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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! #10...The Gorilla (1927)

October 22, 2013, 10:34 pm
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That was the sound of silent spooky simians!
Tonight's selection was the first version of the stage play to appear on celluloid. Hollywood adapted this comedy mystery on 3 occasions in little over a decade demonstrating that studio remakes are not a new thing. To my knowledge the film is lost, so I cannot comment on the quality of the pic, however the images that remain have always captured my attention. My affection for the strange and often bizarre gorilla suits of early cinema is well established here but the stills and promotional materials illustrate a very unique creature that stalked the dark house of THE GORILLA. The film is reportedly Charles Gemora's first foray into suit design and build and led him into the career that defined much of his life.
I leave you now with THE GORILLA!









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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! # 9 ...Bela Lugosi meets the Brooklyn Gorilla !

October 23, 2013, 6:05 pm
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How we doin' gang ? we're we'll on our way with the 9th installment of the Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown!

This time, we'll engage in a little mad science under the masterful hand of Bela Lugosi himself !
Bela Lugosi meets the Brooklyn Gorilla, in actual fact has nothing to do with Brooklyn, instead it takes place on a tropical island occupied by natives led by Chief Rakos.(Al Kikume)
The story unfolds as our not quite dashing heroes Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo find themselves stranded on the island after parachuting out of a plane.  Mitchell and Petrillo can best be described as a low rent version of Dean  Martin and Jerry Lewis. (Petrillo's version of Lewis is painfully spot on !)
After being found by the tribe, we meet the chiefs beautiful daughter Nona. (Charlita)
Without fail, Duke and Nona fall madly in love.
Desperate to find a way off the island, Nona brings Duke and Sammy to see Doctor Zabor. (Lugosi)
The good doctor employs Nona as a laboratory assistant, and has develops the hots for Nona over the years.
Needless to say, Doc Zabor isn't too pleased to see Nona's new found romance, So Zabor devises a plan to remove Duke from the equation. You see, Zabor is doing arcane experiments, where he can regress an animal to a more primitive form.
After capturing Duke, the good Doctor turns poor Duke into a fierce gorilla. (Steve Calvert).
What follows is utter comedic madness as a real gorilla gets into the mix and confusion ensues !
Bela delivers a brilliant performance as the jealous and disgruntled mad doctor, and Steve Calvert is at his best.
Mitchell and Petrillo do an admirable job as Martin and Lewis clones, and Charlita is so gorgeous, she does a great job just standing there. I do have to mention that there are a few musical numbers scattered around in the flick, but not enough to be too aggravating.
But the reason BLMTBG is on this countdown is because of the brilliance of Bela Lugosi, and the incredibly fun mad science he creates!


Martin and Lewis ? Not hardly.
Enter the love interest... the one on the right.
Hiya Doc.
Mad science at it's finest !
Before

During

After
Duke, is that you ?
This could get awkward !
Doctor Zabor !

Have a great time watching gang,
and remember to save Gorilla Man and Old Bongo some popcorn !



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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! # 8 ...Seven Footprints to Satan!

October 24, 2013, 7:10 pm
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Did someone say...SATAN!
The Church Lady is forever etched in my mind anytime the name of the Great Nemesis is mentioned. Today's entry is another Golden Age Gemora Gorilla - this time with man himself portraying the devilish ape. The text below is cannibalized from a post I made 6 (!) years ago but hey- I'm old and I gotz 2 kids!

I have added a few videos and the time where Gemora menaces the pasty faced 'hero'.





SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN was originally penned by Abraham Merrit in 1927, and was one of two works adapted to film (the other was BURN WITCH BURN!, filmed as THE DEVIL DOLL in 1936). Merritt had a modest literary output; his primary occupation was that of editor for THE ALL AMERICAN WEEKLY, a Randolph Hearst publication.

SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN Boni and Liveright New York 1928

Here is a brief, innocuous description of the film from IMDB – coming from the mind of   Benjamin Christensen I imagine that the last line in the summary is most relevant. I was introduced to Christensen’s landmark film HEXEN via the brutally surreal and random 30’s shocker, MANIAC. The titular character has moments of crippling hallucinations where images of demons and witches from the Danish docudrama are superimposed upon scenes of mental torment. It is abundantly clear that they are in class beyond this exploitation films’ original material.


A young man of society wants to make an expedition to Africa, but his fiancée asks him for help about one of her father’s guests shortly before his planed departure. Her suspects about that guest were serious, this man tries to steal one of her father’s rubin, and she and her fiancé are kidnapped and brought to a house, where strange things happen. The whole thing becomes a nightmare under the direction of a mysterious Mr. Satan.

SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN (1929) poster repro

The voluminous pages of THE MISSING LINK website have this to say about the early Hollywood effort of the Great Dane:
Daredevil Jim Kirkham, complains when he feels that his life is too mundane, until he and his sweetheart find themselves prisoners in a haunted castle while searching for a gemstone stolen during a reception at her house. The castle is inhabited entirely by monsters, wild animals and screaming victims, but eventually the horrors are revealed to have been nothing more than an elaborate hoax to show him that mundane reality can be as bizarre as any adventure.
A thrilling parade of monsters in a startling symphony of light and shadow, invested with a darkly mocking wit.

That seems a more apt description! I have yet to see the film myself. It was long considered lost until a European version surfaced. Though it is minus the sound effects and synchronized music that accompanied the North American release, the surviving print has Italian intertitles, a recent score, and is available at Creepy Classics. Another item on a long list of gorilla suit must-haves.

SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN (1929) still 

Another rare still - note a youthful Angelo Rossito with the curled shoes, best known for his FREAKS role with horror buffs, also widely recognized for his appearance as the Master in the third MAD MAX installment.

 The cult film guru Michael J. Weldon of Psychotronic magazine (which sadly may be out of print for a spell while they rebound from some distribution problems) had these comments about the classic dark house film. Weldon’s distinctive obituary pages are unmatched in print or on the web – both the obscure and forgotten names of cult and underground film get their due recognition in a few lines of print. The quote below is indicative of Michael’s expansive knowledge and his top spot as the go-to Hollywood grave watcher.

SEVEN FOOTPRINTS is overloaded with impressive horror makeup faces, interesting characters and visual surprises. One brief (pre-code) scene shows a naked oriental woman (we only see part of her). Her hands are then bound above her head with leather straps while the gorilla holds her feet! A hairy faced man (William V. Mong) who I think is a werewolf and a bearded dwarf (young Angelo Rossitto) both help the hero. A witch woman in a sexy dress (Nora Cecil) and a club footed cripple with long hair (Sheldon Lewis, who was DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE in 1920) both threaten. Also with the director as Eve’s uncle and Loretta Young (an extra). The director, best known for his incredible WITCHCRAFT 2 THROUGH THE AGES (22), also made THE HAUNTED HOUSE (28) and HOUSE OF HORROR (29) in Hollywood, both also with Todd and Mong, before returning home to Denmark. Todd, famous for 30s comedy shorts, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in her car in 35. The Japanese Kamiyama Sojin (also in THE BAT - 26) died in 44 in a U.S. internment camp. Hale, from Ireland, retired after the 40s and lived into his 80s.



 Appears around 7:50


Appears around 5:40


Appears around 5:19

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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown!...# 7...The Ape !

October 25, 2013, 5:00 pm
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Here we go into the fray yet again, as we continue the count down the Halloween !
What's creepier than a killer gorilla prowling for hapless victims? A gorilla who's out to use you for mad scientific experimentation, that's what !
So pull up your pumpkin, and we'll tell the tale of  Monogram Pictures" The Ape", starring horror legend, Boris Karloff.
Karloff stars as ,Doctor Adrian, a lonely country doctor, who is on a guilt ridden search to find the cure polio, the disease that claimed his wife and daughter years earlier. 
A young girl in town, (Maris Wrixon) also suffers from the dread disease, and Doctor Adrian is
damned and determined not to let the disease take another innocent life. the key to the cure, he hypothesises, is the introduction of human spinal fluid into the spine of the patient.
The only drawback is the spinal fluid must be extracted from a live donor.
As luck would have it, this causes the donor to die, thereby cutting down the list of potential volunteers.
In a series of fortunate events, a traveling circus happens into the little town the good doctor lives in.
One of the exhibits is a huge gorilla,( The great, Ray Corrigan).
The poor beast is horribly abused by his trainer.
Then one evening, after viciously flogging the crap out of the poor gorilla, the A-hole trainer makes the mistake of getting to close to the vengeful behemoths cage.

Then the gorilla does a little flogging of his own. (YAY !)
One dropped cigar later, and the circus is now on fire, with part of the cage burned through, the ape
escapes into the night
The circus folk find the mangled body of the trainer, still somehow alive, and take him to kindly, old Doc Adrian (Karloff) to try to save him.
The monkey did a thorough job of whipping his ass so the trainer's well on his way to a dirt nap.
Old Doc figures since the guy's on the way out, a donation to the spinal fluid bank won't hurt him any way.(since to extract it is always fatal.)
After getting the secret sauce, old Doc injects the young girl he's trying to cure and sees a glimmer of hope in the treatment.
Meanwhile, as Doc's returning to his office, the mean old gorilla has come sniffing for the trainer's scent.
As luck would have it, the trainers blood stained jacket is still in the office and old Magilla can smell it !
It breaks through the window scaring the hell out of the Doc!

But rather than run away, the old Doc busts a bottle of chloroform over the enraged critters snot locker !
Then when the monkey was two sheets to the wind, Doc jumps the monkey with a knife and stabs the hairy intruder though the heart, from behind.
Then , in a moment of mad inspiration, he skins it, and makes a costume out of it, and set out to get as much spinal fluid as he needs to cure that poor girl.
I do want to point out, that for the most part, Doc was taking it from local scumbags.( who probably deserved it)
I also want to say, that Docs motives were to help the girl, and by virtue, mankind as a whole through finding the polio cure.
This is polar opposite to Lugosi (in the Ape Man) killing for spinal fluid to cure his own selfish ass! ( after having messed him self up in the first place !)
But, back to the Karloff flick.
The Ape costarred Ray "Crash" Corrigan as both the real gorilla, and Doc Adrian in disguise.
This was necessary as Karloff could barely stand in the heavy costume, much less move in it.
Karloff wore the suit for one scene only, as a reveal of the culprit.
This film marked the last time Ray's original gorilla costume ( Bonga) was ever used, as it was falling apart.
When the gorilla is looking through the windows of Docs office,
you can see the monkeys teeth through horizontal rips in the upper lip.

