Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

Synopsis: A shipping disaster in the 19th Century has stranded a man and woman in the wilds of Africa. The lady is pregnant, and gives birth to a son in their tree house. The mother dies soon after. An ape enters the house and kills the father, and a female ape takes the tiny boy as a replacement for her own dead infant, and raises him as her son. Twenty years later, Captaine Phillippe D'Arnot discovers the man who thinks he is an ape. Evidence in the tree house leads him to believe that he is the direct descendant of the Earl of Greystoke, and thus takes it upon himself to return the man to civilization.
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Director(s): Hugh Hudson
Production: Warner Home Video
  Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 13 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.4
Rotten Tomatoes:
69%
PG
Year:
1984
135 min
846 Views


[THUNDER CRASHING]

[GRUNTING]

[SCREAMS]

CLAYTON:

Hey!

- Here we go. Here we go.

JACK:
Come along!

Come on, let them go.

CLAYTON:

Come on.

Hey, go on.

[LAUGHS]

JACK:

Hey, come along.

CLAYTON:

Come on, Toby. That's it.

Whoa.

Don't look too bad, do it?

Father, I've decided to go.

I was afraid of that.

- And Alice?

- She's determined to come.

No place for her. Ha!

JACK:

Thank you, Angus.

Here we are.

- Damn the boy.

- He lost the race.

JACK:
Don't fret over her. She's strong

enough to withstand a year in the tropics.

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

Forgive me if I don't come

and see you off.

I'd make a fool of myself down there.

Well, I've written

a few letters for you.

Might... Might be helpful on your way.

There's one to Uncle Bill here.

JACK:

See here, Father...

...we'll be all right, I promise.

Give me your hand.

Of course you will.

Of course you will.

Hello, Jane.

I found something for you in London.

- A little scarab ring.

JANE:
Thank you.

- Darling, we'll be late.

- Yes.

JANE:

Does that mean we'll marry, Uncle Jack?

No, it doesn't. I'm already married.

But we won't just give you to some

Tom, Dick or Harry from Baltimore.

We shall find someone suitable,

preferably an Englishman.

There you are, nanny.

Thank you. Goodbye.

Take care of him.

WOMAN:
Safe journey.

- Thank you.

- Goodbye.

- Thank you.

Goodbye.

- Goodbye.

MAN:
Goodbye, my lord.

[THUNDER CRASHES]

[BIRD SHRIEKS]

ALICE:

Jack?

Jack?

Jack?

Jack!

Where's Jack?

Where's Jack?

Where's Jack?

He was alive last night.

Where is he?

It's not my fault.

It's not my fault.

Where is Lord Clayton?

It's not my fault.

They'll blame me,

but it's not my fault.

[CRYING]

It's not my fault.

Jack.

Jack!

- Oh, Jack.

JACK:
It's all right.

Shh. All right, all right.

It's all right, darling.

I was so frightened.

I thought you drowned.

JACK:

It's all right.

I was trying to help him. It's too late.

- Poor boy.

- Come on. Come on.

[APE SHRIEKS]

JACK:

December the 17th, 1885.

It is almost 10 months

since the shipwreck...

...and Captain Billings left us

to find help.

As each week passes,

I have to face up to the fact...

...that the poor man must have

perished in the attempt.

The apes have returned

in greater numbers this time.

They eat everything in the vicinity,

so food will be hard to find.

But at least they leave us alone.

[BABY CRYING]

The difficult birth of our son,

followed by a bout of malaria...

...has weakened my darling Alice terribly.

While the baby howls at the world

and every day grows stronger...

...she shows little sign of recovery.

The fever has robbed her of her milk

and clouded her perception.

She still believes that we are

safely home in Scotland.

In a way, I'm grateful, as this delusion

spares her the reality of our predicament.

There, there.

Alice?

Alice.

Oh, no.

Alice.

Alice.

Alice.

[APE GRUNTING]

[SHRIEKING]

[GRUNTING]

[IMITATING ANIMAL SOUNDS]

[GRUNTING AND SHRIEKING]

[SCREAMING]

[GROWLING]

[SHRIEKING]

[GROWLS]

[GROWLS]

[SHRIEKS]

[GRUNTING]

[GROWLING]

[SHRIEKING]

[GRUNTING]

[GRUNTING IN DISTANCE]

[CRIES]

[GROWLING]

[SCREAMING]

[GRUNTING]

[DRUMS PLAYING, SINGING]

[SCREAMING]

[SCREAMING]

[CRYING]

D'ARNOT:
We have been traveling these

dank rivers of West Africa for months...

...amassing an inventory of fauna

for the British Museum.

I am the only Belgian among the English,

pressed on them by my superiors...

...to guide them and watch them.

