First and Only Weekly Online Fanzine Devoted to the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs Since 1996 ~ Over 10,000 Webpages in Archive

CONTENTS Hitler vs ERB OB Speaks Out Barsoom Origin Revealed Tarzan Added to the National Film Registry Tarzan and His Mate: Compendium Guide Rochelle Hudson Cartoon Gallery Robot Tarzan Me Tarzan: Something worth yelling about Collectors Corner Lobby Cards ERB Portfolio The Staff Cover Parade New ERB WWII Photo Ed's 806 North Rodeo Drive Home Now . . . For Some Real Scientific Stuff Adventures of Tarzan DVD

From our ERB Scrapbook Series 
Which will appear next week
Hitler vs. ERB

From the Montreal Star ~ April 20, 1934 Surely nothing but a grossly exaggerated view of Nazi Germany could ever have prompted the Berlin Film Board to ban the American-made picture, "Tarzan of the Apes," a film version of one of Edgar Rice Burrough's [sic] weird romances of the West African jungle.  The reason given in the board's decision is that the picture in question is "dangerous to Nazi principles of race-conciousness, offensive to ideals of matrimony and womanly dignity," and "dangerous" because "the German nation's sensibilities have been sharpened as regards questions of hereditary biology."   This sort of thing would move to laughter but for the fact that it is obviously intended as no jest but in deadly earnest.  When will Hitler's Nazis learn to develop a sense of humor?

From the  ERB: THE WAR YEARS Series LOST WORDS AND LETTERS OF EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS Pre-War Letters Ed speaks out on:  Successful Writing Hobbies Prohibition and Temperance Disarmament

April 8, 1930 Mr. James M. Libby
9529 - 118th Street,
Richmond Hill, N. Y.

My dear James:

        I should be very glad to answer the questions contained in your
letter of April 2nd, but you must understand that these are only my
personal opinions, some of which are given without the weight of any
considerable legitimate knowledge of the subject, with the possible
exception of the first.

        I attribute my first success in writing to chance, since I nor no
other man may possibly know just what is going to strike the fancy of
millions of people.  The long continued popularity of my stories,
however, is  another matter and this I attribute to the fact that I
have always done the very best work that lay within me.  I have not
permitted myself to attempt to coast on the momentum gained on the
popularity of my former books, but in each new story I try to write
the very best story that I can.  The result of this is, I believe,
that at no time have any great numbers of my readers been keenly dis-
appointed in any story of mine.

        I have no hobby.  I am interested in a great many different things,
books, wrestling matches, football games, prizefights, flowers, animals,
automobiles - in fact almost everything interests me. I spend a great
deal of time on horseback because I find it a healthful form of exercise
and also because I have ridden horses all my life.  Naturally, the thing
that one can do fairly well he likes to do.

        My opinions on prohibition, the League of Nations and the disarmament
policy are utterly worthless.  However, I have no objection to stating them.

        I am a strong believer in temperance, but I am highly antagonistic
to the principle involved in prohibition.  Furthermore, I am confident
that prohibition does not promote temperance, while it does promote
lawlessness.  I also am of the opinion that it is unenforceable and in
the Literary Digest poll I voted for repeal.

        On general principles I am opposed to any entangling alliances with foreign
countries.  We are today probably the richest and most powerful nation
the world has ever known and I believe that we can remain a power for
peace if we do not permit ourselves to be entangled unnecessarily in
European politics.

        I consider the disarmament conference an utterly worthless gesture.
With human nature as it is and always has been, and probably always
will be, there always will be wars.  Nothing will discourage a belligerent
nation more effectively than a well armed adversary.

            With best wishes, I am
                        Yours very sincerely,
Edgar Rice Burroughs

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BARSOOM ORIGIN REVEALED? AMRA, Vol. 2, No. 42 (September 1966) In his article, "A Furthest Note on the Red Planet,"  pulp fiction writer, E. Hoffman Price - a colleague of Otis Adelbert Kline -  wrote of a meeting with an old friend, Barsoom Badigian, a Oriental rug dealer, in New Orleans in 1941. They spent the evening dining, drinking and reminiscing. During the course of their conversation, Barsoom recalled an event from long ago: "I knew Edgar Rice Burroughs, way back, years ago. My name Barsoom, caught his fancy, and he wondered if I'd object if he used it in one of his stories. So I think he called something or someone BARSOOM."  Hoffman believed that Badigian was not likely to cook up a flimsy yarn concerning the origin of a locale name in a book. He felt that ERB and his writing meant nothing at all to the old man, except insofar as ERB himself was an agreeable associate. The derivation of a fictional Martian name would have been a matter of total indifference to him.