You can also see a steel wire sticking out from the lower lip that was part of the mechanism to make the mouth move.
After the Ape, Crash retired the old suit, and had a new suit constructed, that was even more menacing.
But at any rate, I like this little film, because it truly shows old Boris giving a heck of a performance as the painfully conflicted Dr. having to kill, to save lives....Not many new TRICKS, but a very cool TREAT !
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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown!...# 6...White Pongo!

October 26, 2013, 5:45 pm
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Now I freely admit that WHITE PONGO is pretty far from the parameters that we have set for ourselves, but I cannot get that frosty locked freaky ape outta my mind when considering not just the horrific gorilla film, but rather the horrific gorilla. While the film itself is nowhere near frightening, or dramatically interesting, the bizarre albino ape strikes a powerful pose in the press stills, lobby cards and posters. I don't doubt for a moment that Corrigan's white nightmare was the primary reason the moviegoing masses bought a ticket. Though the suit had none of the realism Gemora strove for, the outlandish and grotesque White Pongo is certainly fascinating enough to capture our attention 70 years later.













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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! #5 ..... Microspook !

October 27, 2013, 5:25 pm
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BOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Look out for.....

Microspook !

  The hairy and horrible countdown continues with the hysterically dreaded film known only as ...Microspook!
This film is tailor made for Halloween...Haunted Houses, masked maniac with a pet killer goriller...and more horrifying than that..Emil Sitka in a goofball low rent gorilla suit getting confused for the real thing! You can't ask for a tricky treat better than that !
   Microspook (1949) is in the same vein as the classic " Old Dark House" comedies, made very popular in the 30's and 40's. This is actually my favorite type of gorilla movie, more so than the straight up jungle adventures. They just seem a lot more fun to me!
   Microspook stars veteran radio comedian Harry Von Zell, ( Of Burns and Allen fame),Christine McIntyre, and Emil Sitka.











Von Zell, made a name for himself playing a practical joke addicted goofball radio announcer.
In Microspook, Harry's co-workers are so fed up with his antics that they talk one of Harry's sponsors into wanting Harry to do a live broadcast from an authentic haunted house.




His co-workers later sneak into the house intent on scaring the heck out of Harry with an ape suit worn by the great Emil Sitka. ( Sitka was a staple in the Three Stooges shorts, and considered by Moe Howard to be the fourth Stooge)
Needless to say, things don't turn out quite as expected as the house is already inhabited by a killer gorilla ( Ray Corrigan) and his eccentric keeper.





One of the classic gags in gorilla movies is the old " real gorilla is mistaken for a fake gorilla gag".
To pull this off properly, you need the "fake Gorilla" to a fairly low quality suit.
Well, in Microspook, the producers spared no expense in procuring the worst looking gorilla suit on the planet, from the Columbia wardrobe department.
The suit literally is made of fur and gaffers tape and in some stills, it really shows !




Hollywood Gorilla Man Emil Sitka (Yes, you heard that right!) throws a fright into the lovely Christine McIntyre. On top of this comedic gorilla, Emil also played gorillas in other films, (including Jungle Jim and the Lost Tribe) sometimes wearing the gorilla suits of the great Charles Gemora !



Emil and Christine plot to scare the hell, out of Harry Von Zell !


Word to the not so wise...don't smoke....in a gorilla suit...




The Mighty Sitka stalks the halls of the haunted house !
What a great profile this suit has ! It's like something from a Don Martin cartoon !
  
Sitka meets the even Mightier Ray Corrigan !
Emil Sitka and Christine McIntyre ring Harry Von Zell's chime !
( photo from the collection of Bob Burns)

The weird thing is that I really like that goofy suit !
It has that same quirky charm as a tie made of construction paper and macaroni noodles that small children would make for their dad on fathers day.
The badness of Emil's suit shines like a spotlight when put next to Ray Corrigans awesome suit,
and makes old Crash's suit all the more real.


This leads to mass hilarity that I can only imagine since I haven't seen Microspook yet !
We can get an idea of what it is like through a wonderful article and photos on a website devoted to Emil Sitka , created by his son, Saxon Emil Sitka.

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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! #4 ..... THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST!

October 28, 2013, 12:00 am
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I am forever thankful that the gloriously nutty Ed Wood of PLAN 9 infamy, also created the little gorilla suited gem THE BRIDE AND THE BEAST (1958). This creepy little tale of wed-us interruptus posits that a newly married Charlotte Austin has an inexplicable connection to the caged beast in her husband's basement. Steve Calvert mixes it up in Corrigan's old suit and hungers for a taste of his master's new bride. After the escaped anxious ape is dispatched with a few bullets, the hypnotic investigation into the weird draw our angora clad beauty has to the furry fellow reveals a past lifetime as the Queen of the Gorillas! Though the film doesn't sustain the delightful strangeness of it's first half, devolving into African stock footage, it does feature one of the few white apes of cinema, and for that, deserves a rewatch or two!








    Here's the trailer with a few thoughts from John Landis - a fellow gorilla suit enthusiast if there ever was one!

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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! # 3 ...The Monster and the girl !...1941

October 29, 2013, 2:06 pm
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Trick or Treat ! Hiya folks ! This installment of our Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown is most definitely a treat ! What better treat than a little Mad Science ? Well friends, it doesn't get any madder than the science in The Monster and the Girl !



