Jungle Fever

Who's the best Tarzan? Johnny Weissmuller of course. Johnny Jr. explains why as we celebrate Johnny Sr's 100th birthday and the Warner releases of all six classic MGM Tarzan films on DVD

By Paul Zimmerman     January 01, 2005

Consider Tarzan. 48 movies. 26 novels. 65 million copies sold worldwide. But in cinema's eye only one actor is really Tarzan and that's Johnny Weissmuller. In 12 films, made between 1932 and 1948, the former Olympic Gold Medal winning swimmer set the pace for tone, action, humor and adventure. The gold standard for Tarzan films remains the first six he made with MGM. Now at last Warner Bros has released a jungle full of Tarzan films on DVD including the six MGM classics.