#sol lesser

[oldshowbiz]

Curt Siodmak on writing a Tarzan movie for Sol Lesser

[tarzanwriter]

Remembering “Tarzan’s Revenge” star and 1936 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Glenn Morris on the 114th Anniversary of his birth.

Born June 18, 1912, Glenn Morris was a Simla, Colorado farmboy, a high-school standout in football, basketball, and track who enrolled in Colorado State College (now Colorado State University) to play all three sports, eventually serving as the student body president.

A hurdler, he targeted the Olympic decathlon after his 1934 graduation, setting a national record in the 10-event competition at the Kansas Relays, a world record at the U.S. Olympic trials, and another world record at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Returning home, Morris was feted with a tickertape parade, and married his college sweetheart Charlotte Edwards (who monitored the stopwatch and his diet during his years of training).

Riding the wave of fame, he moved to Hollywood to appear in small roles in the films “She Married an Artist” (1937) and “Hold That Co-Ed” (1938). Sol Lesser cast him as the fourth Olympic medalist Tarzan in “Tarzan’s Revenge” (1938) opposite the first Olympic female Tarzan lead, swimmer Eleanor Holm—who was named Eleanor in the film, because Lesser claimed her fame superseded the role.

Unfortunately, “Revenge” was panned by critics and audiences alike, and was unable to meet the high expectations generated by the big-budget films of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that starred Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller. Morris was drafted by the Detroit Lions football team in 1940, but broke his leg in the first game and retired from the gridiron.

In 1942, Morris enlisted in the U.S. navy for World War II and was commissioned as a lieutenant. He served aboard the “U.S.S. Banner” as an amphibious assault craft beach landing master, retaking Pacific Islands from the Japanese under heavy fire.

Morris earned numerous medals and ribbons, but suffered severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and struggled through life afterward, working a variety of professions including steelwork, construction, security guard, and parking lot attendant.

Morris died of heart failure on January 31, 1974, in the Palo Alto, California Veterans Administration hospital. His athletic memorabilia was donated to Simla High School, which instituted an annual Glenn Morris Award, given to a student who excels athletically and academically.

For more information, see "Tarzan on Film"

[chernobog13]

The fam posing for a portrait by Cheeta, before getting back to work filming Tarzan and the Amazons (1945).

Longtime Jane actress Maureen O'Sullivan had left the Tarzan series after Tarzan's New York Adventure (1942). Coincidentally, that had been the last Tarzan film at MGM, which had produced all the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films since 1932, and had allocated large budgets for each.

However, due to declining revenues from foreign markets due to World War ll, MGM sold its Tarzan license, which included Weissmuller's and Boy actor Johnny Sheffield's contracts, to producer Sol Lesser. Lesser tried and tried to get O'Sullivan to return as Jane, but she steadfastly refused.

Lesser's first two Tarzan films, Tarzan Triumphs and Tarzan's Desert Mystery (both 1943) were released through RKO. The much lower budgets were evident, as was the retooling done to the series because MGM still owned the rights to the Tarzan family treehouse, Weissmuller's famous Tarzan yell, and intellectual property.

Lesser got by without a Jane by casting actresses Frances Gifford (Triumphs) and Nancy Kelly (Desert Mystery) as non-romantic female leads.

Finally, Lesser found a replacement for O'Sullivan in actress Brenda Joyce. Her Jane debuted in Amazons, returning from civilization to rejoin Tarzan and Boy in the jungle.

She worked well with Weissmuller and Sheffield. She stayed in the role for five films, while Sheffield and Weissmuller both left the series before her. She was Jane for new Tarzan actor Lex Barker's first entry, Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949), and then retired from acting to raise her family.

[tgsclassics]

Call of the Wild: In the late 1940s, producer Sol Lesser announced a new series of films to accompany his successful "Tarzan" series. The gorgeous burlesque performer Lilly Christine was set to star as "Sheena: Queen of the Jungle", but the films were never made.

[chaplinfortheages]

100 years ago today - December 30th 1920.

Gathering at Chaplin Studios, Charlie Chaplin hands over the negatives from “The Kid” to First National Executive Sol Lesser. Alf Reeves(Chaplin studio manager and the man that brought Chaplin to America) displays the check, brother Sydney Chaplin (who negotiated Charlie’s lucrative contract with First National) stands to the far right.

The check was for $200,000 = 2.9 million today

Also pictured S. Barret McCormick, New Ambassador, Los Angeles and Ralph Grubauer manager of  Rosebud and New Central theatres Los Angeles.

Film production started July 21st 1919 - completed July 30th 1920, finally reaching the audience January 21st 1921. At six reels it is his largest film to date (”Tillie’s Punctured Romance” while a six-reeler was not his film).

[tarzanwriter]

Happy 96th Birthday to Tommy Cook!

Cook appeared in two projects based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ characters: as “Kimbu” the jungle boy opposite Frances Gifford and Tom Neal in the Republic serial “Jungle Girl” (1941), and as “Kimba,” an aspiring leopard boy, opposite Johnny Weissmuller, Brenda Joyce, Johnny Sheffield, and Acquanetta for Sol Lesser in RKO’s “Tarzan and the Leopard Woman” (1946).

