Tarzan the Mighty

Tarzan the Mighty is a 1928 American silent action film serial directed by Jack Nelson and Ray Taylor. It was nominally based on the collection Jungle [Tales of Tarzan] by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The film is now considered to be lost.

Cast

Frank Merrill as Tarzan. Joe Bonomo was cast as Tarzan but, while filming Perils of the Wild, fractured his left leg and severely injured his sacroiliac joint while performing a stunt. Director Jack Nelson remembered Frank Merill from working with him on an earlier production, either Perils of the Jungle or The Adventures of Tarzan. Whichever production it was, he felt that Merrill was a natural replacement and the new lead actor started filming the next morning.
Al Ferguson as Black John, village ruler of Pirates' descendants
Natalie Kingston as Mary Trevor. There was no Jane in this production. Kingston was cast as the castaway and love interest Mary Trevor.
Bobby Nelson as Bobby Trevor, Mary's younger brother
Lorimer Johnston as Lord Greystoke, Tarzan's uncle
Production

After the failure of Tarzan and the [Golden Lion (film)|Tarzan and the Golden Lion], starring "Big Jim" Pierce, FBO did not make a sequel. Universal Pictures paid Burroughs an undisclosed sum to make a new Tarzan serial based on Jungle Tales of Tarzan. This serial was later re-titled Tarzan the Mighty.
Merrill, who was the National Gymnastics champion from 1916 to 1918, came up with the vine-swinging technique. Merrill actually swung on a "vine" with Kingston in one arm. The footage was later studied by MGM for Tarzan the Ape Man and the subsequent series of Tarzan films with Johnny Weissmuller.
Production began on April 12 and finished on October 28, 1928. The serial was originally intended to be 12 chapters long but it was so successful that it was extended to 15 chapters in length. Tarzan the Mighty was successful enough for a sequel, Tarzan the Tiger, to be put into production with many of the cast returning.

Chapter titles

The Terror of Tarzan
The Love Cry
The Call of the Jungle
The Lion's Leap
Flames of Hate
The Fiery Pit
The Leopard's Lair
The Jungle Traitor
Lost in the Jungle
Jaws of Death
A Thief in the Night
The Enemy of Tarzan
Perilous Paths
Facing Death
The Reckoning
Novel

Originally written as a 15-part serial for newspapers in 1926, it was collected and published as a trade-paperback by ERBville Press in 2005. The book became available as a hardcover via Lulu.com in 2008.

Chapters

Jungle King
Queen of His Kind
Black John Plots
A Pawn of Passion
Tantor Trumpets
Giant Emotions
Flaming Hate
Mock Marriage
Black John's Revenge
The Imposter
The Stolen Heritage
Treachery Higher Up
A Thief in the Night
Momentary Triumph
The Day of Reckoning

Tarzan the Mighty

Cast

Production

Chapter titles

Novel

Chapters