They never got further to Africa than Toluca Lake in the shooting. It's fairly obvious that when you see shots of Neil Hamilton and Maureen O'Sullivan they're shot against a background of real natives. With tons of footage left over from MGM's African location film of Trader Horn, Tarzan The Ape Man had all the background needed to make the film look good. He kept Weissmuller's dialog to grunts, guttural jungle utterings, and a few choice words that Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane teaches her new jungle man toy. Mayer was nothing if not cautious in protecting an investment in a non-actor to be a lead in a major film. The records he set in the Olympics stood for many years, with today's athlete conditioning methods I can only speculate what he could do today if he were alive and in his prime. In the Roaring Twenties when each sport seemed to have an icon that became a legend, Weissmuller was that for swimming. The fuss over swimming champion Michael Phelps is nothing compared to what Johnny Weissmuller's celebrity was like. As if no one in America, let alone the movie going public didn't know who Johnny Weissmuller was. I hadn't seen Johnny Weissmuller's debut film Tarzan The Ape Man for many years so I was struck by the fact that Neil Hamilton and Maureen O'Sullivan got first billing with Weissmuller down the opening credits in an 'introducing' category.
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