Monster and the girl is a bit of a hidden gem in the Universal vaults, as it was far out shined by the classic monsters in Universals stable.
For every Frankenstein, Dracula And Wolfman, Universal had lesser titles like Murders in the Rue Morgue, Man Made Monster, and Monster and the Girl.
The production values of Monster and the Girl are excellent. The cast is exceptional and includes the likes of genre veterans Paul Lucas, Joseph Calleia, Onslow Stevens, Marc Lawrence, Gerald Mohr, and the maddest of scientists, George Zucco !
The Story is very dark in subject matter, dealing with seedy underworld doings, false imprisonment, and a woman being forced into prostitution. As much of a downer as this is, it is important to the set up of the plot.
You see, The evil gangster boss, W.S.Bruhl ( Paul Lucas) has framed Scot Webster (Phillip Terry) for a murder he didn't commit.
A few well placed bribes later, and poor Scot is found guilty as charged.
With his execution looming closer, Scot is approached by the seemingly kindly Dr. Parry. (George Zucco) Parry makes a deal with Scot to remove his brain after the execution for science....Mad Science !
Back in the lab, the good doctor has a monstrous gorilla !(Charles Gemora)
Old Doc Parry comes home, Jar in hand and dumps poor Scot's brain into the newly emptied gorilla noggin.
While all this is going on, Scot's Sister Susan is drugged and duped into the seedy world of prostitution by W.S.Bruhl and his twisted slime-bag confederates.
 After a fashion, word starts to get around about Bruhl's doings and it gets back to Gorilla Scot.


Being not just an average monkey, Scot escapes his cage and begins a vengeful game of cat and mouse with Bruhl's goons.
One by one, the thugs meet a gruesome demise by having every bone in their bodies broken.
The press dubs the mysterious killer "The Mangler", and after another on of Bruhl's men winds up the same way, they start getting a little panicky. There is a brilliant scene with Marc Lawrence having a full blown panic attack, "I don't wanna get mangled !I don't wanna get mangled !"...I won't spoil any more for you, as I hope this really wet your Apetite to see it!

Now for the good stuff !
The gorilla in this movie, is widely thought by gorilla man, and ape suit fans, to be the best gorilla suit ever put on film up to that time. I'll go it one better, by telling without doubt, that it was the best suit, up until Rick Baker hit his stride in the 70's ! It's that good !
It was created by the great Charles Gemora, using reference photos and studies of real gorillas.
 The suit was revolutionary, in the fact that Gemora incorporated bags of water under the skin to give realistic sway and heft to the gorilla as he moved...And what movement ! Charlie was beyond a doubt the best at acting like a real gorilla. Every movement exactly mirrors the movements of the real animal. No monster performance here, Charlie went for realism and it shows ! The lighting and atmosphere in Monster and the Girl is top notch, with narrow glints of light catching the gorilla from dynamic angles giving a surreal effect to the ape. The close-ups of Charlie's magnificent gorilla are perfect, and don't come off as "mask-y" at all...It looks real !






This is a super rare behind the scenes shot of Charlie taken during filming. Pretty damned cool !

So give Monster and the girl a spin and see for yourself why this is the best ape ever !
Hows this for a Tricky Treat !


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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown!...# 2...The Ape Man !!

October 30, 2013, 11:18 pm
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Here it is kids, the second to the last Hairy Halloween classic !
This is perfect film for the holiday that cellebrates the weird, the creepy, and the spooky !
Is it a werewolf ? No, even worse !

This time it's.......






The Ape Man....A true classic of Simian Cinema !
The Ape Man....A masterpiece of Monkey Movie Madness !
The Ape Man.... A powerful...er..amazing....well...awww crap !...It's got a gorilla in it !
If your the hard boiled gorilla man fans I know you are, then you've hopefully seen it !
If not...What are you waiting for ?!!
Be forewarned, my mad monkey minions, there are spoilers ahead !
So if you haven't seen the Ape Man yet, skip now to the bottom of the post and watch it...Go ahead..we'll wait. After you've watched it, read on , and well have a good laugh at it.

