The Death of Tarzan
Cast & Crew
Jaroslav Balík
Rudolf Hru¿ínský
Jana ¿tepánková
Martin Ruzek
Vlastimil Ha¿ek
Slávka Budínová
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1904, 4-year-old Wolfgang von Hoppe is taken by his parents to live in Africa, where they hope to escape the evils of civilization. When the family is reported dead, cousin Baron Heinrich von Hoppe falls heir to their fortune. But his windfall is threatened some 30 years later when Wolfgang is found in the jungle by big game hunters and returned to his father's villa. Heinrich hires Regina, an English governess, to give the primitive Wolfgang enough training to pass a mental fitness test, but he secretly bribes her to ensure Wolfgang's failure. Regina, however, has her own scheme; she oversees Wolfgang's successful completion of the examination and then marries the wealthy ape-man. While German and British businessmen are squabbling over Wolfgang's oil-rich African property, Heinrich and Regina continue to plot and counterplot. Meanwhile, the simple Wolfgang preaches love and kindness, blindly admiring how idealistic and unselfish civilized humans are compared to the jungle's animals. Upon realizing how bestial humans really are, he violently lashes out at them and then flees--horrified by his own return to savagery. Captured by a circus troupe and exhibited in a cage as a half-man, half-ape called Tarzan, he is finally tracked down by the avaricious Regina and Heinrich. Sensing the futility and total misery of his existence, he shoots himself in front of an audience that includes his two greedy betrayers.
Director
Jaroslav Balík
Cast
Rudolf Hru¿ínský
Jana ¿tepánková
Martin Ruzek
Vlastimil Ha¿ek
Slávka Budínová
Ilya Racek
Miroslav Homola
Nina Popelíková
Elena Hálková
Karel Peyer
Ela Poznerová
Rudolf Pellar
Josef Beyvl
Zdena Hadrbolcová
Josef Hlinomaz
Viktor Maurer
Jan Tríska
Karl Krautgartner
The Film Symphony Orchestra
Crew
Jaroslav Balík
Ladislav Chroust
Josef Hanu¿
Miloslav Hurka
Evzen Illín
Ladislav Kala¿
Marie Kaplanová
Marta Kaplerová
Pavel Kopta
Bohuslav Kulic
Michal Kulic
Vera Líznerová
Jirina Luke¿ová
Ludek Marold
Josef Mathauser
Josef Nesvadba
Josef Nesvadba
Dagmar Nováková
Novotný--kubala
Theodor Pistek
Stepánka Stríbrná
Tomá¿ Svoboda
Josef Weishaupt
Adolf ¿iroký
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Location scenes filmed in Prague, Dobrí¿, Karlovy Vary, and Mariánské Lázne. Released in Czechoslovakia in January 1963 as Tarzanova smrt. Also known as Death of the Ape Man.
