Tarzan and the Lion Man

Tarzan #17

by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Frank Frazetta (Illustrator)

A great safari had come to Africa to make a movie. It had struggled across the veldt and through the jungle in great ten-ton trucks, equipped with all the advantages of civilization. But now it was halted, almost destroyed by the poisoned arrows of the savage Bansuto tribe. There was no way to return. And ahead lay the strange valley of diamonds, where hairy gorillas lived in their town of London on the Thames, ruled by King Henry the Eighth. Behind them came Tarzan of the Apes with the Golden Lion, seeking the man who might have been his twin brother in looks -- though hardly in courage!

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Fiction, Classics, Action, Pulp, Science Fiction

223 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1934

About the author

Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.

Reviews

[Tharindu Dissanayake · Rating 5 out of 5]

"WE are all either the victims or the beneficiaries of heredity and environment."

Another adventure unfolds, this time with an entirely new concept, a film crew moving to Africa. More than half of the story is about the crew's subplots, especially during the first half of the story. Another one of Tarzan doppelgangers become available during a brief window, but it takes a different turn from that of the Tarzan and the Golden Lion by this time Tarzan imitating the other person.

Story itself is entertaining, and does not lack the authors usual imagination. The one thing I found unique story unique is the ending of it. It does not conclude with the usual dramatic, and perfect ending we are so used to, but it is no disappointing.

"the patience of the hunting beast is infinite."

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This one was unusual. First, it felt like about 1/4 of the book didn't seem to have Tarzan at all. It deals with a group going into Africa to film a movie, and the first part of the book focuses on them. Then they end up in cannibal country. Then the Arab guides turn on them. Then we end up meeting a group of talking gorillas. (Really.) Then we meet a beautiful savage girl. Then at the end, the savage girl ends up a Hollywood star and Tarzan ends up in a movie too, but it doesn't really work out for him.

There was just a little too much packed in here. The safari with the headhunters and such could have been a novel on its own. Then we meet the ancient group of talking gorillas with its Dr. Moreau like leader. Then the part at the end with Tarzan in Hollywood was just silly.

Still, with all that going on it was entertaining.

[Glenn O'Bannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do yourself a favor and skip to about halfway through the book and start reading. The first half of the book is dull as Burroughs recycles the same plot for the umpty-umpth time. A safari full of Hollywood types gets in over their heads. The second half contains the colorful and imaginative story of the denizens of the Valley of Diamonds.

I wonder if this book could be called Burroughs Revenge. He skewers Hollywood for what I suspect is his umbrage over what they did to Lord Greystoke. They turned him into an illiterate jungle buffoon instead of the quite clever and intelligent master of several languages and two disparate worlds.

At the end, Tarzan is rejected as the wrong type by the Hollywood geniuses when he is suggested to play the part of Tarzan in a new movie. Delicious!

[John Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure why the later Tarzan books have such a mediocre reputation. This one is really fun, with lots of satiric barbs at the film business. I liked the GMO gorillas as the villains and there is no mention of Jane. Tarzan's negative view of Hollywood is timeless.

[Rob Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tarzan and Hollywood, what a match! Burroughs shows much of his tongue in cheek writing here. A good old fashioned fun read

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein Hollywood-Team will einen Film in Afrika drehen, aber die Safari läuft nicht ganz so reibungslos ab wie erhofft:
Diamanten- und frauenhungrige verschlagene Araber, fleischhungrige Kannibalen und mitten im Dschungel die Stadt London, bevölkert von Heinrich dem Achten samt seinen vielen Ehefrauen, Kardinal Wolsey, Buckingham und wer sonst noch zum englischen Hof im 16. Jahrhundert zählte - allerdings alles Gorilla-Mensch-Hybriden, und dann auch noch Gott, der sie alle schuf.
Um die Verwirrung zu komplettieren, sehen sich die Hauptdarstellerin und ihr Double zum Verwechseln ähnlich und auch die männliche Hauptrolle, der feige Obroski, hat was das Äußere betrifft einen Doppelgänger: Tarzan.
Der tritt zwar erst nach 70 Seiten prominent in Aktion, hat dann aber auch alle Hände voll zu tun. Die beiden Schauspielerinnen müssen Dutzende von Malen aus höchster Lebensgefahr gerettet werden, manch Löwe will bezwungen werden und ebenso Kannibalen, Araber und Riesengorillas. Auch wenn es manchmal knapp ist, Tarzan verliert weder Mut noch Humor und rettet jede Situation mit Bravour. Dabei amüsiert es ihn nicht wenig, dass ihn alle für den Feigling Obroski halten.