Born July 5, 1930, the Duluth, Minnesota native moved to Los Angeles with his family at age five. Cook’s mother took him to the famed Pasadena Playhouse, where he won starring and feature roles in seven plays; he was soon discovered by innovative radio producer Arch Oboler, who cast the young thespian in his NBC programs. Cook eventually played in nearly 3,000 radio shows, in roles that included Little Beaver in “Red Ryder”, Alexander in “Blondie”, and Junior in “The Life of Riley”.

Onscreen, Cook starred as “Little Beaver,” opposite Don “Red” Barry in the Republic serial “The Adventures of Red Ryder” (1940), and went on to appear in “The Tuttles of Tahiti” (1942), “Wanderer of the Wasteland” (1945), “The Gay Senorita” (1945), “Girl of the Limberlost” (1946), “Song of Arizona” (1946), “The Kid from Cleveland” (1949), “The Vicious Years” (1950, Photoplay Award for leading performance), “American Guerilla in the Philippines” (1950), “The Battle at Apache Pass” (1953), “Battle Cry” (1955), “Teen-Age Crime Wave” (1955), “Mohawk” (1956), “Night Passage” (1957), “The Gatling Gun” (1971), and “The Thing with Two Heads” (1972).

Also active in television, Cook guest-starred on series like “Have Gun – Will Travel”, “The Untouchables”, “The Rifleman”, “The Rat Patrol”, “Marcus Welby, M.D.”, “The Streets of San Francisco”, “CHiPs”, and “Hart to Hart”. Cook has voiced characters in the animated children’s series “Aquaman”, “The Funky Phantom”, “Jabberjaw”, “Undercover Elephant”, and “CB Bears”.

Cook attended Los Angeles High School and UCLA, and served in the U.S. Marine Corps. A standout tennis player, he coached within the Hollywood circuit, organized charity fundraisers, and directed celebrity tennis, golf and skiing events, including the CBS Specials “The Challenge of the Sexes” and “Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes”. Other ventures included conceiving and producing the films “Rollercoaster” (1977)—a thriller starring George Segal and Timothy Bottoms—and “Players” (1979), a tennis drama with Ali MacGraw and Dean Paul Martin.

Cook’s most recent screen role was a member of Congress in a 2020 episode of TV’s “Space Force”; he is also working to produce a prequel to “Rollercoaster”.

[chernobog13]

TARZAN' S REVENGE (1938)

1936's Tarzan Escapes had proven to be such a troubling production for everyone involved, so studio GM decided not to renew its option on the Tarzan property.

Producer Sol Lesser stepped in and produced Tarzan's Revenge, his second Tarzan film after Tarzan the Fearless (1933), which starred a pre-Flash Gordon Buster Crabbe.

Crabbe was unavailable for the lead, so Lesser once again searched for someone athletic enough to play the role of Tarzan. Candidates included New York Yankees star Lou Gehrig, heavyweight boxers Max Baer and Jimmy Braddock (of Cinderella Man[2005] fame), and professional wrestlers Sandor Szabo and Dave Levin.

Lesser was eventually able to convince Glenn Morris, 1936 Olympic decathlon gold medalist, to become the Ape Man. Morris was paired with Eleanor Holm, an Olympic swimming champ, to play the love interest, Eleanor. Holm had quite a bit of notoriety at the time, and Lesser did not believe audiences would believe her as Jane.

The film suffered from being an obviously low-budget affair, and that Tarzan is absent for most of the film. Audiences had been spoiled by the big budget MGM/Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films, and were not eager to embrace the new look. Add to that the near-universal bad reviews, and that was enough to effectively end the acting careers of the tow leads, as well as cancel the sequels Lesser had planned.

[chernobog13]

Tarzan's Revenge (1938) starred former Olympic champions Glenn Morris and Eleanor Holm, and produced by Sol Lesser at 20th Century Fox.

Lesser, who had been eager to make more Tarzan films after his 1933 serial Tarzan the Fearless (starring Buster Crabbe), managed to snag the film rights to Tarzan when MGM refused to renew their option after the problem-plagued production of the Johnny Weissmuller film Tarzan Escapes (1936).

I have not seen Tarzan's Revenge but, by all accounts, it's pretty dreadful. The two leads had plenty of athletic ability, however lacked any acting chops. Tarzan was off screen for much of the film, which is never a good sign. And the very low budget made the film look shoddy and cheap compared to the extremely popular MGM Tarzan films.

The film was savaged in reviews, especially the two leads, who both retired from acting immediately afterward.

Lesser, in the meantime, had to scrap his plans for a sequel. By that time, MGM decided to get back into the Tarzan business, and paid Lesser $500,000 for his remaining options.

MGM's Tarzan films had always been profitable, but they made much more money overseas. The advent of World War ll closed the foreign market. MGM made one final film, 1942's Tarzan's New York Adventure, then got out of the Tarzan business permanently.

Lesser had remained hungry for the franchise all those years, and he was able to buy back the film rights from MGM. He continued to produce Tarzan films until he retired 1958.