Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute and Weekly Webzine Site Since 1996 ~ Over 15,000 Webpages in Archive Volume 7874  |
ERB 100-Word Drabbles
JULY VI Edition :: Days 1-15
by Robert Allen Lupton
Go to Days 16-31 at ERBzine 7874a
With Collations, Web Page Layout and ERBzine Illustrations and References by Bill Hillman
SPEAK THE LANGUAGE
July 1: On this day in 1966, the film, “Tarzan and the Valley of Gold” was released. Details about the film, reviews, and photos are located at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag2/0210.html
Mike Henry played Tarzan. Manuel Padilla Jr, Jai on the television series, played Ramel, and Nancy Kovack played Sophia Renault. The working titles of the film was Tarzan 65 and Tarzan 66. Fritz Leiber penned a novel of the same name following the script, Nancy had previously appeared in the Elvis film, “Frankie and Johnny.”
Jai, I mean Ramel, was kidnapped and Tarzan as Sophia try to save him. The villains surround the city of gold with tanks and troops. The besieged ruler, Manco, tries to pay off the mercenaries, who refuse. Tarzan tells Manco that violence will be necessary to save the city and its people.
Manco suffocates Vinaro, the mercenary leader, in a shower of gold dust, and Tarzan defeats the mercenaries in battle. The old ruler says that sadly, sometimes violence is necessary to preserve one’s way of like.
The drabble for today, “Speak The Language,” was inspired by the film.Manco, the old ruler said, “All they want is gold. If we give it to them they’ll leave.” SPEAK THE LANGUAGE
Tarzan signed, “No matter how much you give them, they’ll want more. They’ll come back. You have to fight them.”“Violence solves nothing.”
“Manco, I abhor violence. I speak many languages and when I’m confronted by people whose only language is violence, I must speak their language or perish.”“Violence perpetuates violence.”
“It does, but death and liberty once lost, are lost forever. People often misunderstand me. Just because I won’t attack doesn’t mean I won’t defend myself and those I love.”
NOTHING VENTURED
July 2: On this day in 2004, actor Rex Williams, who appeared in Tarzan’s Peril, (https://www.erbzine.com/mag19/1951.html) died in Winchester, Massachusetts. He was also a sculptor and painter, living in Santa Fe, New Mexico for twenty years.
His film work included “The Gorilla Man,” “Above Suspicion,” “The Hitler Gang,” and “Sally O’Rourke.” His stage work was quite extensive.
His most famous quotation is ‘You can’t always win, but you don’t have to lose right away.”
The drabble for today is “Nothing Ventured,” inspired by the film, “Tarzan’s Peril.”Jane asked, “Looks like there was a fight. What happened?” NOTHING VENTURED
Tarzan sniffed the air and read the tracks. “A panther jumped from the banyan tree. It attacked and killed an antelope.”“Sad for the antelope.”
“yes, but panthers must eat. A pride of lions, who’d been tracking the antelope, killed the panther.”'“The panther should have stayed in the tree.”
“Yes, the panther wouldn’t have been in peril if it had stayed in the tree, but that’s not how panthers are made. It would have been safer for humanity if we’d stayed in caves. Aren’t we glad that we didn’t.”
PUBLISHING AND OTHER FORMS OF INSANITY
July 3: On this day in 1937, Russ Cochran, publisher of the Edgar Rice Burroughs: Library of Illustration, was born. Russ also published books about Hopalong Cassidy, Chet Adkins, and Les Paul.
For more information, https://www.erbzine.com/mag70/7093.html, is a good place to start.
He reprinted almost every EC Comic in his hardcover Compete EC Comics collections and his Another Rainbow and Gladstone Publishing. Gladstone, a subsidiary of Another Rainbow, brought classic Barks duck stories back into print along with stories by creators, like Don Rosa and William Van Horn, who continued the Barks tradition. Another Rainbow also published the award-winning collection of Barks paintings, The Fine Art of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck by Carl Barks. Gladstone completed its publication of the 30-volume Carl Barks Library in 1998.