The plot; apparently for some reason, Dr. Jonathan Brewster (Lugosi) felt the need to inject himself
in the spine with the spinal fluid of a gorilla. Why you ask? Who the hell knows !
It's a damn well weird thing to do to yourself !
I would assume the fluid was taken from the gorilla Brewster keeps lock away in his basement laboratory. (Emil VanHorn )
The results of this bizarre experiment, are a bad case of poor posture, an Amish beard and a hairline that starts at his eyebrows. Dr. Brewster is so horrified by his ape-like appearance, that he hides out, making the world think he's dead.
Enter, Agatha Brewster ( Minerva Urecal), the nutty Doctors even nuttier sister. The old battle axe's arrival is tipped to a reporter by a loony halfwit tipster named Zippo,(Ralph Littlefield) that keeps popping in and out of the story periodically.
The reporters the goofball Zippo tips off , are none other than Jefferson B. Carter (Wallace Ford) and his cutie side kick photographer, Billie Mason.(Louise Currie)
In a quest to interview the loony old Brewster sister, they wind up at Dr. Brewster's creepy mansion. Before their arrival, old Agatha had gotten the shock of her life to find her brother she thought dead, to be very much alive...though more than a little messed up !
When the reporters arrive outside the old house, they hear the Docs gorilla raising hell, and decided to investigate.
Agatha, (not wanting to disclose her Brothers secret, covers for the noise by claiming it was a recording of ghost sounds from some old castle she was at. ( she's a medium, you see.)
As luck would have it , Billie Mason snaps a photo of the old bag for the article they are writing, just as the ape faced Bela pears through a window behind her.
He sneaks off, not being noticed, and the reporters leave...Very suspicious of the goings on in the old house.
Meanwhile Bela, decides the only chance he has to get cured is to inject human spinal fluid into his back.
The fact that it needs to taken from a live host, and it will kill them to extract it, is inconsequential.
So old Bela and his trained Hench gorilla set out to go on a murderous rampage in a macabre scavenger hunt to collect the fluid.
Bela's friend and fellow physician,Dr. George Randall, (Henry Hall) is approached to do the injections.
Horrified at how he intends to acquire the stuff, George refuses at first, but relents after Brewster has his gorilla kill his butler.
The shot does the trick and they all live happily ever after...NOT.
The cure only works for a short while, so off the hairy duo go to procure more of the secret sauce.
After several more killings, Bela figures he has enough to reverse the curse permanently.
Now all these hairy murders haven't gone unnoticed by the dynamic newspaper duo ,and after yet another tip from the Idiot Zippo, they follow the clues back to the Brewster mansion.
Can you guess what they discovered on the photo of the old hag Agatha, that Miss Mason took...You guessed it, old monkey face Bela himself! The cops have determined that the killing were done by an ape, because of the crushed bones in the victims, and here they find an ape staring at them in the photo. So after a few more words of wisdom from the moronic Zippo, off to the Brewster place the intrepid duo fly.
Meanwhile old George is brought out to the old house to do the honors with the injections.
In a fit of morality, George refuses his friends request and breaks the vial of the good stuff.
Bela doesn't take this lightly and kills him out of spite.
Before long, the girl reporter winds up captured by Brewster and sis, and Carter winds up face down on the floor with a vase busted over his head.
( a classic still, beautifully colorized by artist Mark Thompsen)

Meanwhile, back in the lab, old Brewster's pet gorilla takes a liking to the pretty Miss Mason.
Brewster menaces the poor girl, whilst Jeff Carter, having regained consciousness, is frantically trying to get into the lab with the cops.
Bela is closing in on the dame when she accidentally releases Magilla from his cage.
Not wanting to see his little girlfriend sullied by the Dr.'s grimy paws, the gorilla attacks old Bela, and proceeds to kill the crap out of him.
With Brewster pushing daisies, Magilla turns his affections toward Billie Mason who ain't to happy about that.
Just then Jeff Carter and the cops burst in with guns blazing and turn the poor monkey into hairy Swiss cheese.
As if on cue, the to reporters fall in love and all is happy....Even the idiot Zippo, who wrote the crazy thing.
Is The Ape Man a great movie ? I'd be a damned liar if I said yes.
But it is a fun movie...Wallace ford is likable as the wise cracking reporter, and Louise Currie ain't too hatefull to look at.
Bela is as over the top as I've ever seen him in any movie !
There is some nice atmosphere in a lot of the shots, and the story moves along at a pretty good pace.

A British lobby card, with it's English title, Lock Your Doors...The Ape Man made more sense I think.





                                                         Probably not the best idea Bela !
told ya !

So on behalf of Emil VanHorn, enjoy the movie...and have a good laugh at the expense of...
The Ape Man !



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Hairy Horrorthon Halloween Countdown! ....Bongo's # 1... The Gorilla 1939!

October 31, 2013, 7:46 pm
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This is it folks!
Old Bongo's favorite Halloween Monkey Movie !...The Gorilla !
 

The Gorilla stars the wacky, zany, goofy, and sometimes funny Ritz Brothers !
The Ritz's are an acquired taste, and some people can't stand them, but I think their brand of low brow humor is funny as hell !

The Ritz's are like an impossible combination of the Three Stooges, and Abbott and Costello....in short...completely nuts !
 The supporting cast really puts this film over the top for me though.
The cast features Bela Lugosi ! Lionell Atwill ! The hysterically funny Patsy Kelly!
 The stunningly beautiful Anita Louise, And The dashing Edward Norris!

Another cast member who is no stranger to gorillas is Joseph Calleia. Two years after "The Gorilla", Calleia would go on to co-star in the classic Monster and the Girl !
The story is a classic : A terrible murderer is prowling the city...the only clue to his identity ? A note !
On that note, is the threat of death to the victim, and the cryptic signature...The Gorilla !


Our story unfolds in the mansion home of  Walter Stevens. (Lionel Atwill)
The house maid Kitty (the hysterically funny Patsy Kelly !) is relaxing in her upstairs room when A huge gorilla arm reaches in through the window and pins a note to her shoulder.
 A quick shrieking dash downstairs alerts Stevens and his faithful butler, Peters. (Bela Lugosi).

After retrieving the note from the terrified Kitty, Stevens sees that he is to be the next victim of the gorilla.
 
 
Rather than call the police, Stevens hires three bumbling detectives ; Harrigan, Mulligan, and Garrity. ( Al, Harry, and Jimmy Ritz)

With the detectives to protect him, Stevens is assured of his safety...or is he?
About then, Stevens' beautiful niece (Anita Louise) shows up with her Fiance.(Edward Norris).

What follows is a tour de farce of sliding panels, secret passages, disappearing detectives, and if that isn't enough, a real gorilla lurking around the house ! The gorilla in "The Gorilla" is expertly played by ace gorilla man Art Miles.
 
 

 

Art's suit was one of the best in it's time, with an incredibly detailed face, beautiful fur quality, and fantastic proportions. The face was well articulated with moving mouth, lips, and nostrils!