E. Hoffman Price Submitted by Dale R. Broadhurst

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) --Some of Hollywood's most dynamic duos are among the headliners included in the 2003 version of the Library of Congress' list of 25 films that will be added to the National Film Registry.Among the major motion pictures included in this year's list are "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," which first paired Robert Redford and Paul Newman; "Tarzan and His Mate," the second in the Tarzan series; "National Velvet," which put Mickey Rooney together with a teenage Elizabeth Taylor; "Naughty Marietta," one of the movies made by the song-and-dance team Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy; and "Son of the Sheik," starring Rudolph Valentino.

Each year Librarian of Congress James Billington selects 25 "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant motion pictures for the Registry. The list is designed to reflect the full breadth and diversity of America's film heritage, thus increasing public awareness of the richness of American cinema and the need for its preservation, Billington said. "Our film heritage is America's living past," he said. "It celebrates the creativity and inventiveness of diverse communities and our nation as a whole. By preserving American films, we safeguard a significant element of our cultural history."

For each title named to the registry, the Library of Congress works to ensure that the film is preserved for all time, either through the Library's motion picture preservation program or through collaborative ventures with other archives, motion picture studios and independent filmmakers. The Library of Congress contains the largest collections of film and television in the world, from the earliest surviving copyrighted motion picture to the latest feature releases. The selections, which seem to highlight buddy films and sequels, span the years 1894-1988.

"Tarzan and His Mate," the second of the Tarzan franchise that featured Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan, became one of the brand of then-racy new films that forced the motion picture industry to adopt the forerunner of the modern ratings system -- the Hays Code. "The production code came about because of films like this," Leggett said.

One scene in particular, which had Weissmuller swimming naked with a double for O'Sullivan, was considered particularly racy. It was cut during postproduction but was restored to the film about a decade ago. "It's a very sexy scene," Leggett said. "But it was one of those things where people started saying that Hollywood was getting out of control. After this, Tarzan and Jane are sleeping in separate beds -- like that would ever happen in a treehouse in the jungle."

While the famous-name films grab the headlines, the biggest beneficiaries of the libraries film preservation efforts are the so-called "orphan" films. Pictures like the 1894 "Dickenson Experimental Sound Film," perhaps the first "talkie," that have little commercial value but are significant nonetheless are the most at risk, Billington said.

"In spite of the heroic efforts of archives, the motion picture industry and others, America's film heritage, by any measure, is an endangered species," he said. "Fifty percent of the films produced before 1950 and 80-90% made before 1920 have disappeared forever. Sadly, our enthusiasm for watching films has proved far greater than our commitment to preserving them."

ROCHELLE HUDSON Longtime Friend of the Burroughs Family See  John Coleman Burroughs Biography Edgar Rice Burroughs: The War Years Florence Gilbert Burroughs Biography

Convicted Woman poster  with Rochelle Hudson and Glenn Ford ~ 1940

Rochelle Hudson Born: March 6, 1914 Oklahoma City, OK  Died: January 17, 1972 Palm Desert, CA (pneumonia) Spouses: Harold Thompson  (1939-1947) (divorced): WWII Naval officer who became a Disney Studios story editor Richard Hyler (1948-1950) (divorced): A Los Angeles Times sports writer Charles Burst  (?-?) (divorced): A businessman Robert L. Mindell  (1963-1971) (divorced): Hotel Executive A longtime friend of the Burroughs family was Rochelle Hudson, a movie starlet at 13. Since she lived near Ventura Boulevard, she was often given a ride to school by Jack and Hulbert. Snubbed by most of her schoolmates because of her fame as a movie star, she became a good friend of the Burroughs family and even took vacation trips with them.On one occasion, sixteen-year-old Jack drove Rochelle and her mother on a trip to Oklahoma City.  While in Hawaii during the war, Ed Burroughs often visited Rochelle and her naval officer husband Hal Thompson. By that time Rochelle had worked for many years in film. (The Bosko series, Mr. Moto, Curly Top, Boston Blackie, Rebel Without A Cause [later in the '50s]). Rochelle's film career was interrupted during the coming war years when she worked for the Naval Intelligence Service in Central and South American and Mexico.

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CARTOON GALLERY

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IN THE NEWS

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'Robot Tarzan' helps forest work
By Jo Twist: BBC News Online technology reporter
A fearless mobile robot is helping scientists monitor environmental changes in forests. The hi-tech Tarzan of the robot world, nicknamed Treebot, is the first of its kind to combine networked sensors, a webcam, and a wireless net link.It is solar-powered and moves up and down special cables to take samples and measurements for vital analysis. Treebot has been developed by scientists at the US Centre for Embedded Network Sensing in California.

