found who they were looking for when they came across decorated Olympian, Weissmuller. The professional swimmer had five gold medals in the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, alongside 67 world and 52 national titles. The only obstacle with signing him onto the role was his contract to model BVD underwear. In order for them to release him from the contract, MGM agreed to have actresses such as Greta Garbo and Marie Dressler, to be featured in BVD ads. The film was shot on Lot One of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in Culver City, California and at the Lake Sherwood area north of Los Angeles as well as Silver Springs in Florida. Lions from the film were borrowed from nearby Goebel's Lion Farm in Thousand Oaks, CA. Goebel himself would often camp by the filming site near Lake Sherwood to watch his lions during filming. As with most Weissmuller Tarzan films, the elephants were Indian, which have smaller ears, rather than African, so large fake ears, and fake tusks, were fitted onto the animals in an attempt to make them look authentic. Similarly, the tribe of African dwarfs, made to look like pygmies (all males), portrayed in the film was actually a cast of several white midgets wearing blackface. Stock footage made in Africa for W.S. Van Dyke's Trader Horn was added to location work shot in the then-undeveloped Toluca Lake region north of Los Angeles. Release The film was released on April 2, 1932. Reception The movie proved to be a huge hit, pulling in nearly $1 million in profits. The overall success of the film lead MGM to star Weissmuller and O'Sullivan in a total of five sequels. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 100%, based on , with a rating average of 7.8/10. References DVD commentary for the Tarzan Collection DVD set released in 2005. External links Tarzan the Ape Man at FilmSite.org Tarzan the Ape Man history at ERBzine.com 1932 films 1930s fantasy adventure films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films American fantasy adventure films Blackface minstrel shows and films Films about dwarfs Films about kidnapping Films directed by W. S. Van Dyke Films produced by Irving Thalberg Films set in Africa Films shot in Los Angeles Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by Cyril Hume Tarzan films Films about people with dwarfism 1930s American films