Bride of the Gorilla (1951)

Director:

Curt Siodmak

Writer:

Curt Siodmak (writer)

Release Date:

October 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Her clothes torn away, screaming in terror!

Plot:

The owner of a plantation in the jungle marries a beautiful woman. Shortly afterward, he is plagued by a strange voodoo curse which transforms him into a gorilla.

Plot Keywords:

Jungle | Gorilla | Curse | Transformation | Voodoo

Cast

Barbara Payton	...	Mrs. Dina Van Gelder
Lon Chaney Jr.	...	Police Commissioner Taro (as Lon Chaney)
Raymond Burr	...	Barney Chavez
Tom Conway	...	Dr. Viet
Paul Cavanagh	...	Klaas Van Gelder
Gisela Werbisek	...	Al-long
Carol Varga	...	Larina
Paul Maxey	...	Van Heusen
Woody Strode	...	Nedo, Policeman
Martin Garralaga	...	Native
Felippa Rock	...	Stella Van Heusen
Moyna MacGill	...	Mme. Van Heusen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve Calvert	...	Gorilla

Also Known As:

The Face in the Water (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

70 min | USA:66 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Unrated (2005 DVD release) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #15472)

Filming Locations:

Samuel Goldwyn/Warner Hollywood Studios - 1041 N. Formosa Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Jack Broder Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Edward G. Robinson Jr. was originally cast in the movie but was fired by the producers following his arrest for writing a bad check for $138 to a Laguna Beach garage.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Dina goes searching for Barney in the jungle for the first time, we see a quick shot of a leopard climbing up into a tree. Although this scene is supposed to be outdoors (the jungle), both the leopard and the leaves around him are casting shadows on the "sky" behind them. The sky is obviously a wall or backdrop.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Police Commissioner Taro: [narration] This is Jungle - lush, green, alive with incredible growth - as young as day, as old as time. I, Taro, Police Commissioner of Itman County, which borders the Amazonas River, know it as well as any man will ever know it. Isn't it beautiful? But I have also learned that beauty can be venomous...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 1st Annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 Summer Blockbuster Review (1997) (TV)

Jungle Justice: Favors None But Equals All

******SPOILERS****** Interesting little movie about crime and justice, despite it's misleading title, that plays like a morality play about how one can't escape his crimes even in the dark and uncivilized jungle. The jungle where justice seems at first non-existent is in reality more prevalent there then in a big modern city courthouse where it can be twisted and manipulated by both the power and money of the person who stands accused.

Van Gelder Manor deep in the Amazon jungle is a rubber plantation run by the ruthless and scheming Barney Chavez, Raymond Burr. Barney feels that he can get away with anything because he's above the laws of man that he has nothing but contempt for. Smart and conniving Barney gets the owners Klass Van Gelder's, Paul Cavanagh, beautiful wife Dina, Barbara Payton, to fall in love with him thus breaking the heart of his native girlfriend Larina, Carol Varga, who Barney was stringing along until he found someone better, Dina. Knowing that Klass had a weak heart Barney provoked him into a fight one evening in the garden outside the plantation. Barney belted Klass knocking him to the ground as he let him get bitten by a poisonous snake which killed him.

Breaking Larina's heart and taking Klass Van Gelder's life, as well as his wife Dina, Barney seems to have gotten away with his crimes. Feeling he can now sell the plantation and move with Diana back to civilization and live the good and rich life which he worked so hard to get, or so Barney thought. Unknown to Barney's his crimes did not go unnoticed. The old woman who lived at the plantation Al-Long, Gisela Werbisek, saw what Barney did to both Klass and Larina and invoked, through her knowledge of the Black Arts, the jungle to bring him to justice.

Obscure little movie that has a lot more to it then you would think at first about crime justice and revenge and makes you think about it too. More penetrating and thought-provoking then many of the big budgeted films about courts and law that in many cases the criminal gets away with his or her crimes due to a technicality or a smart and skillful lawyer. There are no technicalities or lawyers in the jungle.

Good script and acting especially by Lon Cheney Jr. in a supporting role as the native police commissioner Taro. Taro's education in schooling and law books in the outside world was nothing compared to his education in what he learned from living in the jungle during the first 20 or so years of his life; the jungle that in the end did his work for him.