[GUN SHOOTS]

Got him.

- What is it?

- Don't know.

But it might have been something.

D'ARNOT:

Yes, major...

...but now it is a dead something.

Of course it is.

Heavens.

[CHATTERING]

What are they saying, D' Amok?

D'ARNOT:

Dinner est servi.

No. Arrived. "Dinner has arrived"

is a slightly better translation.

I don't think that's

frightfully funny, D'Arnot.

D'ARNOT:

My companions consider themselves...

...to be the foremost

among God's creatures...

...and treat Africa and all things African

with an unwavering contempt.

If I wasn't under orders...

...I'd have abandoned them at week one

and returned to Brussels.

D'ARNOT:
You drop that box again

and I'll shoot you.

[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING]

[SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

DOWNING:

Come on! Apes! Belcher!

- Come on!

- I thought I said there was to be no...

Well, at least try not

to damage the skins!

Major!

Damn them.

[GUN SHOOTING]

[APES SHRIEKING]

EVELYN:

Major Downing!

BELCHER:
There, Major Jack.

They're going into the trees!

DOWNING:

Come on. Come on. They're beauties.

EVELYN:

Downing!

Be quick or we'll lose it.

EVELYN:

Downing!

Fire one more shot, you butcher,

and I'll shoot you.

Steady, old chap.

It's all in a day's sport.

Sport and blood, Sir Evelyn.

Stuff of life.

[SHRIEKING]

Good God.

[SNEEZES]

"John...

...Clayton."

John Clayton.

It's the Earl of Greystoke's son.

Good God.

So this is what became of him.

[DRUMS BEATING IN DISTANCE]

- Those blasted drums, Belcher.

BELCHER:
Yes, Major Jack.

- Have you got a finger in the bullet hole?

- Yes, major.

[HUMMING]

[SPEAKS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

Major Jack.

Pygmies!

[YELLING]

EVELYN:

Back. Back to the boat!

D'ARNOT:

Sir Evelyn!

Where are you?

[VOICES IN DISTANCE]

[SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]

Aide-moi, papa.

Papa.

[MUMBLING]

Qui tes-vous?

Who are...

Who are you?

Sir, help me.

Say something.

[GRUNTING]

Mon Dieu!

[GASPS]

Pourquoi...

[GRUNTING]

[ROARS]

[YELLING]

[SHRIEKING]

Back!

[D'ARNOT HUMMING]

[MIMICS HUMMING]

Pas possible.

[HUMMING]

[IMITATES HUMMING]

[LAUGHING]

- Incroyable.

- Croy.

[HUMS]

Eh?

[MIMICS HUM]

- Oui!

- Oui!

[LAUGHING]

Razor. Razor.

Razor. Razor.

[GRUNTS]

Razor.

Razor! Razor!

Razor.

Raz...

Razor.

Ra...

Raz...

Razo...

Raz...

Razor.

- Razor.

- Razor.

Razor.

D'ARNOT:

Yes.

- Razor, razor.

- No.

- No. No, no razor.

- Ra...

Mirror. Mirror.

Mm. Mm. Mi. Mi.

- Mirror, mirror.

- Mirror. Mirror.

Mirror. Mirror.

Yes. Mirror.

- Mirror.

D'ARNOT:
Mirror.

D'ARNOT:

John is a mimic of uncanny ability.

Yes.

D'ARNOT:

Words became like magic tricks to him.

And in six months, he has managed

to grasp the rudiments of the language.

But now I have to convince him

of who he is.

Indeed, what he is!

JOHN:

Mirror. Razor, razor. Mirror.

D'ARNOT:

No. No, no, no.

Man. Man.

Dieu!

Animal. Animal.

Animal. Animal.

[GRUNTS]

JOHN:
Animal! Animal!

- No, no, no. Animal. Animal. Animal.

JOHN:
Animal. Animal.

- Animal.

JOHN:

Animal. Animal. Animal.

Animal!

Phillippe.

Phillippe D'Arnot.

John.

Clayton.

Your home.

Greystoke.

Mother. Father.

Father. Mother.

Family. Yes, family. Not:

That is your mother.

That is your father, I tell you.

Family, John. Mother, father.

Mother, father.

Family!

Listen to me, John.

How many other white apes

have you seen?

You're like me, not them.

You have another family, far away.

One you have never seen. Like me.

Soon I must go to my family.

Why?

Dead.

Who is dead?

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Edgar Rice Burroughs

Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American fiction writer best known for his celebrated and prolific output in the adventure and science-fiction genres. Among the most notable of his creations are the jungle man Tarzan, the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter and the fictional landmass within Earth known as Pellucidar. Burroughs' California ranch is now the center of the Tarzana neighborhood in Los Angeles. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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