ERB erzählt die haarstäubende Story in atemberaubenden Tempo, kaum kann man so schnell lesen, wie Tarzan scheinbar aussichtslose Situationen meistert. Politisch korrekt und dem aktuellen Zeitgeist entsprechend ist TARZAN AND THE LION MAN so überhaupt nicht. Gleichwohl wird der Leser, der Lust auf eine hinreißend erzählte Abenteuergeschichte hat, darüber hinwegsehen müssen, denn anders als im Stil der Pulps lässt sich eine solche Geschichte nicht erzählen.
Eskapismus vom Feinsten, der jedem gegönnt sei, der darauf Lust hat.

Ganz nebenbei rechnet ERB hier auch mit Hollywood ab, glücklich war er mit den Tarzan-Filmen wohl nicht immer. Dazu herrlich die Anekdote eines Enkels von Johnny Weissmuller, der erzählt, dass sein Onkel in Hollywood nur Greta Garbo sehen wollte und völlig überraschend als Tarzan gecastet wurde. Er war bis dahin kein Schauspieler, nicht auf der Suche nach einer Rolle und wusste nicht einmal, wer Tarzan ist.

Der Band aus der Authorized Library-Reihe wartet mit besonders üppigem Zusatzmaterial auf, ca. 140 Seiten Nachwort, Archivmaterial und Bilder.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Tarzan story focuses mainly on a group of people from Hollywood who have come to Africa to film a movie. They are attacked by a tribe of cannibals and the Arabs traveling with them kidnap the 2 women. The women go on to get free of their kidnappers only to be kidnapped again by gorillas who speak english! Tarzan finds another unknown city, this one run by a scientific mad-genius geneticist. Tarzan rescues those who need rescue, then some time later goes to see Hollywood where, as John Clayton, he is cast for a bit part in a Tarzan film, after being told he "doesn't fit the part" to play Tarzan!

[Ray Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

ERB is on a roll. Another great entry into the Tarzan canon. Because of the title I thought it was going to be a direct sequel to the previous book. Then I thought it was going to be a satirical farce about what used to be Hollywood's fascination with the ape man. Then it turned into a gritty jungle thriller complete with cannibalism, death and torture. At that point it takes a flying leap into creepy bizarro world and all of a sudden we're in a horror story.

A great yarn. But ERB must have really hated Weissmuller.

[Tony Santo · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most colorful Tarzan adventures, with action, humor, and character developments that kept me turning the pages. A fun story, where Burroughs mocks the Hollywood film industry that produced Tarzan movies at the expense of his source material's integrity. Loved this book!

[Joel Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time that Edgar Rice Burroughs relies on the plot device of a Tarzan lookalike. However, he fully commits by doubling down on the identical doubles.

A movie company has foolishly invaded Africa to shoot on location. The star of the Lion Man movie happens to look remarkably like Tarzan. The only problem is that he is a complete coward.

The spoiled actress who is the lead of the Lion Man is traveling with a double to do her stunts--one that looks so similar that she is able to fill in for her for close-ups and line readings when she is ill.

They encounter a tribe angry that their territory is being invaded, and also a race of genetically modified apes that are capable of speaking the English language.

It all makes for a satisfying slam-bang story, even if the cowardly actor only gets a partial redemption arc. He has just found his bravery when he is smitten by an illness and he unfortunately never makes it out of Africa.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This time there’s a clueless company of Hollywood directors, actors and crew trying to drag their trucks and equipment through the jungle to shoot a big production jungle man movie using real locations. Unfortunately they have no idea of the conditions of the terrain and try to drive big equipment vehicles into the interior.

This gets a little gruesome when the cannibals get involved, but not too detailed. Otherwise it’s another complicated, but interesting romp through the jungle as everyone gets scattered, found by unknowns, rescued, reunited and lost again until Tarzan gathers them up and sends them home.

Though the final chapter is interesting, it felt a little forced and like it was thrown in as a last minute thought. Especially Balza.

Footnote: 1) This has one of the strangest, unbelievable lost race yet.

2) What’s happened with Jane? We never hear about her or the rest of Tarzan’s family. Has he abandoned them? Has Jane gotten tired of being kidnapped and gone back to England?