Pinpoint precision
Programmed with open-source computer code, Linux, the Treebot is a vital addition to researchers' environmental monitoring kit, according to one of the project leaders, Professor William Kaiser. "One of our objectives is to make use of distributed sensors to acquire information about the environment," he said. "It is very important in the biology community to understand the interaction between the atmosphere and the forest environment. Understanding subtle changes in light, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels give scientists crucial indications and predictions about environmental change. But 90% of all interaction between the environment and atmospheric conditions happens high up in the forest canopy, and it is a challenge taking detailed measurements and monitoring conditions over a period of time. We are very excited about this and feel it really is a significant breakthrough in allowing us to have a variety of fixed and mobile sensors.

The Treebot, which in scientific terms is a node in a Networked Infomechanical System (Nims), helps by being stealthy enough to travel through the forest canopy along specially-constructed cabling, night and day. "Using new Nims technology, provides us with a means to place instruments anywhere, moving horizontally and vertically," said Professor Kaiser."At the same time, we can monitor plants and even individual leaves over time using spectrographic imaging."

Eighteen months in development, the main difference between Treebot and other fixed sensors is its autonomous nature and its ability to communicate with other devices and sensors. It has its own server and, using its wireless net link, sends sample information and other data back to scientists based at the University of California (UCLA). They, in turn, can tell it go to specific points of interest and take samples or analyse particular areas. The robot can also lower another sensor deep into the forest to pick up detailed data about conditions, and it talks to other fixed sensors on the ground around the forest.

"We need to understand carbon dioxide effects and light - to what extent it makes its way to lower canopy," said Professor Kaiser. Treebot can pinpoint and analyse foliage to see if carbon dioxide has resulted from photosynthesis or from the upper atmosphere.

'Significant breakthrough'
The next stage of the project includes building a website from which schoolchildren can access images and information from Treebot, as well as help with experiments. The team also hope to introduce more Treebots and portable towers so that the entire Nims system can be moved, set up and launched at any location.

"We are very excited about this and feel it really is a significant breakthrough in allowing us to have a variety of fixed and mobile sensors, and it gives us a new understanding of our environment," Professor Kaiser said. "We won't be surprised if we uncover an entirely new phenomenon with it."

The Treebot, part of wider research funded by the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center, is set to swing into three forests by early 2004 and has already been successfully used at the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility in Washington state.
Story from BBC NEWS: ~ Published: 2003/12/29  ~ © BBC MMIII
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/3340057.stm

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Me Tarzan: Something worth yelling about
By Holly Atkins
Published January 5, 2004

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Welcome back to "We're Talkin' Books Here!" We hope you had a good winter break (and read lots of good books). We also hope today's selection, a wild story about a girl who gets her wish to play Tarzan in the school play, helps you ease back into your school routine. Or maybe it just will give you something fun to yell about.

On her Web site, www.betsybyars.com Betsy Byars, an award-winning author of more than 50 books, talks about why she wrote Me Tarzan: "I used to love the Tarzan movies, and I didn't want to be Jane. I wanted to be Tarzan," she said. "I wanted to swing through the jungle on vines and wrestle crocodiles and pal around with apes. Writing this book gave me the chance - through Dorothy - to give that fabulous yell.

"That's one of the fun things about writing books," Byars continues. "You get to be the characters. And the yell gets bigger and bigger. At first it attracts the neighborhood dogs and cats, but then when the circus is in town - well, you can imagine what it attracts then."

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Jordan: I liked the book. Whenever Dorothy gave her Tarzan yell, all the animals came running! That would be cool to be able to do something that would make a whole bunch of animals do what you wanted them to do.

Steven: I liked the part near the end when there was that big stampede.

Deanna: I thought it was a good book because the author had a good idea, and she used good writing and illustrations to make a really catchy book that was fun to look at and read.

Mrs. Atkins: I agree with Deanna. I thought it was really cool how whenever the main character, Dorothy, yelled her Tarzan yell, the words on the page were written in large, black, flowing kind of letters so you could almost hear the sounds jump off the page.

Jordan: Yeah, I could hear it all in my head.

Mrs. Atkins: Let's talk about the two main characters: Dwayne and Dorothy. At the beginning of the book, Dwayne was very mean to her.

Jordan: Dwayne told Dorothy that she couldn't play Tarzan in the play because she was a girl.