Like Corrigans gorilla, Art's had an incredibly wild head of hair ! (think Don King)
The proportions of the suit are excellent, a really massive beast !
The story is for the most part fast moving and really funny. The scenes with Atwill and Lugosi are very memorable and a great showcase for their talents, Lugosi in particular !

Lugosi's Peters the butler is a great character, very eerie, bordering at times at self parody. You get to see Bela step outside the norm, and pull off some great gags like judo flipping Al Ritz flat on his back !



 
 
 
I know it's goofy...I know it's silly...But it's my absolute favorite treat for this very tricky Halloween countdown !
 
On behalf of Gorilla Man, and myself, Mighty Bongo...We wish you all a very Happy and Ape-y Halloween !
 
 
 
 


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Mighty Monkey Man Bananer Banner !...This month...Angus Lamont !

November 3, 2013, 3:50 pm
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Hiya gang,
You'll notice a new look for the HGM banner above ! Gorillaman and I are inviting you, our readers to submit your own HGM banner designs!  This months great design is from a young member of both our HGM and Ape Suit Cinema (Facebook) Sites .
Direct from beautiful Scotland...I give you the artful work of Angus Lamont !

If you would like to contribute a design, you can email it to ;  hollywoodgorillamen@gmail.com

Bring em' on gang, we're looking forward to seeing them !
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Dale Park !...Video Game Gorilla Man !

November 23, 2013, 2:54 pm
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Hiya Gorilla Gang !

This time we're going to talk about a gorilla man you probably haven't heard of, but have probably seen before...assuming you were around in the70's and 80's that is.

Dale Park,!!  
Dale was primarily an actor stuntman in Hollywood who was originally from Decatur Illinois.
As a young man, Dale was an athlete, which no doubt helped in his stunt career.
Along the way he got the gorilla bug and had a custom suit constructed to his specifications.

Dale's suit was very unique in design, as the head and neck were tapered into the body.
This gave the suit a nice thick neck that looked very realistic, but it sacrificed any flexibility of the head.  Dales suit also was an early attempt so show the varying fur lengths of the real animal. The arms and shoulders were very long fur, while the body fur was about an inch long. While this was accurate to a real gorilla, it didn't always come off so well on camera , but overall I thought it was a pretty cool looking suit.
Dale did a fair amount of appearances as "Grunt" the Gorilla in commercials and television.
He also played apes in two movies, " Mistress of the Apes " ( 1979 ) , and also " Mr. Too Little" (1978 ).
 In the movie "Fire And Ice" (1983) Dale played a Subhuman.
His Television appearances include the Educational Television program, "Mathnet" ( A mathematical take off of Dragnet). Dale appeared as Grunt the Gorilla in the episode : "The Problem of the Missing Monkey" (1987)
In the TV sitcom "Rags to Riches", Dale got to be one of 3 gorillas in an episode. Dale teamed with Legendary Gorilla Man Bob Burns, and Gorilla man, special effects genius Steve Neill.
                           Steve Neill, Dale Park, and Bob Burns on the set of Rags to riches.
Bob, Steve, and Dale taking a breather between takes.
Cooling down !
Spoiled rich kids, about to get a gorilla dunking !
 

 Here are Bob's thoughts about Dale Park ;

[ Dale was a great stunt man. After his gorilla suit days he worked for Roy Rogers at his museum. He played Gabby hayes for the people who came through the place.
 When the museum closed Dale kept playing Gabby and continued that role or at least the last time I saw him in the photo below. Republic studios celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2010. I hadn't seen Dale in years and all of a sudden behind me I heard a voice that sounded Like Gabby Hayes say "How you doin Bobby".
 It was Dale looking very much like Gabby. It was so great to see him. He is one of the nice guys in the business. ]


[ The above photo is Dale in his gorilla suit. I don't know who made it 
for him. It's not the best gorilla suit but he put a lot of body 
English into it. He used to know Ray Corrigan so I'm sure that he got 
a few pointers from him.
I hope this puts some light on another gorilla man.]

Now you may be asking why I called this the Video Game gorilla ?
In the 80's Dale was the mascot for the Parker Brothers video game, AMIDAR.
Dale appeared both in print ads, and a national TV commercial.
This is where I first saw Dale's gorilla, and I made a vow to find out who this guy was.
Here are screen caps from the commercial..

 
And this is the commercial itself...Take note of Dale's body English, especially his loping run at the begining, he was a master !
 
I 'm glad I was able to find out who Dale was, and a little about him. Like all Gorilla men, each and everyone one of them, deserve a place in the spotlight !
 






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Merry Christmas from...The Monster Gorilla !

December 14, 2013, 8:14 pm
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We at Hollywood Gorilla Men , and the cast of the soon to be released homage to classic gorilla films, Monster Gorilla want to wish all our readers a very Happy Holiday Season !

Here the beautiful star of Monster Gorilla, Heather Brinkley, tells the old beastie himself what she wants for Christmas !
                                    
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Steve Neill...Make-Up... Models... and Monkey Man !

December 28, 2013, 10:37 pm
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Hi my mad monkey minions !
This time, we look into the simian career of a special effects master Steve Neill.
Steve is one of Hollywood's most diverse talents !
Steve has a huge resume under his belt as a make-up effects artist, and creature effects artist for such
films as Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country..Puppet Master, Return of the Swamp Thing,Battle Beyond the Stars, and the movie Ghost Busters.
 Steve is a renaissance man of sorts, mastering the  the effects fields of Make-up, Visual Effects, practical effects, Miniatures, and a list of accomplishments, that could easily be a website unto itself.