Fave scenes: deciding on the cooks, Obroski berserker fight with the natives, Obroski meeting Jad-bal-ja, climbing the beams and the diamonds.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this, the 17th Tarzan book, ERB wrote some great satire of Hollywood's version of Tarzan. A Hollywood crew has come to Africa to make a Tarzan-like movie with an actor who is the spitting image of the real Tarzan, physically. But they get in over their heads when they run into the Bansuto tribe and the Valley of Diamonds. So the real Tarzan has to rescue them. Great adventure!

[Cecil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out slow, but built from there and actually turned out to be quite a good book. It was science fiction mixed with humor and Tarzan goes Hollywood.

[Justin Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

After this many Tarzan books, this was another Tarzan book. if you're into that, it's good.

[Adrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tarzan and the Lion Man has a base story centered on an expensive and ambitious Hollywood expedition to Africa to film on location, à la King Kong. In the 1930s, this premise sounds as absurd as King Kong itself. We are introduced to a cast of white characters, including two generic gorgeous blondes, one of whom undergoes redemption through suffering. Arab mercenaries are depicted in an overtly hostile and caricatured manner (a recurring trope with ERB), while black characters are portrayed as frightened and skittish, prone to desertion like startled rabbits. There's also a tribe of brutal cannibals.

In the middle of this narrative, a completely different story emerges: a Dr. Moreau-like deranged mad scientist who has conducted grotesque experiments on himself in pursuit of immortality. These self-implants have distorted his body, turning him into a nightmarish hybrid creature—a grotesque fusion of human and beast. He recreates London in the jungle, genetically engineers gorillas to speak, and declares himself God. There’s also the inclusion of a Tarzan look-alike who is a coward, offering the novelty of Tarzan impersonating him to amusing effect. The story then reverts to the habitual capture-and-rescue cycle typical of the series. In the end, we are treated to an acidic parody of Hollywood itself.

If you are a habitual Tarzan reader, you probably won’t mind the implausible tropes, the wacky science, the blatant Anglo-centric racism, or the over-the-top coincidences. You may even find this novel entertaining.

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tarzan and the Lion-Man is book #17 of the 24-book series written and published by Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB). I have been critical of the recycled plots and lack of originality (something I'm certain ERB had to contend with during his life), but here a film crew enters the jungle to film a jungle movie which leads to the loss of guides and ultimately life.

The Hollywood people are forced to re-evaluate, and the women are abducted in the interim by the very mercenaries they hired to protect them. Of course, the jungle is not as precarious an environment as ERB would like so that he has to include a Lost Civilization hidden in the jungle. There are apes that speak the Queen's English, a society based on England, and a society of prehistoric people.

As usual, not all of the protagonists experience success. Eventually a movie gets made and Lord Greystoke himself gets a chance to be on the silver screen as a Hollywood extra. A fun book, I'm impressed that ERB decided to change up some elements that were feeling overly redundant, yet I feel that his reliance on his standard tropes caused him to distance himself from them by only a short way.

Still, I loved this story. I can't help loving the ERB verbiage and jungle action. The escapist story has captivated me since I was in my intermediate years.

[Brett Plaxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which Tarzan finds himself rescuing a safari who had traveled to Africa to film a Tarzan movie, only to be kidnapped by a mad scientist who has made human-ape hybrids (which reminded me partly of Michael Crichton’s book Congo). In the safari is an actor who is Tarzan’s exact body double, only this guy is a coward.

Later, Tarzan finds himself in Hollywood where he auditions to play himself on screen only to be told he doesn’t have the look. He takes it all in stride and finds himself on set as an extra, only to end up killing a lion that gets hostile.

This is easily a favourite of the later books in the Tarzan series. It was the most fun.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the weirdest Tarzan stories.... A Hollywood crew goes to Africa to film a Tarzan film but get attacked and Tarzan has to save them but then halfway through the story the leading ladies get captures by English-speaking gorillas and their god, a mad scientist who lives in a castle. Tarzan rescues them of course and then goes to Hollywood himself where he gets turned down for the Tarzan role.

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is as stupid as all of the Tarzan novels. However, this is entertaining. Scientifically altered talking gorillas, and Tarzan being turned down for a role in a Tarzan movie. As dumb as it is, Gold Key Comics did a version of this in 1972, and DC Comics did a three issue run of it in 1974 through January of 1975.

[Maritn Priddy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. I would not call it a page turner, but it was fun. It seemed a little shorter than previous Tarzan novels, but that is fine. It was not a short novel. A good read. 3 ½ Aces.