Cochran left his tenured university position in 1974 to become a full-time publisher, and then went on to run a prominent publishing operation for over 30 years, in the process bringing to light not only EC Comics, but vintage newspaper strips like Gasoline Alley, Alley Oop, Connie, Tarzan and others. Among his most ambitious projects was the Edgar Rice Burroughs Library of Illustration, which featured decades of beautiful art depicting the works of the creator of Tarzan. This deluxe, slip-cased three-volume edition limited to a print run of 2,000, featured paintings, illustrations and comic strips by a veritable Who’s Who of Twentieth Century illustrators and cartoonists, including J. Allen St. John, Frank Frazetta, Roy Krenkel, Rex Maxon, Russ Manning, N. C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Hal Foster, Studley Burroughs, John Coleman Burroughs, Morris Gollub, and others. These well-produced volumes sold out quickly and remain out of print, commanding high prices on the aftermarket. As I write this, sets on EBay range from $250.00 to $750.00.
Russ published a lot more, but that’s all I going to list in this article.
The 100 drabble for today, “Publishing and Other Forms of Insanity,” lets Russ speak for himself about why he became a publisher.The EC Portfolios were born because I wanted to start going to comic conventions more than I had been. The big one at that time was the July 4th convention in New York. It was a stretch on a professor’s salary going to New York, spending a week in a hotel and so on, just for pleasure. So, I thought, what could I do to earn enough money to pay my expenses? That was all — I wasn’t thinking of making a profit. I was just thinking of having a free ticket to go to a convention and things like that.” PUBLISHING AND OTHER FORMS OF INSANITY
FIGHT FOR LIFE
July 4: On this day in 1958, the film “Tarzan’s Fight For Life,” was released in the United States. Gordon Scott, who was truly Tarzan the Magnificent,” and Eve Brent, who was pretty magnificent herself, played Jane. Ricky Sorenson played Tartu, Tarzan’s adopted son, and Woody Strode played Ramo, a powerful native warrior.
The second Tarzan film in color ran for 86 minutes. It grossed about two million dollars worldwide and made a profit of $350, 000,00. Detail about the film, and several photos are located at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag19/1955.html
During the filming, Scott was almost killed by the python he was wrestling. It took six men to free him from the snake. Scott also bet that he could capture and ride a giraffe. He could and did. The ride was added to the movie.
The 100 word drabble for today is “Fight For Life,” and it was inspired by the film.Gordon Scott gasped for air. His face turned red. He tried to shout for help, but the python had squeezed the breath out of him. He gestured frantically. FIGHT FOR LIFE
The director said, “Great. Keep rolling.”
“Scott dropped to his knees.
“Stand up, you’re ruining the take.”
Scott toppled over. Eve Brent screamed. “He’s not acting, he’s dying.”
Six stagehands pulled the python off Scott.
The director said, “That was unnecessarily realistic. The python should have only pretended to choke you.”Scott rubbed his throat. “Did anyone tell that to the python?”
“I tried, but I don’t speak python all that well.”
ELEPHANT WALK
July 5: On this day in 1987, the Gray Morrow / Don Kraar Sunday Tarzan comic story arc, The Winds of Change, began. The story ran for twelve weeks and ended on September 20, 1987. Read the entire story at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag35/3521.html.
Kraar and Morrow tackled some hard issues in the Sunday pages. This story explores the fine line between a farmer’s right to protect his crops from indigenous species, and the right of the species, in this case, elephants, to roam where they traditionally roamed. It also presents a conflict between legal hunting, poaching, and those who would outlaw all hunting. The conclusion is that people will hunt and it’s better to monitor and control legal hunting than it is to fight illegal poaching. I’m not sure that’s an either / or question and I’m not going to preach a solution to the issue, but I will say that I’d vote for the elephants.
Spoiler alert, in the story, Tarzan defeats the poachers, convinces the protesters that all hunting isn’t necessarily bad, and convinces the farmer to leave a migratory passage for the elephants across his land.
The drabble for today is “Elephant Walk”, and it was inspired by, and uses some of the words from the comic story arc, “The Winds of Change.”Angela Badham encountered Tarzan, who was riding an elephant. “Did you escape from a circus or are you auditioning for a movie.” ELEPHANT WALK
Tarzan said, “I’m leading the elephants to safety.”
“No, take them back to the game preserve.”
“Elephants migrate. On the preserve, poachers kill them every day.”
“Off the preserve, licensed hunters kill them.”
While they argued, poachers attacked. Tarzan defeated them and convinced a coffee planter to take down his fences so the elephants could migrate.”Angela said, “Well, Tarzan you got your way. Management is better than chaos. You win.”
“No, Miss Badham. Today, the elephants won.”
