Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan    

By Marshall Fine

One of those legendary missed opportunities, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes is a movie that should have been great but wound up the victim of conflicting egos and wrong-headed choices. Based on a screenplay by Robert Towne (who took his name off it when he wasn't allowed to direct) and directed by Hugh Hudson (riding high on the basis of Chariots of Fire), the film tried to rethink the Tarzan legend of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and boy, did it have to: By casting French-accented Christopher Lambert as Tarzan, the filmmakers had to transform his white-hunter mentor Ian Holm into a Frenchman to explain those inflections in Tarzan's monosyllabic speech. The film has some amazing jungle footage and a truly touching relationship between Tarzan and the apes--but it gets pretty silly when Tarzan gets to London and hooks up with Sir Ralph Richardson, as his grandfather.

Academy Awards

Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan received Academy Awards nominations for Supporting Actor (Sir Ralph Richardson), Writing (Best Screenplay based on material from another medium: P.H. Vazak, Michael Austin) and for Best Achievement in Makeup (Rick Baker, Paul Engelen).

Share Your Memories!

Is Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan one of your favorite movies? What do you remember about it? Share your stories (or your reviews) with the world! (We print the best stories right here!)