[Major B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another fun Tarzan adventure that had a lot of the classic elements of Burroughs, but also some new twists. The Hollywood scenes at the end were really funny. The ending was a bit shocking and the love interests did not end up going at all how I expected.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best part of this book was the ending.

[Nickolai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга очень понравилась. И необычные приключения, и заметная доля юмора.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jokainen Tarzan-kirjoja lukenut tietää, että Afrikan viidakot kätkevät uumeniinsa ihan älyttömästi erilaisia kadonneita kaupunkeja ja sivilisaatioita, mutta sarjan seitsemästoista osa "Tarzanin kaksoisolento" (Karhu, 1952) pystyy tuomaan kuluneeseen asetelmaan vielä jotain uutta.

Kerran tooisiensa jälkeen tyttö yritti vakuuttaa itselleen, että näki unta. Kaikki hänen entiset kokemuksensa, ja tietonsa todistivat nämä viime tuntien aikaiset fantastiset kokemukset täysin mahdottomiksi. Ei voinut olla olemassa sellaisia otuksia kuin englantia puhuvia, pelttoja viljeleviä ja kivilinnoissa asuvia gorilloja. (s. 107)

... joilla on vieläpä sellaisia nimiä kuin Henrik VIII, Thomas Wolsey ja Katariina Aragonialainen. Ja tästä kaikestahan on kiittäminen kahjoa englantilaissyntyistä tiedemiestä, jonka geenikokeet ovat menneet varsin pitkälle, itse asiassa niin pitkälle että hän tehnyt itsestään gorillan ja ihmisen välimuodon ja kutsuu itseään Jumalaksi.

Ei siis ihme, että parinsadan sivun mittaisessa kirjassa Tarzan joutuu siis tekemään hiki hatussa hommia saadakseen pelastettua amerikkalaisen elokuvaryhmän niin kuolemalta kuin sitä kamalammalta kohtalolta!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is half and half for me. I absolutely loved the skewering of Hollywood and its denizens. Since I've hated almost every Tarzan movie ever made I can sympathize with Edgar Rice Burroughs and his frustration with their ham-fisted treatment of his most famous character. Strangely, he especially hated the way they portrayed Jane as a brunette when she was supposed to be a blonde. I would have thought he would be a lot more upset with the casting of short, stumpy, homely Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan. He looks like he should have been playing Gunner from Tarzan Triumphant rather than Tarzan. Better yet, he could have played one of the apes. Ugh.

Anyway, ERB was so annoyed with the bad casting and writing for the movies that he took on Hollywood in this book, sending a movie team to the jungle to film on location instead of on a back lot somewhere. Instead of an ape man, this movie features a lion man, a Tarzan clone who was raised by the king of beasts instead of apes. Of course everything goes wrong. I loved all of that, although it's darker than I remember from when I read this back in the 70s. I must have been a bloodthirsty teen because I never minded all of the killing back then.

The book takes a bizarre turn when the movie people get mixed up with a tribe of uplifted gorillas who have been genetically modified and given Renaissance names and identities. King Henry VIII is especially silly with his many wives, all named for the real Henry's serial harem. Of course the science is nonsense, but it's ERB, that's going to be a given. I had a bigger problem with the girls who are practically twins and yet another actor who looks so much like Tarzan that his friends mistake Tarzan for him. Seriously, does everyone but Tarzan need glasses in these books? I could have done without that bit of nonsense, it didn't add anything to the book and wasn't necessary for the plot. I think ERB was just having fun with it.

I barely remember the action with the gorillas, there was a bunch of running around getting captured and escaping and getting rescued by Tarzan, it wasn't very memorable. It might have been more interesting if I hadn't already read much the same stuff in the last few books.

It really gets funny and over-the-top silly when John Clayton makes his way to Hollywood to see how it works for himself. He auditions for the role of Tarzan and is rejected for not being the right type. You could see ERB's eyes twinkling when he wrote that part.

For the Hollywood stuff it's a solid 4 to 5 stars but the gorillas drag it down. I'll give it a respectable 3 1/2 stars rounded up, as always, for the Tarzan factor. I wouldn't start your Tarzan journey here, but it's worth a read.

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a few heavy-handed, not-very-fun books I wanted something light, so what's lighter than pulp?

In the darkest heart of Africa, Tarzan encounters a lost film crew who stumbles upon the Valley of Diamonds. Cannibals, an insane geneticist, apes who play the roles from Tudor England's history, mutants, and an unabashedly naked savage girl named Balza all become entwined.