TIME FORGOT
July 6: On this day, the film, “The People That Time Forgot,” was released. The Amicus film was the sequel to the 1975 film, “The Land That Time Forgot.” Frank Frazetta paintings appear throughout the film. Dana Gillespie appears as Ajor, and Sara Douglas played Lady Cunningham. Patrick Wayne is Major Ben McBride and Douglas McClure reprised his role as Bowen Tyler. David Prowse, he who went to the Dark Side of the Force, had a small role.
The film is loosely based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novella of the same name. Pretty low budget, all around. Read all about the film at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag30/3029.html
The drabble for today is “Time Forgot,” and it was inspired by the film.Patrick Wayne said, “I read the book last night. My character should be called Tom Billings, not Ben McBride.” TIME FORGOT
Sara Douglas said, “Don’t whine. My character, Lady Cunningham, doesn’t appear in the book under any name.”
Doug McClure said, “At least the writers didn’t call you Lady Chatterley. They invented new characters rather than use ones that a best-selling writer created. The novel doesn’t include Dr. Edwin Norfolk, Hogan, Captain Lawton, or Sabbala.”
Patrick said, “The writers omitted perfectly good characters from the book. Why did they leave out Tomar, So-al, and Du-seen.”
“Those are the people that time forgot.”
WHO'S YOUR DADDY
July 7: On this day in 1917, All-Story Weekly published the second installment of ‘The Lad and the Lion.” The issue’s cover by C. D; Williams illustrated the story, “Passengers for Paradise” by Frank R. Adams. Williams illustrated about a dozen pulp covers, mostly headshots of attractive women. Frank Ramsey Adams wrote about 50 pulp stories, mostly romance, with titles like “An Engagement with Nancy Brown,” “The First Assistant Wife,” “Friend Wife,” “A Gentleman Passes By,” and “French with a Teacher.” It appears that his writings have never been republished.
The issue contains the story, “Russel’s 1917 Model” by Harold Lamb.
“The Lad and the Lion” is Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel of a young man and a lion trapped together on an abandoned boat at sea. It was made into a film in 1917, 90 years before Pi had a life. Burroughs was paid $500.00 for the film. It was remade, sort of, as “The Lion Man.” In 1937.
Publication details and several illustrations are at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0760.html
The drabble for today is “Who’s Your Daddy,” and it was inspired by the novel, “The Land and the Lion.”Nakhla, the daughter of a sheik, was rescued by a young man, who she called Aziz. She dressed him properly and taught him her language. “Where are you from? Who are your parents?" WHO'S YOUR DADDY
“I’m lived on a boat. My father is a lion.”
“Your parents have to be people.”
“I hope not. People lie and murder. Lions are brave and they don’t hunt or betray their own kind.”“You don’t think much of people.”
“People are hyenas and not to be trusted. It is better to live as a lion for a day than as a hyena for a lifetime!”
WHO'S TO BLAME
July 8: On this day in 2007, Tarzan the Musical closed after 486 performances at the Richard Rogers Theatre. The closing was attributed to declining ticket sales The music and lyrics were by Phil Collins and David henry Hwang wrote the book. Actress Jennifer Gambatese was Jane Porter, Josh Strickland was Tarzan and Chester Gregory II was Terk. The show has since been staged n several other countries, regional theatres, and now, local theatres including high school and university productions around the world. During the planning workshop for the production, Matthew Morrison read Tarzan, and singer Laura Bell Bundy read Jane.
Details about the play and its many productions begin at: https://www.erbzine.com/disney/
The play was not received well by most critics. And the drabble for today “Who’s to Blame,” is take from a review written my Matthew Murray and published in Talkin’ Broadway on may 10, 2006.Gambatese, an adept singer and young actress gets the show's only intentionally funny line, comparing ape-speak to Romance languages. How can you help but feel for someone whose introductory number requires her to marvel Africa's native flora and fauna while rattling off scientific names in incomprehensible glory? WHO'S TO BLAME
The rest of the lyrics and dialogue could just as well be in Latin. But then you'd miss timeless lines like Gregory's "Should I be punished for my intelligence?" No, Terk. But Hwang, Crowley, Collins, and the rest should be punished for their lack of it in bringing this fur-trimmed fiasco to Broadway.
CIRCUS ACT
July 9: On this day in 1945, an article written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the world’s oldest war correspondent, Laughs At Sea, as published in published in the Honolulu Adverrtiser: The article is one of series that ERB wrote about his experiences onboard an oil tanker, the USS Cahaba, during WW2. Burroughs experiences during WW2 are larger forgotten by his fans and almost completely forgotten by the world at large.