Steve has also become one of the leading builders of radio controlled movie quality models and miniatures. He has built models, ranging from Star Trek to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea !
His services are sought after the world over!

What about the gorilla stuff, you ask ?
OK, I'll tell ya !
Early in his make-up career, like most creature guys, Steve took an interest in gorillas. Steve built his first suit while working as a sculptor for the legendary Don Post studios, of Hollywood.
Steve, built his suit along side his friends, David Ayers, and Paul Gentry. ( More to come on David Ayers!)

Steve's first suit was excellent, but a mere foreshadowing of what was yet to come.
After Post, Steve became good friends with master make-up artist, and modern day gorilla God, Rick Baker.
Rick was instrumental in getting Steve's early career off to a phenomenal start!
His friendship with Rick was also a learning experience for Steve. Rick taught Steve a great deal in terms of techniques , and mechanics of advanced make-up and creature effects.
 Steve took the teachings of Rick to heart in regards to gorilla suit building.
 
Steve went on to build an amazing suit that he used professionally on many occasions. The most notable,would be the King Kong commercial for Transamerica Insurance Co.

There were two versions of the commercial, differing only in a lengthier destructive intro.
 
 The primary theme was Kong (Neill) climbing the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco California.
In this commercial for Transamerica Insurance, King Kong is shown on a destructive rampage through a big city. Eventually he scales the walls of a skyscraper and knocks over some potted plants on a penthouse terrace while swatting at several attacking helicopters. An indignant tenant appears and wants to know "who's gonna pay for this mess?" Slogan (supered): "Transamerica. The power of the pyramid is working for you."
Working with, and supporting Steve in his Kong outing, was his beloved, late wife Gilly.
Gilly puppeteered Kong's face, in his rampage.

Re-Christening his ape alter ego "Carlo" , Steve also got to go ape along side master gorilla men Bob Burns, and Dale Park in an episode of the TV series, Rags to Riches.
Here Steve and Bob, share a snack.
Speaking of Dale Park, I found out from Steve, that He made the face of Dales Suit ! The face came from the same molds as Steve's first suit he built.
Bob and Steve have been friends for many years, and have worked together on many projects.
When Steve created the Mac Tonight character for McDonald's, (man in the moon playing piano)Steve, Bob, and Gilly puppeteered the face for Mac.
 Mac was played by renowned creature actor. Doug Jones. (Abe Sapien from Hell Boy, and The Silver Surfer from the Fantastic Four)
Steve has a daily vlog on YouTube, called Steve Neill's Garage.( SNG )
It's a fascinating look at Steve's fantastic world!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3CF69F6AC94B4F71

Check out Steves creations, you'll be glad you did !...Oh, and look out for Rosie the Wonder Dog !



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David Ayres...Mask making monkey man !

January 29, 2014, 6:29 pm
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Close Encounters of the Third Kind !...Something Wicked this Way Comes !....Battlestar Galactica!
What do these all have in common ? They all feature the amazing masks and makeups of special effects makeup artist David Ayres.
David is a California native,who grew up in Arizona. With a life long fascination with movie monsters and makeup he soon found himself headed to Hollywood to pursue his dreams.
Early in his career landed at the starting point for many a young makeup man, Hollywood's famous Don Post Studios.
During his time at Don Post Studios, David worked on a few of the masks that Post is legendary for, sculpting and making molds for quality masks, and special projects. Also, helping to create the Star/Trek mask line from which came the Captain Kirk mask (The Shape) used for John Carpenter's film Halloween.
While at Post, David also befriended our last featured gorilla man, Steve Neill.
Just as Steve did, David also heard the call of the jungle and proceeded to build his gorilla alter ego, "Link ".
Link is a mischievous looking fellow, with loads of character. It was these qualities, that lead to David as "Link" to be cast in a Kool-Aid commercial shown nation wide in 1976.
Here is Link, stalking the wilds of Griffith Park in a series of photos taken by Paul Gentry.


 
 

 
                      Link and Davids good friend, Paul Gentry in 1976.
You can catch a glimpse of "Link" in action here    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIynkkF4YFY

After Don Post Studios, David worked at The Burman Studios, as a sculptor and mold maker and helped to created such monstrous creations as six foot long giant ants for Empire of the Ants. And thru The Burman Studios, a closeup ET head, and also helped with the background ET masks for
Steven Spielberg's speculative science-drama Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Next, He was hired by Charles Band to create the creepy likeness mannequin masks in the cult classic Tourist Trap.

 While still in his early Twenties, David had a two page article about himself, in Starlog Magazine.
 
The finished version of Davids War of the Worlds Martian can be seen below.
 
 
David channels his inner, Charles Gemora !!!

 To hire David to create the beast you've always wanted, you can contact him at :


David Ayres
 
Makeup EFX Artist Studio
and Costumes
480-429-7618
creatreman@aol.com

Tell him, Bongo sent you !
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Happy National Gorilla Suit Day 2014 !

January 31, 2014, 3:15 am
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Tarzan...The Ape...Men ?!?!?

February 18, 2014, 2:37 pm
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Hiya gorilla gang.
Through our friends at Ape Suit Cinema, I now have this bit of ape-ish awesomeness to share with you !
On September 1st, 1975, Los Angeles was invaded by not one, but five cinematic  ape men, to celebrate the 100th Birthday of Tarzan's creator Edgar Rice Burroughs !

