The first Tarzan film, Tarzan of the Apes (released 1918), shot its “jungle” scenes in southern Louisiana and its studio scenes in the Los Angeles area. Production began in 1917: director Scott Sidney and a crew spent several weeks filming on location in the Atchafalaya Basin around Morgan City, Louisiana (notably Lake End Park and nearby cypress swamps) to stand in for Edgar Rice Burroughs’s moss-draped jungle. The company then moved to California—using Hollywood sets and the Griffith Park/Selig-era facilities and stock footage—to complete the picture.
Why Louisiana? At the time, it was much cheaper and safer to film in the Louisiana swamps than to travel internationally. The production team utilized the Atchafalaya Basin to stand in for the fictional African jungle. In fact, the film was a massive success and put Morgan City on the map as a premier filming destination for early Hollywood.
: This waterfront site in Morgan City served as the main location for the hut scenes. The crew built many palmetto huts there, some of which were later burned for dramatic effect on camera. Atchafalaya Basin where was the first tarzan movie filmed top
It wasn’t until the sound era, particularly the Johnny Weissmuller films of the 1930s and 40s, that Tarzan movies began using more exotic locations like Guatemala’s Lake Atitlán or California’s Sherwood Forest. And it took until the 1980s and 90s for major productions to occasionally film on actual African soil (e.g., Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan was shot in Cameroon and Kenya).
To add to the confusion, many people instinctively think of the iconic MGM Tarzan series starring Johnny Weissmuller. The first of those films, Tarzan the Ape Man (1932), is often called the "first" by casual fans because it introduced the famous yell and jungle romance. That movie was filmed primarily in Hollywood sound stages and at Sherwood Forest (a ranch in California’s San Fernando Valley), with second-unit jungle shots taken from a travelogue filmed in Congo, Africa. Where the first Tarzan movie was filmed The
: Located in downtown Morgan City, this hardware store functioned as the production's prop shop and studio for building costumes and sets. Costello Hotel
The primary filming location for the first Tarzan movie was Lake Piru, a large reservoir located in Ventura County, California. The lake's serene surroundings and lush vegetation provided an ideal setting for the film's jungle scenes. The production team took advantage of the lake's proximity to Los Angeles, which made it an accessible location for filming. Why Louisiana
Some scenes were also filmed along the St. Johns River, which flows through Escondido and nearby cities. The river's tranquil waters and lush surroundings doubled as the African jungle's majestic waterways.
that explores the making of this film in the Louisiana swamps?