The newspaper still exists as the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
The entire article and several more are available at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag11/1128.html
The drabble for today, “Circus Act,” is an excerpt from “Laughs At Sea,” the third article in the series.A lad who won fame, at least in my eyes, is Joe "Red" Clennan, In harbor, No. 2 motor launch is moored to a boom sticking far out over the water. From its end a Jacob's ladder extends down into the water. A four-inch board forms the catwalk along which the launch's crew make perilous trips to and from the constantly bobbing and cavorting launch. CIRCUS ACT
Whenever possible, I always stood at the rail and watched this aerial act, and finally my patience was rewarded -- Red missed the boat and fell into the sea. It was darn nice of him.
A BROTHEL, I'M SHOCKED
July 10: On this day in 1914, ERB changed Harris to Farris and the book’s title to The Girl from Farris’s: There was a real and locally famous brothel called Harris’s operating in Chicago at the time. Copyright was a thing, but not wanting to use the name of a real establishment and perhaps attract the ire of the mobsters who operated the establishment, the name was changed. On the other side of that coin, free advertising wasn’t a thing.
Publishing details, several illustrationsand complete text for "The Girl From Farris's" - https://www.erbzine.com/mag7/0761.html
The completely fictional drabble for today, “A Brothel, I’m Shocked,” was inspired by the name change. It’s a conversation between ERB and his editor at All-Story, Robert Davis. A couple really bad puns in the last two lines. Read ‘em and weep.“Ed,” said Bob Davis, the editor of All-Story Magazine. “I’ve finished tyour draft of “The Girl From Harris’s. It’s not your usual fare, but we’ll publish it. I have one concern. Did you know that one of the best known brothels in Chicago is named Harris’s.” A BROTHEL, I'M SHOCKED
“No idea. I’m shocked that you would know the name of a brothel.”
“Don’t be. It’s famous at City Hall. Anyway, I’d change the name.”
“How about Farris?”
“Didn’t he build that big wheel for the World’s Fair?”
‘I’ll spell if differently.”
“That seems fair. Is it.”
“That’s a bad pun. I’m not amused.”
WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING PLAN
July 11: Happy Birthday to writer, Rob Dorsey, but many years ago on this day in 1962, “Tarzan Goes To India” was released. The twenty-fourth Tarzan film featured Jock Mahoney as Tarzan. John Guillermin directed. There were no Jane or Boy, Simi Garewall portrayed Princess Kamara, the female lead and a young Indian actor known only as Jai was “the elephant boy.” The production was filmed entirely in India and was 88 minutes long.
https://www.erbzine.com/mag19/1960.html has details, posters, lobby cards, and stills galore from the film. The film grossed a little over a million dollars, the highest grossing Tarzan film at that time
The Indian film industry produced about 50 Tarzan films over the years and many of the actors who appeared in Tarzan Goes to India appeared in Bollywood Tarzan films.
The fictional drabble for today, “We Don’t Need No Stinking Plan,” was inspired by the film, “Tarzan Goes to India.”“Tarzan,” said Princess Kamara. “The new dam floods the valley and 300 elephants will drown. Will you save them?” WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING PLAN
“I’ll try. I like elephants. Will anyone try to stop me?”
A rogue elephant, Bala, controls the herd and refuses to leave the valley. Frightened refugees from the rising waters have barricaded the exit, hoping to stop the floodwaters.”“Are the refugee leaders and Bala evil?”
“No, they’re both trying to save everyone. They don’t have a plan, not even a bad plan, but they mean well.”“I’ll do my best, but the well-meaning have toppled more civilizations than Genghis Kahn.”
I SIDE WITH THE JUNGLE
July 12: On this day in 2012, Andy Briggs’ Tarzan the Jungle Warrior, was published. The young adult oriented novel was the second effort , “following the “Greystoke Legacy,” to make Tarzan relevant to a new younger audience. Its success on that front, remains to be seen. The third book was called Tarzan: The Savage Lands.
Tarzan, Jane, and Robbie are on the trail of brutal poachers, who are also slave traders. An eco-friendly Tarzan is mistrustful of people who disrupt his life in the jungle. That sounds right, he should be, Tarzan was an eco-warrior before there was a word for it.
