was one of ERB's favourite devices, to create connecting links between one of his series and another.
The Moon Maid starts with a radio message from Helium to Earth, and continues in the Prologue and Chapter I with other references to John Carter and the despatch to Mars of an Earth ship, The Barsoom.
Another cross-over between ERB worlds involved Tarzan's joining the Jason Gridley dirigible expedition into Pelllucidar to rescue Emperor David Innes (Tarzan at the Earth's Core).
The opening chapter of Pirates of Venus, the first book in the Venus series, gives a revealing glimpse into ERB's personal life and business affairs at Tarzana. He also makes reference to Tarzan, Pellucidar, and his interest in Mars.
ERB's tentative title for the book which eventually became Savage Pellucidar was Girl of Pellucidar.
The original manuscript title for The Resurrection of Jimber Jaw was Elmer. Elmer was the family nickname for a human skkull which Hulbert and Jack kept in the den.
One of the earliest and rarest hardcover books to contain something from the Burroughs pen is a slim volume by ERB's mother, Mary Evaline Burroughs, entitled Memoirs of a War Bride, referring to the American Civil War. Fifty copies were printed for circulation within the Burroughs family. The closing pages contain a detailed genealogical record of the family and its forebears while the Foreward, To Posterity, was written by ERB in December 1914.

The first three books of the Mars series -- PoM, GoM and WoM -- constitute a trilogy, in which the "happy ending" does not occur until the third volume.
Jetan - Martian Chess - uses a board of 100 squares and 20 pieces per side. The story of The Chessmen of Mars concerns itself with how this game was played with living men as the pieces, battling to the death for possession of each square. Rules for the game, including the names of each of the pieces, are included at the end of the novel.
"Tarzan of the Apes was proved to be the son of Lord and Lady Greystoke, by means of finger prints which as an infant he had made in touching with inky fingers a page of the father’s diary."
---Cummins & Midlo, Fingerprints, Palms and Soles, Dover (1943/1961).
ERB read Greek and Roman mythology in his early days in school. There was an ancient Emperor of Rome, called Numa Pompilius. Or just plain "Numa." What easier, simpler, more appropriate thing to do than do take the name of this ancient Roman king, and give it to the King of beasts -- hence Numa the Lion. -- Contributed by Hadron of Hastor
Cowboy film star Ken Maynard had permission from ERB call his horse Tarzan. MGM, however ran into flack when they called one of the Maynard films "Come On, Tarzan" ERB complained that they had no permission to use the name in the film title.
                                    ---Contributed by Hadron of Hastor
THE CAINE MUTINY: Remember the scene where Bogart gets on the radio and says something like, "Gwendolyn, this is Tarzan."
                                                -- Contributed by Hadron of Hastor
The "classical style" that Burroughs adopted in his writing is understandable considering his education in Greek drama and myth. These classical tendencies shown in his works could be one reason why his novels remain timeless.
His characters, almost all of them experienced in military ways and the works of the Greek tragedians, all have the same basic background as Burroughs. He uses his own experiences as a cowboy, scholar, and soldier to add a truthful and realistic quality of his writing.
Unfortunately, what the general public actually knows about Tarzan is, for the most part, what they have gleaned from an inaccurate and misleading depiction of his character in film, comics, and television. In these media, the name Tarzan represents "manliness, strength, courage, and perhaps just a touch of bestiality, and perhaps more than just a touch of stupidity -- Richard Lupoff
PSEUDONYMS: Normal Bean was the first, but not the only, pen name that Edgar Rice Burroughs used. Years after he had established himself as a successful author, he tried on several occasions to submit new stories to magazine editors under assumed names, in an effort to determine if the quality of his work would stand on its own feet or if it were only the name of Burroughs that mattered. Unfortunately, nothing that he submitted under other names was ever accepted.
John Tyler McCulloch was the chief of these pseudonyms, and ERB would accompany this nom de plume with the home address of his secretary, Ralph Rothmund, so as to completely divert attention from Tarzana. Two other Burroughs pseudonyms that appeared on unpublished manuscripts in the ERB Inc safe were John Mann and Peavy Peabody.
In Britain a teacher asked a young student to explain the word "Tarzan." The boy said: "It is the name of a flag." "How do you make that out?" asked the teacher indulgently. "Why," said the boy, "the flag of America--Tarzan Stripes."
When the editor of Literary Digest asked ERB for some biographical photos to illustrate the 1929 article: How Tarzan Kept the Wolf From the Door, ERB decided to have some fun with the project. Always inventive and imaginative, he conspired with his son, John Coleman, who resembled his father, to "create" the required photographs. Needed were shots of him as a cowboy in Idaho, a member of the 7th U.S. Cavalry in Arizona Territory and as a railroad cop in Salt Lake City.
In the back pasture of his Tarzana Ranch were the remains of the motion picture set for the movie Rio Rita, starring John Boles. ERB had rented his land to the studio with the understanding that the set be left intact so that he could lease the facilities to other interested studios. I believe ERB and my borther were the only ones (except vandals) to use the set again when they "produced" the picture for the L.D. article.
From the Western Costume Company in Hollywood he rented a police uniform and some of the other equipment needed. The cavalry horse was ERB's favorite "Colonel". The cowpony was an old gelding named "Joe" which Jack and I used to ride. Joe was a gentle animal and a pacer. However, he had the disconcerting habit of seeming to fall asleep and stumble to his knees on unpredictable occasions.
After the film was developed, ERB carefully "aged' the negatives with a few scratches and soaked off the emulsion at the corners in hot water. Jack tells me that one negative was even dropped on the floor and stepped on.
In the Literary Digest article, Jack, at age 16 appears as ERB with false mustache as a 7th Cavalry man and as a cowboy in Idaho. ERB with the same false mustach at the age of 54, posed as the Salt Lake City railroad policeman. The nightstick he holds is one he actually used and is still in our collection.
To what extent this photo fraud contributed to the eventural demise of the Literary Digest probably will never be known, but I hope no one will think ill of my dad. It was all done in fun. To him it was a lark. And perhaps it offers an insight into his own opinion of himself -- the literary unimportance of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
               -- Hulbert Burroughs, Tarzana, May 1, 1972, ERB-dom #58

