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Tarzan the Mighty
Series	Tarzan (book series)
Publisher	Arthur B. Reeve
Publication date	2005
Pages	130
ISBN	978-1-4357-4971-9
Preceded by	The Dark Heart of Time (1999)
Followed by	The Adventures of Tarzan (2006)

Tarzan the Mighty
Tarzan the Mighty
	Theatrical poster to Tarzan the Mighty (1928)
Directed by	Jack Nelson; Ray Taylor
Written by	Ian McClosky Heath; Jack Nelson
Based on	Jungle Tales of Tarzan; by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Starring	Frank Merrill; Al Ferguson; Natalie Kingston
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	October 29, 1928;
Running time	15 episodes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Tarzan the Mighty is a 1928 American silent action film serial directed by Jack Nelson and Ray Taylor. It was nominally based on the collection Jungle Tales of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The film is now considered to be lost.^[1]

Cast

Frank Merrill as Tarzan. Joe Bonomo was cast as Tarzan but, while filming Perils of the Wild, fractured his left leg and severely injured his sacroiliac joint while performing a stunt.^[1]^[2]^[3] Director Jack Nelson remembered Frank Merill from working with him on an earlier production, either Perils of the Jungle (1927)^[2] or The Adventures of Tarzan (1921).^[3] Whichever production it was, he felt that Merrill was a natural replacement and the new lead actor started filming the next morning.^[2]^[3]
Al Ferguson as Black John, village ruler of Pirates' descendants
Natalie Kingston as Mary Trevor. There was no Jane in this production. Kingston was cast as the castaway and love interest Mary Trevor.^[2]^[3]
Bobby Nelson as Bobby Trevor, Mary's younger brother
Lorimer Johnston as Lord Greystoke, Tarzan's uncle

Production

After the failure of Tarzan and the Golden Lion, starring "Big Jim" Pierce, FBO did not make a sequel. Universal Pictures paid Burroughs an undisclosed sum to make a new Tarzan serial based on Jungle Tales of Tarzan. This serial was later re-titled Tarzan the Mighty.^[3]

Merrill, who was the National Gymnastics champion from 1916 to 1918, came up with the vine-swinging technique. Merrill actually swung on a "vine" (a rope) with Kingston in one arm. The footage was later studied by MGM for Tarzan the Ape Man (1932) and the subsequent series of Tarzan films with Johnny Weissmuller.^[2]^[3]

Production began on April 12 and finished on October 28, 1928.^[3] The serial was originally intended to be 12 chapters long but it was so successful that it was extended to 15 chapters in length.^[3] Tarzan the Mighty was successful enough for a sequel, Tarzan the Tiger (1929), to be put into production with many of the cast returning (in slightly different roles in some cases).^[2]^[3]

Chapter titles

The Terror of Tarzan
The Love Cry
The Call of the Jungle
The Lion's Leap
Flames of Hate
The Fiery Pit
The Leopard's Lair
The Jungle Traitor
Lost in the Jungle
Jaws of Death
A Thief in the Night
The Enemy of Tarzan
Perilous Paths
Facing Death
The Reckoning

Novel

Originally written as a 15-part serial for newspapers in 1926, it was collected and published as a released as a trade-paperback (ISBN 978-1-4357-4971-9) by ERBville Press in 2005.