Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bela Lugosi meets the Ritz Brothers, May 21, 2006
Had Edgar Allen Poe known how many bad murder mysteries featuring gorillas would have been inspired by his classic The Murders in the Rue Morgue, he may never have written it. It should come as no surprise that 1939's The Gorilla was one of these ape-related films - featuring an ape named (what else?) Poe. It's as much comedy as a murder mystery, though, with the Ritz Brothers lending their slapstick antics to the whole affair. Most folks say that this was a bad vehicle for the comedy trio and that they really could deliver laughs aplenty, so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. I've never seen the Ritz Brothers in anything before, but you'd have to have a really big funny bone to find much humor in all the bumbling around you'll find here.
Since this story, based on a play from the 1920s, had already been brought to cinematic life twice already, somebody at 20th Century Fox decided to bring in the Ritz Brothers and play it for laughs as much as suspense. Actually, there isn't all that much suspense to begin with. Some killer calling himself "the Gorilla" has been murdering folks all over town, making the cops look pretty inept in the process (since he tends to warn his intended victim a full 24 hours in advance). The latest target is Walter Stevens (Lionel Atwill), a fairly well-to-do guy who, we learn, happens to be heavily in debt. His niece (and co-beneficiary of Stevens' brother's will) Norma (Anita Louise) and her beau Jack Marsden (Edward Norris) just so happen to be on hand for the occasion, which has prompted Stevens to hire the Ritz Brothers to protect him. As the appointed hour approaches, there are plenty of wall-tapping, secret room-hopping shenanigans throwing the intrepid detectives off, and - wouldn't you just know it? - a real gorilla has escaped and headed right for the Stevens estate.
The Gorilla is an incredibly average film. It's certainly watchable, but nothing all that interesting or humorous ever happens. The main draw of the film today is the presence of Bela Lugosi as Stevens' butler. It's rather sad to watch such a talented actor as Lugosi play such a subordinate role in a film, but - as always - he steps up and delivers in a big way, despite the banality of the movie as a whole. Besides Lugosi, I think Lionel Atwill is quite a fine actor, but the most memorable player in this whole droll affair is Patsy Kelly, who plays Stevens' maid. She eventually becomes rather annoying due to her proclivity for delivering more and more one-liners as her general state of fear increases, but she's about the only character on hand with a discernible spark of life in her.
Horror and comedy can only bond effectively in the most special of circumstances, and the formula really just doesn't work in The Gorilla. Bela Lugosi certainly deserved better, and I can only hope that others are correct in saying that the Ritz Brothers were actually funny in some of their other films.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Ritz fans beware. The Ritzes walked out on this one, and so might you, November 28, 2005
THE GORILLA was the crux of a contract dispute between the Ritz Brothers and their studio -- the comedians complained about the script and walked off the set. They came back to finish the movie... but they were right. This has handsome production, atmospheric direction, and above all a solid supporting cast (Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Patsy Kelly, Wally Vernon, Anita Louise, Joseph Calleia), but the results are more noisy than funny in this stagey adaptation of an old play. Not at all typical of the Ritz Brothers, who were much more at home with musical comedy, and first-time viewers shouldn't judge the team by THE GORILLA. Lugosi fans will also be disappointed by his limited role. Video versions derive from retired 16mm TV prints.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wasted energy, November 28, 2005
The zany Ritz Brothers (Jimmy, Harry, Al) could do it all: sing, dance, and were skilled practitioners of verbal and visual comedy. From the 1930s through the 1960s, they were hugely popular on stage and in nightclubs; their wild brand of humor, which could be extremely silly, was a major influence on such comic talents as Sid Caesar, Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle, Danny Kaye, and Mel Brooks.
Today they're generally forgotten; while their handful of starring movies contain moments of exuberant fun, most of them fail to capture what made the team so special. By all accounts-including the Ritzes themselves-THE GORILLA (1939) is one of their worst films. As screwball detectives assigned to investigate a series of murders committed by a man in an ape suit (or could it be a real gorilla?), the boys are trapped in a lame vehicle that doesn't afford them the opportunity to show off their musical abilities. Along with co-stars Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill, the Ritzes do a lot of yelling and running around, but it's all wasted energy in this virtually laughless parody of haunted house thrillers.
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