The Porges bio contains a letter of Burroughs grousing that he has heard Zane Grey was getting paid better rates.
The problem with Studley Burroughs was not that he couldn't draw, but that he couldn't stay sober long enough to meet a deadline.
Edgar Rice Burroughs appears to have had an interest in mysteries and even mentioned to his daughter (in a letter published in Jim Pierce's autobiography) that he was reading a ripping good thriller by Gardner. Unfortunately, he didn't say which one.
Tarzan of the Apes was written long hand on the back of old letterheads. ERB probably move from writing in longhand to typing with THE RETURN OF TARZAN.
He started dictating most of his books around the time of TARZAN AT THE EARTH'S CORE. Once he became established, and could do so very fast, When he dictated, he usually had everything worked out and in front of him in a ring binder on his desk, so that actual time to write a novel would be considerably longer than just the dictation time. This was the method recommended by the company that sold the dictation equipment.
Dell/Gold Key Comics with photo covers: Lex Barker: 13-54, Gordon Scott: 80-110, Ron Ely: 162, 165, 168, 171
Boris Karloff Coincidence? Edgar Rice Burroughs's character named Prince Boris of Karlova in The Rider (1915).Karloff changed his name to Boris Karloff 1910 or 11 when he left Vancuver for LA. ERB and Karloff met during filming of Tarzan & the Golden Lion and ERB gave the cast an autographed copy of the book. But how could ERB have heard of Boris Karloff in 1915? Is there any chance they met before 1915 in Southern California?

