Product Details

• Actors: Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay, Maris Wrixon, Gene O'Donnell, Dorothy Vaughan
• Directors: Terry O. Morse, William Nigh
• Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: ROAN
• DVD Release Date: October 26, 1999
• Run Time: 124 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305632448
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,868 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Horror Classics 04: The Ape / British Intelligence" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times

"The Roan Group, consistently responsible for some of the best-looking DVD editions"

Product Description

The Ape - Conducting weird scientific experiments, crazed Dr. James Brewster, aided by his colleague Dr. Randall, has managed to transform himself into a hairy, stooped-over ape-man. Desperately seeking a cure, Brewster believes only an injection of recently-drawn human spinal fluid will prove effective. With Randall refusing to help him, it falls to Brewster and his captive gorilla to find appropriate donors. Synopsis written by Doug Sederberg/IMDB. British Intelligence - Boris Karloff plays Valdar, a butler working for a British cabinet minister during WW1, and who may just be a spy. He tangles with alluring secret agent Lindsay--who may just be a double agent. Remake of Three Faces East. The Roan Group legacy began in 1992 with the critically acclaimed laserdisc of the Bela Lugosi masterpiece White Zombie. Troma will carry on this legacy and expand The Roan Group's DVD library that already includes over 60 Westerns, Dramas, Musicals, and classic films of all genres starring John Wayne, James Cagney, and Roy Rogers to name a few. Roan Group is known for their pristine restorations, many are from original film elements. The Roan Group has been featured on Siskel & Ebert, and Leonard Maltin and Entertainment Weekly have praised The Roan Group's restoration quality. Video Watchdog writes that Roan's White Zombie proves that a pristine image is still the most important, and Films in Review asserts, Cary Roan has done film history a service.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT DOUBLE FEATURE!!!!!, March 25, 2010

By 

larryj1 (AZ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horror Classics 04: The Ape / British Intelligence (DVD)

Roan has put together a very good double feature in it's horror classics series. It should be noted that "The Ape" is a British print. It is far superior to any print I have seen, and is complete, splice-free, and looks quite good. All references to Monogram Pictures were removed from the beginning and end titles. They were replaced with Monarch Film Distributors. British Intelligence is also a very good complete print. Recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Who'da thunk a guy in an ape suit would make a movie worse?, November 25, 2011

By 

Michael Noga "Jumping kings and making Haste ... (Ramen Noodle Arms Bachelor Apartments near Chicago Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ape (1940) (DVD)

Seriously, the movie actually has enough human interest to keep your attention without falling back on a guy in a bad, moldy looking ape suit to bring people into the theaters.

Boris Karloff stars as a seemingly not so mad mad Scientist who is looking for a cure for what I assume is polio. He lost his daughter and wife to it about a decade earlier, we learn, and has been feverishly trying to conquer the disease ever since. He's focusing on curing purty young thing Francis Clifford with whom he seems to have a bit of fatherly affection. Karloff is on the verge of restoring the young woman's legs, which seems like a good thing, until we learn that the key ingredient in the cure is nice, fresh human spinal fluid!

Karloff has been murdering some of the seedier locals, whom he assumes won't be missed, draining the spinal fluid from their bodies and injecting it into Frannie Clifford. As the bodies start to pile up Johnny Law, or in this case Sherriff Halliday, is starting to sniff around Karloff, looking for the killer. As luck would have it, a savage ape escapes from a traveling carnival when the carnival accidently burns to the ground. The ape goes on a short terror spree, scaring the bejeezus out of the locals. When it smashes its way into Karloff's house Doc Boris pitches a jar of chloroform in its face, knocking it out. He then does what any sane man would do and skins the ape and then wears the pelt whenever he needs to kill for fresh spinal fluid, thus deflecting the blame off him and onto the ape, which no one else knows is dead. Ah but you can't ape an ape without the chickens, or the hot lead as it were, coming home to roost.

Karloff does an excellent job making his character a sympathetic one. You can see how his intense grief overwhelms him and drives him to do some pretty immoral things in hopes of curing the disease that killed his daughter. After all if he loses Fran Clifford to the disease it would be like losing his daughter again, and he couldn't probably survive that. And Curt Siodmak does a good job with the scripting chores, adding a weird little triangle between Karloff, Fran and her Dudley Do-Right style boyfriend. The townspeople weren't particularly deeply drawn but were at least amusing.

The movie could have stood alone without the cruddy ape suit, which just cheapened things. I can imagine a troubled doctor thinking that its acceptable to kill a few people so that many more could live, but when that doctor skins an ape and wears it's pelt to do so, well that's a whole different category of crazy. I guess murdering apes were all the rage back then and the studio felt adding one here would up the ticket sales. As it is, it's an interesting curiosity and at least worth a look.

2.0 out of 5 stars Is it Restored?, August 14, 2010

By 

G. Schneider "old movie buff" (VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ape (1940) (DVD)

I have two copies of THE APE, and both are unwatchable, due to constant splices in the film the DVDs are made from. Is this any different? Is there a copy out there that has been restored from original negatives or pristine prints? I surely would like to see on and I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Will someone let me know?