I'd read this book a couple dozen years ago and it was fun to revisit. I'd forgotten the tendency for Tarzan to get matter-of-factly morbid as well as his very, very dry sense of humor. Actually, ERB infused a lot of humor into the book, which helped the absurd elements of the story go down easier. (Some parts were so absurd that the author notes how characters can't believe what's happening. And it's true—Gorilla London was a little much...) At the end of the novel, Tarzan spends a few days in Hollywood, crashes a party, and is asked to try out for the role of "Tarzan" in the next Tarzan movie. This chapter was easily the best-written part of the book. ERB captured the feel of 1930s slang and flashbulb-lit starlets, and I think they actually made a more interesting foil for Tarzan than the gorillas.

It did make me want to reread some of the earlier Tarzan books (this book was written during the not-as-good-as-the-older-ones part of the Tarzan series) in order to spend more time with the character. Truth be told, Tarzan doesn't enter the plot until about a third of the way into this book, so I felt a little short-changed.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story revolves around a Hollywood Shoot in Africa for a movie. Soon, everything goes wrong for the cast and crew, in waltz’s Tarzan to clean up the mess. On the surface, it is a good and (semi) fun story. Alas, the ending ruins it, which makes you pick at the plot to see 1) How poor this book is for story line and 2) This is a sensationalist piece of literature for the American Audience for Africa being there playground.

What greater way to put Africa in a story than by making a Hollywood story. Tarzan, the apathetic vein hero of the story only helps out when seeing one of the characters, Stanley who is about to be killed is hit doppelgänger. Hilarity then then ensues when Tarzan takes over Stanley’s role. No one noticed Stanley’s accent changed from American to English of course, and, fooled every, single, person without question.

Throughout the rest of the story, we see a rehash of previous Burroughs stories. Instead of a group of medieval knights hidden in the jungle, we have.......... medieval gorillas who speak perfect English living in a city, built by them, called London. The King is Henry 8 with six wives. Fear not, the answer is simple....... A mad English Scientist genetically created them.

The master of being unable to end a novel, LITERALLY ties everything up in one page. If you manage to get this far, then, the final chapter just makes you feel baffled and confused.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Late Tarzan that's so over the top it's actually quite good. Burroughs is often playing it for laughs, if often rather heavy handedly, in this one, especially when satirizing Hollywood.
A Hollywood film crew go to Africa, sadly here they are not very sympathetic to their native bearers, lashings, lots of use of the n-word etc. the film crew are not portrayed as the villains of the piece. Of course the star of the film bears an uncanny resemblance to Tarzan so theere's plenty of mistaken identity, which is compounded by the female star also having a double. We then get to talking Gorillas, believing they are Tudor characters, living in a city they call London and ruled over by a half man/ half gorilla they call God who wants to eat Tarzan. The fact that Burroughs manages to make this into an enjoyable romp without it getting as silly as it sounds is really quite surprising. The final chapter concerning Tarzan's adventures in Hollywood, is great fun, Burroughs should have made a full novel out of the concept. Tarzan ends up auditioning to play himself in a upcoming movie, of course he is not cast being "the wrong type."

[Mh430 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't go so far as to say this was a bad Tarzan book. I liked that instead of the Jungle Lord encountering yet another lost civilization in the unexplored regions of Africa, here it's a strange realm of pseudo scientific monsters - albeit with a Tudor overlay. And yet Burroughs has to include still another exact duplicate for Tarzan among the cast of characters. Is that the second or third time ERB has resorted to that ridiculous plot device? Apparently someone - Tarzan's father or perhaps his cowardly cousin from very early in the series - had been spreading those Greystoke genes with abandon a few decades back. Anyway, accept this story's faults and just enjoy another adventure with one of popular fiction's most iconic characters. The story lines in the Tarzan series do not always succeed but the man himself - at least as written by Edgar Rice Burroughs - is invariably a fascinating and compelling figure unlike any other.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out well enough, in the same vein as most of the Tarzan stories. Hollywood is making a movie with a plot remarkably similar to Tarzan's own story. Instead of a boy raised by apes, it is about a boy raised by lions.
The crew is hounded by hostile natives and the treachery of the Arabs before encountering yet another bizarre civilization in Africa.
It's all very fun, as most of these books are, until the final pages when the story takes a left turn; a wild girl from Africa is made into a Hollywood star and Tarzan visits California to see what all the fuss is about with the motion picture industry. Very strange.