Steven: And then Dwayne made fun of Dorothy when he said he didn't know anybody except Barney who wore a purple outfit like she had on.

Jordan: I know why he said those things - because she thought he liked her.

Shamarri: Yeah, Dwayne liked Dorothy like a girlfriend but didn't want other kids to know.

Mrs. Atkins: What made Dorothy start doing the Tarzan yell in the first place?

Steven: She wanted to keep Dwayne from playing Tarzan in the school play.

Mrs. Atkins: But why does she keep doing it?

Deanna: Because it felt good to yell it.

Jordan: It was kind of like a deep-down urge. Like, say you want to try this new kind of candy - you just really want to have some of it. That's the way doing the Tarzan yell was for her.

Shamarri: At first Dorothy didn't really know why she was doing it, and then she saw that every time she made the Tarzan yell, the animals came to her. She noticed she was reaching the animals with her yell.

Steven: At the end of the book it said that after she did her Tarzan yell for the play, Dorothy and her dad were talking about why the animals would come - because they felt free. And that's how she felt when she gave the Tarzan yell. But her dad was like, not all these animals are used to being free. Some of them have lived their whole lives with some human taking care of them and weren't used to being in the wild.

Jordan: Yeah, that kind of wild, jungle freedom wasn't really a good thing for these animals.

Steven: Like the dove that was part of the Alvarez sisters' circus act. When he heard Dorothy's yell and came, he just sat there looking at her, waiting for her to tell him what to do.

Deanna: And animals like that dove wouldn't know how to defend themselves in the wild.

Mrs. Atkins: We talked about the bold, heavy-printed writing in the book whenever Dorothy did her Tarzan yell, but did you have any other favorite illustrations?

Jordan: I liked the picture of the stampede at the end.

Mrs. Atkins: Isn't it great how with this book, you read the words on the page, but you also "read" the pictures?

Steven: Yeah, like with the stampede, you could look at the picture and feel what it was like in the school auditorium with all the animals rushing inside.

Shamarri: I had one part in the book I didn't really like - when Dorothy's teacher made her change from playing Tarzan and doing the yell. I liked the Tarzan yell and didn't really see what was wrong with it.

Jordan: Yeah, but the teacher didn't like it when Dorothy's yell made all those horses fill up the playground and the kids couldn't go home.

Shamarri: And the teacher, Mr. Mooney, had that talk with the principal and he was probably worried he was going to get fired if all the animals came to the school again.

Deanna: He felt bad about doing it, but he read Dorothy's journal because he wanted to find out what was going on with this yell of hers.

Jordan: He broke his promise to his students - he told them their journals were private and that he'd never read them.

Steven: I thought that was mean of him to do that.

Mrs. Atkins: Okay, let's talk about that. How do the rest of you feel about Mr. Mooney breaking his promise and reading Dorothy's journal?

Deanna: I don't think he should have done it.

Shamarri: I'm kind of in the middle about it. If you're a teacher, you have to know what's going on - especially if it keeps someone from getting hurt. But I really didn't like how he wrote in her book and finished where she had left off when she wrote "What if - "

Mrs. Atkins: Hmmm - did Mr. Mooney write that part or did Dorothy? How does the author show us the difference between words that are part of the story and words that are part of Dorothy's journal?

Jordan: The letters that are part of Dorothy's journal are kind of slanted and look different than all the letters in the rest of the book.

Steven: Ohhhh - so he didn't write in her journal, he's thinking the words in his head!

Mrs. Atkins: That's right, Steven. So when we read, we really have to pay attention to even the little things like the print changing, and ask ourselves what the author is telling us, right? That part could have been confusing otherwise.

Jordan: I thought the teacher was right when he looked in Dorothy's journal. He had to find out why the animals were acting like that.

Mrs. Atkins: It's kind of like if your best friend told you something and made you promise not to tell, but if you didn't tell someone, he might get hurt. Would you keep your promise?

Everyone: No.

Mrs. Atkins: Well, it's just about time to go. I really had a lot of fun reading this book, didn't you? We've read so many different kinds of books this year. Some were serious - this was just a lot of fun. So, who do you think would like this book?

Shamarri: Anyone who likes animals a lot. I have a friend who wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up so she'd like this book.

Steven: I have a friend at school who likes to read all kinds of books. He should read this one.

Jordan: I think all of my friends should read this book because they're all crazy about animals.

Deanna: I think my good friends Monica, Evan and Katrina should read this book. Katrina's personality reminds me of Dorothy's, and Evan and Monica like books a lot.

