Video Blue Film Tarzan — X

Not Tarzan, but its intellectual cousin. Charlton Heston plays a cocoa planter who sends for a mail-order bride (Eleanor Parker). The jungle is a metaphor for their repressed sexuality. When a plague of army ants (the "Marabunta") attacks, the film explodes into one of the great disaster sequences. The subtext is clear: civilization (the plantation house) is under siege by nature (the ants/desire). Vintage Vibe: Sweat, tension, and Heston’s biceps.

First, a clarification. There is no single canonical "Blue Film Tarzan" produced by a major studio. Instead, between 1972 and 1976, the "Porno Chic" era produced roughly a dozen low-budget Tarzan knockoffs. Because the Burroughs estate fiercely protects the Tarzan name, these films use titles like Tarzana (1975), Tarz & Jane (1975), or The Adult Version of Jekyll & Hide (no connection, but same genre batch).

The most famous entry in this micro-genre is "Tarz and Jane" (1975) directed by Joseph W. Sarno (often credited as "Sam Savage"). This film is the holy grail for collectors of "Blue Film Tarzan classic cinema." Shot in the jungles of New York (read: a studio lot with plastic plants), the film features a loincloth-clad hero speaking in caveman grunts opposite a very modern, sexually liberated Jane. Video Blue Film Tarzan X

A wildcard: actor Mike Henry plays a Bond-ified Tarzan. He drives a jeep, uses a gun, and fights drug lords. The “blue” element is absent, but the sheer absurdity of a fully clothed, modern Tarzan jiving with go-go boots is vintage camp.

First, let’s clear the underbrush. The term “blue film” (film bleu) originated in France, referring to low-budget, illicit pornographic movies shown in brothels or private cinemas in the early-to-mid 20th century. Was there ever a legitimate “Blue Tarzan” produced by a major studio? No. Not Tarzan, but its intellectual cousin

Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan, was notoriously protective of his character. Throughout the 1920s-1960s, Burroughs Inc. strictly controlled the licensing, forbidding nudity or explicit sexual situations. The Johnny Weissmuller MGM era (1932-1948) is famous for its chaste, almost comical purity. Maureen O’Sullivan’s Jane wore more clothing than most suburban housewives.

So why does the search exist? Because fan-made “8mm loops” and European knock-offs in the 1970s (during the porn chic era) co-opted the Tarzan archetype. Films like Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977) or Joe D’Amato’s Erotic Nights of the Living Dead featured ripped, loincloth-clad jungle men in soft-core scenarios. Unofficially, they became “Tarzan blue films” without the legal name. When a plague of army ants (the "Marabunta")

The truth: There is no canonical classic-era blue film featuring Tarzan. The search is a phantom—a desire for a forbidden fusion of childhood jungle fantasy and adult transgression.