Umgowa is rumoured to be a perfectly good Swahili word meaning go... but more likely it is was the invention of MGM screenwriter Cyril Hume (and Weissmuller discoverer). For his books, Burroughs created a complete ape but Hume, who adapted Tarzan, the Ape Man (1932) for the screen, reduced Tarzan's language abilities considerably by inventing the all-purpose command "Ungawa," which could mean "up," "down," "halt" or "go."
Jane was supposed to stay dead [Tarzan the Untamed], but when Mother read the story she talked Dad out of it, and so Tarzan's mate was brought back to life in the revised version.
                                                      -- Joan Burroughs
My father did considerable research on the story [The Girl from Hollywood] and our ranch was used as the basis for the background. Dad even instilled some of my speeches and mannerisms into the character of one of the girls. He believed very much in this story and always felt that it was killed quickly by certain Hollywood elements.
                                                      -- Joan Burroughs
The immortal line from Tarzan the Apeman was "Tarzan -- Jane," not "Me Tarzan, you Jane." "Me Tarzan, you Jane," was never heard in any Tarzan film.
"Tarzan" means "white skin." The German name of the actor best remembered as Tarzan, Weissmüller, means "white miller."
It's all Bob Davis' [fiction editor of Munsey's magazines] fault that Tarzan is a grandfather,. He's the one who suggested that Tarzan have a son. --ERB
THE OUTLAW OF TORN REJECTION - 1927 - I am not sure there is any particular value in the happy ending. It seems to be more legitimate to have both De Vac and the outlaw die in the end, leaving the lady dissolved in tears, possibly on her way to become a nun....
UNDER THE MOONS OF MARS REJECTION - 1912 - It is not at all probable, we think, that we can make use of the story of a Virginia soldier of fortune miraculously transported to Mars....
                             -- Rotten Rejections - A Literary Companion
                                edited by Andre Bernard - Penguin Books 1991

BURROUGHS CRATER ON MARS The 104km Martian crater at 72.5 south, 243.1 west is named after Edgar Rice Burroughs

JANE GOODALL: The opening to the promo blurb to Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees on the PBS series NATURE reads:
    To a little girl growing up in war-battered England in the 1940s, the stories of Tarzan and Dr. Dolittle, who lived in the jungles of Africa with their wild companions, were enchanting and inspiring. That girl was Jane Goodall, and while she grew up determined to share a forest home with African animals, she may not have expected that doing so would lead her to fame as a naturalist, one who changed forever the way we see the chimpanzee, our closest primate relative....
TARZAN SPECIAL COCKTAIL
2 ounces bourbon
1 ounce water
5 drops angostura bitters
2 tsp simple syrup
1 cube ice
Pour into an old-fashioned glass and stir; squeeze lemon peel over top and garnish with thin slice of orange and a maraschino cherry.
The Tarzan Special stemmed from a contest held in 1933 at Carmel, California, sponsored by the National Association of the Advancement of the Fine Arts of Drinking.
ERB claimed that after two of his specials "you will beat yourself on the chest and go roaring into the jungle."

In harm's way: Most of the actors in Tarzan films were fine physical specimens, but they still faced risks - and sometimes death. In the 1920 serial The Son of Tarzan, Hawaiian actor Kamuela Searle created a sensation in the title role of Korak with his muscular build and good looks. But stardom was not to be. In a scene in which an elephant rescues Searle, who was tied to a pole, the beast slammed him to the ground. He was fatally injured; a stand-in shot from behind completed the film.

They have a word for it: Burroughs created a whole ape language. Cyril Hume, screenwriter of 1932's Tarzan, the Ape Man, simplified matters by inventing the all-purpose command "Umgawa," which could mean "up," "down," "halt" or "go."

"My name is Tarzan - just Tarzan": Sean Connery was a villain in the 1959 Gordon Scott film Tarzan's Greatest Adventure and was all set to take over as Tarzan himself in 1961. That is, until he was offered the role of James Bond in Dr. No and just said no.

You make me want to shout: Johnny Weissmuller, who won yodeling contests in his native Pennsylvania, had the best jungle call. A sound technician enhanced his voice by adding a hyena's howl played backwards, a camel's bleat, a plucked violin string and an opera singer's high C. Though Weissmuller left the role in 1948, his yell lived on in other Tarzan movies with Lex Barker, Gordon Scott, Jock Mahoney and Mike Henry. Weissmuller's cry was played at his 1984 funeral.
A Tarzan of few words: Glenn Morris' dialogue in 1938's Tarzan's Revenge consisted of four words: "Tarzan" twice, "Eleanor" and "good."

The second most famous line never said: Next to "Play it again, Sam," never spoken in Casablanca, the honor should go to "Me, Tarzan, you, Jane," which was never uttered.
1996 Nebula SFWA Grand Master Award: Jack Vance. Vance thanked his wife Norma "who I couldn't get by without" and his mother, who gave him fantasy books to read when he was a young boy. This reading gave him an early "turn on" to SF, he said, and he cited the Roy Rockwood books as particularly influential, as well as those by Verne, Wells and Burroughs. Vance added that he felt his career would "keep on tottering" for a number of years, much to the delight of the audience.

BILL HILLMAN
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