Details about Andy and his books: https://www.erbzine.com/mag34/3423.html
The drabble for today. I Side With the Jungle,” is from an article in the UK Guardian dated June 30, 2010.Now the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate has backed a new children's series about the bare-chested hero, set in modern Africa and aimed at nine to 11-year-olds. By Andy Briggs, the author of the Hero.com and Villain.net books, the series is promising to "bring Tarzan the Eco Warrior to the PlayStation generation" as an "edgier and more feral" character. Briggs, a long-time fan of Tarzan, believes the character is ripe for a reboot. "I think now more than ever Tarzan is a relevant character," he said this morning. "He was the first eco-warrior, and I wanted to hold on to that." I SIDE WITH THE JUNGLE
DON'T GROW UP
July 13: On this day in 1955, actor Manuel Padilla Jr was born. He appeared in the films, Tarzan and the Great River and Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, and played Jai on Ron Ely's Tarzan television series. He appeared in about a dozen other films and television shows including, “American Graffiti,” “Four for Texas,” “Robin and the Seven Hoods,” “Scarface,” “The Flying Nun,” “Happy Days,’ and “Taffy and the Jungle Hunter.” He died in 2008, 25 years after his last film role.
The 100 word drabble for today, “Don’t Grow Up,” is an entirely fictional interview with Manuel Padilla Jr., a child actor who didn’t successfully make the change to adult roles.Silvia, the interviewer said, “Manuel, you were adorable in the 1960s and 1970s. You were always busy,” DON'T GROW UP
“I was very fortunate. I started out with small roles on several television westerns. Tarzan was a big break for me and so was American Graffiti.”
“You had a reoccurring role on “The Flying Nun?”
“I did until she was grounded. She violated controlled airspace, I think.”
“You haven’t worked for years, what happened.?”
“I wasn’t Peter Pan. I grew up. My early success as a child actor typecast me. There aren’t a lot of parts around for an adorable forty-year old man.”
LOW BUDGET IS BETTER THAN NO BUDGET
July 14: On this day in 1937, Director Kevin Connor, The Land That Time Forgot, The People That Time Forgot, At The Earth’s Core, was born in Kings Cross, London, UK. IMBD lists seventy-eight directing credits including ‘Baron Blackwolf: Dogs of God,’ ‘ Mistral’s Daughter,’ two episodes of ‘Remington Steele,’ and ‘Warlords of the Deep.’
He’s also directed five Christmas themed films including ‘Annie Clause is Coming to Town,’ and ‘Goodbye, Mr. Kingle.’ Ho, Ho Ho.
Details about his three films based on novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs begin at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag21/2117.html
The 100 drabble for today, “Low Budget is Better than No Budget” is from an interview with Kevin Connor posted on filmjuice.com on August 2, 2012For “At the Earth’s Core” we created life-sized beasts to interact better with the actors. We had a bigger budget thanks to the success of “The Land That Time Forgot.” The beasts were designed so small stunt guys could work inside the suits in a crouched position and on all-fours. Needless to say it was very cramped and the stunt guys had to take frequent breathers. Some worked better than others – but we were experimenting and trying something different. Some effects are a bit creaky, but given the times and low budget I think they stand up pretty well today. LOW BUDGET IS BETTER THAN NO BUDGET
ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE
July 15: On this day in 1945, Edgar Rice Burroughs, the world’s oldest war correspondent flew to Guam in a plane piloted by Lieutenant Tyrone Power. Power made several films, frequently appearing as a swashbuckling roles including The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan and the Captain from Castile. His personal favorite was the original version of Nightmare Alley.
Power enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942 and earned his wings shortly thereafter. Considered to old for aerial combat, he was assigned to the Marine Transport Squadron. Among his other duties was flying injured Marines out of Iwo Jima. He remained in the reserves the rest of his life and reached the rank of Major.
Power died of an heart attack while filming Solomon and Sheba in 1958 while filming a duel for the film.
The 100 drabble for today, “All the World’s A Stage,” is a fictional conversation between Tyrone Powers and Edgar Rice Burroughs - somewhere in the Pacific.Edgar Rice Burr0ughs climbed into the Transport Plane. The pilot took his bag. Ed said, “You like just like Tyrone Power." ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE
“I am Tyrone Power.”
“I must be on the wrong plane. Is this a movie? Loved you in “A Yank in the RAF.”“Mr. Burroughs, I know you too. This this is real enough. I’ve played a lot of roles on screen, but I’m a real pilot.”
Ed smiled, “I’m sort of like that. I’ve been a lot of things in real life, but now I’m acting like a war correspondent.”
“I see. I won’t tell if you won’t”
