Why MGM Studios Was Sued Over Bo Derek's R-Rated Tarzan, The Ape-Man Movie

Edgar Rice Burroughs' raised-by-apes wildman Tarzan has proved surprisingly durable since the author introduced him in 1912. There were silent film adaptations of the series before MGM bought the rights in 1931 for $40,000 and made 12 features starring Johnny Weissmuller in the title role. When Weissmuller departed the series to play the fearless hunter Jungle Jim for Paramount, other actors tried to fill his shoes. Alas, none of them could match Weissmuller's athleticism and iconic pidgin speech ("Me Tarzan, you Jane"), which left the character in danger of fading from view in the 1970s.

Burroughs' books were always popular with, and appropriate for, young readers, so it made perfect sense for Filmation to launch the animated, kid-skewing "Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle" for CBS in 1976. Voiced by the legendary Robert Ridgely (two decades away from skeezing it up as Colonel James in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights"), the show aired for four seasons, giving a new generation a traditional Tarzan and providing MGM with a prime opportunity to bring the Lord of the Apes back to the big screen.

Though MGM no longer held the film rights for Tarzan, they were legally in the clear to remake 1932's "Tarzan the Ape Man" because they'd remade it in 1959. Nevertheless, this project ticked off Warner Bros., which had acquired the vine-swinging hero's rights and were developing a big-budget adventure with A-list screenwriter Robert Towne.

The Burroughs estate was more than ticked off. When they learned that director John Derek's new take on "Tarzan, the Ape Man" was to be an R-rated, erotic showcase for his glamorous, sex-symbol wife Bo Derek (a big-screen sensation after Blake Edwards' "10"), they claimed copyright infringement and sought to enjoin the studio from releasing the film in 1981. How'd this work out for them?

The Burroughs estate's effort to block the release of Derek's "Tarzan, the Ape Man" failed. MGM opened the film in the United States on August 7, 1981, and watched in delight as it went on to gross $37 million against an $8 million budget. While the nation's critics (save for Roger Ebert) shredded the film as mindless, amateurishly directed garbage, it was critic-proof. Moviegoers flocked to Derek's abomination to see his mind-blowingly gorgeous wife cavort in the nude with the musclebound Miles O'Keefe as the title character. They got what they paid for with ultra-smutty interest.

The Burroughs estate wasn't done. They took their complaint to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which, much to their dismay, reaffirmed that MGM had ”the right to create and write an original story, using as one of the characters therein the character of 'Tarzan.'"

Ultimately, the Burroughs estate's fears were unfounded. Though Warner Bros.' Burroughs-approved "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" was a box office disappointment (grossing $46 million against a $30 million budget), the film received mostly good reviews and three Academy Award nominations (an unhappy Towne had his name taken off the movie, which led to his dog, Vazak, earning the nod). 15 years later, Disney would release the animated hit "Tarzan." In 2016, Warner Bros. again came up short commercially with "The Legend of Tarzan," but the character is too indelible a part of American pop culture to go away forever.