eMoviePoster.com

What are the objects in the corners of some images? Learn More

Tarzan the Fearless, the 1933 Robert F. Hill jungle adventure serial ("Romance! Thrills! Adventure!"; "12 thrilling chapters"; "A New Edgar Rice Burroughs Story") starring Buster Crabbe (in the title role as Tarzan), Julie Bishop (billed as "Jacqueline Wells"), Edward Woods, Philo McCullough, Mischa Auer, Carlotta Monti, Jack Leonard (as the man in the gorilla suit), "and a great cast". Note that Jack Leonard was one of the first men to play gorillas in movies. He was an extra in Tarzan the Ape Man, and the director did not like the way the men in ape suits were performing, and Jack Leonard said he could do better, and he was given the part! He and his wife made his gorilla suit and he studied real life gorillas to see how they moved and the sounds they made. He appeared in a dozen movies between 1932 and 1940, nine times of them as an ape! We don't know what happened to him after that (perhaps he passed away). If anyone knows more about Jack Leonard, please e-mail us and we will post it here. Also note that Ray 'Crash' Corrigan and Charles Gemora were two actors who played lots of gorillas in movies in the 1930s and 1940s. Emil Van Horn and Jack Leonard each played around a dozen gorillas, and interestingly, that was all they did (no doubt all four of them owned a gorilla suit!). Also note that master showman Sol Lesser produced this movie. In addition to releasing it as a regular serial in 12 chapters, he did not create a "feature version" by editing down the 12 chapters into a single film, as producers of many 1930s serials did. Instead, he sent theaters a wacky "feature version" consisting of the first four chapters as a single film, with a separate "trailer" at the end advising patrons to return to the theater to see the other chapters! Apparently, this went over really poorly with film-goers, who were quite naturally very disappointed to only see one-third of a movie! Also, note that this is a "lost" serial which means that no surviving copies are thought to exist (only the "feature version" survives).
NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography.

Important Added Info: Note that in recent auctions we have auctioned small photos of theater fronts from the 1930s and 1940s. Now we have been consigned a really cool collection of mostly 1930s 8x10 stills that show theater fronts and lobby displays (many of them have a stamp from a Boston company on the back, so it seems likely that most or all of them are from theaters in the Boston area)! All of those stills are in this set of auctions (in separate auctions). So this is a rare opportunity to purchase vintage 8x10 stills showing theater fronts from the 1930s (and since we have only auctioned a tiny number of these over all our years of auctioning, there is a good chance that it will be a long time before we have more of them). Also note that this still measures 8 1/4" x 10" [21 x 25 cm].

Our address for UPS or FedEx only is:
Bruce Hershenson,
306 Washington Avenue, West Plains, MO 65775