The Hairy Ape (1944)

Hank Smith, a brutish stoker on board a freighter, is appalled when Mildred Douglas, a society girl forced by circumstance to travel as a passenger, visits the stokehold and recoils at the ... See full summary »

Director:

Alfred Santell

Writers:

Robert Hardy Andrews, Decla Dunning,

Stars:

William Bendix, Susan Hayward, John Loder

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
William Bendix	...	Hank Smith
Susan Hayward	...	Mildred Douglas
John Loder	...	Tony Lazar
Dorothy Comingore	...	Helen Parker
Roman Bohnen	...	Paddy
Tom Fadden	...	Long
Alan Napier	...	MacDougald, Chief Engineer
Charles Cane	...	Gantry
Charles La Torre	...	Portuguese Proprietor

Storyline

Hank Smith, a brutish stoker on board a freighter, is appalled when Mildred Douglas, a society girl forced by circumstance to travel as a passenger, visits the stokehold and recoils at the filthy, sweating Hank. A powerhouse of a man with a primitive confidence, Hank has never been looked down on before nor suffered the insult "hairy ape" flung at him by the rich girl. At first he seeks vengeance for the insult, but broods over it until more than anything, he desires to understand it. When the ship reaches port, he seeks her out in her upper class surroundings, determined to grasp the meaning of the encounter.

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Plot Keywords:

insult | ship | billboard | circus | throwing a drink glass | 

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Taglines:

"NO DAME'S GONNA CALL ME THAT!" (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 July 1944 (USA)

Also Known As:

Den hårede abe

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mayfair Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The failure of the original copyright holder to renew the film's copyright resulted in it falling into public domain, meaning that virtually anyone could duplicate and sell a VHS/DVD copy of the film. Therefore, many of the versions of this film available on the market are either severely (and usually badly) edited and/or of extremely poor quality, having been duped from second- or third-generation (or more) copies of the film.

User Reviews

Only Die-Hard Bendix Fans Need Apply!

Only the most ardent fans of the man best known to the nostalgia-minded as the title character in the radio/TV sitcom THE LIFE OF RILEY have any business viewing this weak Eugene O'Neill adaptation. The impact of its contemplative dialogue is drastically lessened by static characters and a frustratingly implausible ending. For example, are we to believe that Bendix can get away with breaking into Susan Hayward's apartment tote her around in his arms while leering perversely at her and dump her on the sofa with the close-up clearly showing she will doubtlessly be traumatized for life by this experience and then have the film end with him yucking it up with his fellow coal stokers? This damaging flaw could have easily been replaced by a complete plot rearrangement in which Bendix softens Hayward's callous snobbishness through a comically developed friendship/romance with her. Instead all we get are 90 minutes of Bendix grunting and leering in one of the most unsatisfying and disturbingly sexist pictures to come out of the Second World War.