|
Tarzan, My Father Posters
Photos Art
Search for Posters Art Prints, photos and get
results from all the many categories from Amazon including
books, videos, dvds, toys, video games, and more.
|
|
|
Posters Art
Prints Photos collectables |
|
|
|
|
|
|
If for some reason you can't find what the
poster or art print your looking for try using the search boxes
below
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Rating:  -
I've loved and admired the great Johnny Weissmuller since I was a tiny tot. The Weissmuller Tarzans were a major component of my childhood and had a profound impact on my development; Tarzan's jungle ethics and code of "right triumphs over wrong, good over evil" have always made more sense to me than today's gray-area mish-mosh and the Tarzan series, 50 years later in my case, is still tops for entertainment value. Given my near-fatuousness (which has actually provoked jealousy in some of my male colleagues), I'm delighted to have discovered so much recent material that acquaints fans with the man behind the loincloth.
The author of this contribution, due to his mother's vitriol, wasn't allowed contact with his father after his parents separated, and was only permitted to pick up the pieces as a young adult. On that basis, he explains that his purpose in writing this book is to introduce readers to the man he came to know, as well as to correct misconceptions and errors that have appeared in previous biographies. He succeeds in spades on both counts and we learn that Johnny was a kind, (too) trusting, uncomplicated man who, unfortunately, endured much sadness in his life, much of it due to his refusal to believe that others aren't always what they seem. Johnny Jr. provides a very even-handed account of his father's life from his perspective, and we learn a lot about him and the other Weissmuller children as well.
Contrary to some naysayers, this is a very nicely written account; there are a few errors (some of them real bloopers) that should have been caught by fact-checkers while it was in the galleys (identifying Laurel and Hardy as each other comes to mind), otherwise it's stylistically very sound.
Readers are also treated to a bit of Hollywood dishing; I don't think I can look at Red Skelton in quite the same ever again! And we learn that Esther Williams greatly exaggerated events associated with their introduction and subsequent relationship. Fun stuff, and it's also gratifying to learn that Johnny Jr. and his wife found so much happiness with each other. Sadly, I only recently learned that he died of cancer in 2006. My heartfelt condolences to his survivors.
I've always regretted that I was unable to meet my hero and this book confirms what I've always known in my heart: that he was a great guy. Bottom line, read David Fury's mostly excellent biography and chase it with this one to correct misinformation Mr. Fury was fed by the last Mrs. Weissmuller, Sr., Maria.
(Woo hoo PATRIK LEMBERG (and baby bro?)--another review to vote on! How EXCITING! Is "smelly" (your description) Kenneth part of the voting bloc?)
Rating: -
In the thirties and forties there was something big film wise to look forward to nearly every year, bigger than the anticipation of the next Star Wars, Bond or Potter film. It was Tarzan and most of those years there was only one Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller. To many today he is still the only Tarzan.
Tarzan fans in our generation actually embraced a parallel universe in the jungle man's world. There was the long time favorite given us by author Edgar Rice Burroughs, an articulate educated Lord Greystoke who could stow away his tux, put on a loin cloth to lead Tantor and his herd of elephants. Then there was the bigger than life Johnny Weissmuller on the screen who portrayed a Tarzan of few words, gave a battle cry that is more familiar today than most any other sound byte and whose biggest vocabulary word was "Umgawa!" Whether we were first introduced to the book Tarzan or film Tarzan, we could love both. Weissmuller himself was familiar with the concern Burroughs had about the portrayal that first MGM and then RKO required and wished also that he could have a bigger speaking role. However, the money was good and he couldn't object too much. When Burroughs himself made Tarzan films and hand picked Bill Brix with his well spoken vocabulary the films bombed.
In "Tarzan My Father" the author Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. gives a portrayal unlike others in the past. It is not an apology or a "daddy dearest". Johnny Jr. loved his father and admits there were both good and bad things that can be related. However, even in the bad, Johnny Weissmuller is more the innocent taken in by business managers, partying big name friends and two of his five wives, especially the last one who did all she could to trash his name and memorial while making money off of interviews. There is also a rebuttal against Esther Williams's recent book with interviews that reveal she has lied about Johnny Weissmuller as she did other legendary Hollywood heroes.
Johnny Jr. covers the myths behind the legend and uses documentation when needed. When stories conflict he gives both sides as would a true historian. I found myself looking at older books I have on the father and find that in general the son has been forthright in his handling of events. There is also detailed information about his father's sports career which makes him also legendary in that world as well. I had an opportunity to meet Johnny Weismuller briefly in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia and the man I saw was the man described by his son. It was a moment I will always remember. He was both generous and kind.
The book covers the father's friends and cronies, people like Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Red Skelton and others who are icons today. In his own case the author knew well Robert Mitchum, Ricky Nelson, Burt Reynolds and Elvis. There are great pictures in the book that will delight any and all film fans.
Yes, the book is very personal and unlike some, the author does it not to exploit his name but to give honor to one of the great film heroes of the 20th century. The book itself is endorsed by Danton Burroughs, secretary of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. This is a tribute and it shows us a man bigger than life who greatly influenced more than one generation.
Johnny Weissmuller had what some might call a simplistic philosophy that his son paraphrases as "A man should stand where God places him-jungle trails or Hollywood streets-and fight for those things he believes."
Rating: -
Excellent book, told me more about the man than i ever knew. my own father is a johnny fan of his era, a swimmer too. I grew up to know the legend of what he was. After reading the book he is more of a man then i could of imagined. What a great read.
Rating:  -
I have gone about 1/3 of the way through this book and have been very disappointed. The events are told unevenly and there is little insight to this potentially great story or stories behind the man. I thought I would get greater insight from his son but so far very little is revealed. The writing is very choppy and I am surprised that the professional writers helping JR couldn't write more fluently. It is like they took all the notes and forgot how to put them into words. the book is extremely short and is more like a magazine article. There seemed to be so much waiting to be told. Amazon should send half my money back because all I got was half a story.
Rating: -
It was a very fascinating read and gave a great insight to the life of Johnny Weissmuller and how the studios treated stars then.
I would recommend it to anybody that liked the Tarzan movies.
A Great Read
|