Author's note: Did you love this book and want to tell author Betsy Byars yourself? You can write to Betsy Byars, 401 Rudder Ridge, Seneca, SC 29678.

- The grades 3-5 book club includes Evan Billington, Deanna Bousalis, Shamarri Hartzog, Jordan Murray and Steven Quintero. Holly Atkins teaches seventh-grade language arts at Southside Fundamental Middle School in St. Petersburg.

© Copyright 2003 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/05/Nie/Something_worth_yelli.shtml

LOBBY CARDS FROM THE ROMANCE OF TARZAN FILM
ERBzine 0504

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Edgar Rice Burroughs Portfolio

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A 1974 Portfolio limited to 500 copies that consists of five autographed prints of ERB book scenes illustrated by five different artists:
Pellucidar: "David Encounters Dian" by Dan Green.
Tarzan of the Apes: "Lord of the Jungle" by Jeff Jones.
Carson of Venus: "The Escape from Havatoo" by Michael Kaluta.
John Carter of Mars:  "The Warlord" by Al Williamson.
The Monster Men: Number One and Virginia Maxon" by Berni Wrightson.

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THE STAFF (Sept. 15-21, 1972)

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This is a tabloid underground newspaper of 32 pages featuring 15 pages of coverage of the 1972 World  Science Fiction Convention that was held in Los Angeles. It features coverage of panels, quotes from authors on what the future may hold, photos of costume contestants, as well as photos of authors in attendance including Poul Anderson, Frank Herbert, Theodore Sturgeon, Philip Jose Farmer, Ray Bradbury, Robert Silverberg and.a photo of Harlan Ellison autographing someone's bald head. Included is an article by Charles Platt criticizing the predictions of the future that some authors made, as well as discussing a speech by Fred Pohl where Pohl attacked SF which is "relevant". There is also a photo of Astrid Anderson as Dejah Thoris (she's semi-nude and uncensored in a full body photo).

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COVER PARADE

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MAILSTROM

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Hello from Melbourne, Australia I am a collector of US cavalry equipments from WW2,the mainstay of my collection is 112th cavalry.I found your website via yahoo.com. Attached is a photo ERB on New Caledonia with some officers of the 112th cavalry.HQ Troop 112th Cavalry Regiment.1943 The Captain on the left is Byron Albrite.This is my only photo of 112th Cavalry on New Caledonia. The war correspondant (as you know) is Edgar Rice Burroughs of Tarzan fame. My Cavalry Photo Album is at: http://au.msnusers.com/Cavalrystuffandrelated Highest regards Sam Cox

806 N. Rodeo Drive with owner Charlotte Greenwood standing on the front Porch.  Source: Western Family [a bi-weekly publication], May 26, 1949, pp. 4B-5B.  Photo courtesy of  Grant Menzies

REQUEST FOR ADDED INFO: Dear Mr Hillman, I just found your wonderfully detailed ERB web site and am quite curious about one of the houses ERB lived in while in Beverly Hills.  This house,  at 806 North Rodeo Drive, corresponds by address to the home of actress Charlotte Greenwood and her husband, the composer and MGM music director Martin Broones.  I know they rented the house out while they were in London for several years in the 1930's, and that one of their tenants was Maurice Chevalier.  I didn't know that ERB had rented the house as well.  It is no longer standing, unfortunately, but the lot, now occupied by a new house, is located right at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Sunset Blvd., approximately across from the Beverly Hills Hotel.  I am trying to find pictures of the original house as part of my research into Charlotte Greenwood's life.  Any suggestions or advice you would care to share with me on this would be greatly appreciated! All best for the holidays - Grant Menzies - Portland, Oregon http://www.authorsden.com/grantmmenzies

Book your expedition to Pellucidar now A Voyage to Hollow Earth

Mars "News" Alternative Areology and Archeology

NOW AVAILABLE FROM SERIAL SQUADRON www.serialsquadron.com The Adventures of Tarzan starring Elmo Lincoln  A new state-of-the-art digital transfer and reconstruction in 10 chapters, tinted and with a new original musical score. This serial has not been seen in serial form for many years. Adapted from Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Return of Tarzan, the serial's major players are Tarzan's arch enemy Rokoff and Queen La of Opar. Tarzan's companions are Tantor the elephant and a female ape friend called Ara. Plenty of amazing stunts and deathtraps in this fast-paced serial involving live lions and other wild animals, and a memorable performance by the amazing vine-swinging, villain-bashing, chest-beating Elmo Lincoln. 1-2 DVD Set with illustrated menus $19.95