Tarzan's in the personage of: Johnny Weissmuller...James Pierce...Denny Miller...Jock Mahoney...and Larry "Buster" Crabbe were on hand to commemorate the birth of the literary father of Tarzan.

Of course you can't have all these "Lords of the Apes" around without an ape to lord over...so enter the gorilla !


 It's not known who is in the suit, but what I can tell you is that the suit was made by the famous Western Costumes of Hollywood. This Western Costumes gorilla suit and all the others like it were used frequently in Hollywood in Low budget Jungle and adventure pictures.
The higher budget pictures would employ one of the professional gorilla men we celebrate on this humble site. The Western gorilla was sometimes used in conjunction with a pro gorilla man as an example of a fake gorilla suit, while the pro portrayed the real gorilla.
A great example of this is the 3-D classic "Gorilla at Large ".



This must have been a great time for all these jungle men, as you can't get a much more select fraternity. They all look like they're having a great time...even the gorilla is smiling !...sort of...
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Coming soon...to a DVD near you !...Monster Gorilla !

March 1, 2014, 7:08 pm
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Hi gorilla gang !
Once again old Bongo finds himself behind the ape ball, trying to keep up with all my ape-ly duties.
If you're wondering why I've been so negligent of my HGM duties, well I've teamed up with Nightveil Media, and Marauder productions to bring you a new classically styled monkey movie !
Working from a script by yours truly, (under my human guise of Chris Casteel ) Producer/Director
Bill Black has crafted a really fun romp mirroring all the classics of the past !
What are these classics you ask ? (go ahead, I'll wait)
Oh, glad you asked !
Well, in Monster gorilla you'll find inspirations from :
The Ape Man
White Pongo
Bride of the Monster
Bride of the gorilla,
And a slew of others that inspired elements of the film, some which are actual story elements !
 The film stars the stunningly beautiful Heather Brinkley as the hapless heroine Heather.
The  co-stars include the incomprehensibly manic Bill Fredericks as Vornoff. The talented Scott Mena, Yours truly Chris Casteel as (you guessed it ) a gorilla ! And introducing the newest member to our gorilla family,( a gorilla girl, though she plays a male gorilla)...my daughter, Kelley Young !
Kell is a real chimp off the old block, giving a fantastic performance.
The film will be presented in several formats: a 30 min. color version, a 30 min version in glorious Black and White , a 20 minute film festival version, and an extra special 12 minute version specially mastered to look like an authentic Castle Films version ! Plus A few surprises !
For those unfamiliar with Castle Films, before the advent of VHS as a home movie format, the only way to watch movies at home was with an 8 mm, super 8 mm, or 16 mm film projector.
The films were available from many catalogs and classic magazines at the time, including the legendary
Famous Monsters of Filmland !
Castle Films is now owned by the great Craig Scott Lamb who is also the owner of American International Pictures !

Here is the Trailer for Monster Gorilla ...Enjoy gang !!!







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Veddette Iris Chacon.... To Hot to Handle !

March 16, 2014, 4:20 pm
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Hiya Gorilla Gang !

There is nothing quite as nice as a good friend who surprises you with something super cool !
Well this time the surprise is far from cool...In fact it's incredibly hot !

My stunningly beautiful mermaid friend, Medusirena saw this photo and immediately thought of her old pal Bongo !


This incredible photo features the unbelievably sexy Latina singer, Veddette Iris Chacon !

Iris's back-up dancers  are a group of randy monkey men, all intent on carrying the Puerto Rican sexpot off as gorilla's tend to do when they find a beautiful girl within grabbing distance !
The sharp eyed readers of this humble blog will recognize the monkey masks the dancers wear as the Don Post Studios "Hollywood Gorilla ".

Watch this video and see for yourself, why these poor gorilla would risk third degree burns trying to make of with the scorching hot Iris !




And once again, a very special thanks for this incredible photo sent to me by my lovely mermaid
 friend, MeduSirena Marina !
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My poor aching skull !

April 25, 2014, 6:58 pm
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Hiya gang,
How would you like to take a look inside a Hollywood Gorilla ?
Feast your eyes on the skeletal remains of one of our favorites....White Pongo !




Looking every bit like a medieval torture device, this steel, wood, ivory and leather monstrosity was the base for the sculpted leather visage of Pongo himself !

The mechanism here was genius. All self contained and operated by the wearer.
The two large bent metal rods that circle the teeth, are the lift bars to raise the lips into a vicious snarl.

 These bars have a hinge joint at the back that allow the lift bars to move up and down when the rearmost part of the rods are pulled by the opposite jaw. The upper jaw moves the lower lip, and the lower jaw moves the upper lip. All this action happens smoothly simply by the wearer opening his own mouth !

Directly above the upper gums, you'll see two oddly bent wires. These are the nostril dilators.notice that the rear part of the wires are soldered to small, flat, pieces of steel.  When the wearer smiles broadly, his cheeks press outward on these dilators. This causes the two ends to move away from each other. When attached to the nostrils of the ape face, this causes the nostrils to open wider as if he is sniffing something.

Of interest is the remains of the tongue. It is made of soft leather, with the rough side out, then stuffed with padding. Then it is painted and lacquered to make it look shiny and wet.

There ya have it, gang....now it's easy to see why old Pongo is so grumpy !
If you had that thing on your head, you'd be grumpy too !
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