Back in the 1930s and 1940s, KING KONG was still etched deep in the minds of both the studio brass and the public. If you were a producer of low-budget thrillers, all you would have to do to turn a profit is include a renegade gorilla in your picture. Several independent and major studios did just that. The Roan Group combined two of these rare "apes-on-the-loose" pictures for the sixth entry in their Horror Classics DVD collection. The two films on this disc are Twentieth Century Fox’s THE GORILLA (1939), and the Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) Poverty Row flick, NABONGA (1944).

Bank executive Stockwell (Herbert Rawlinson) embezzles money and hides out in Egypt. When the local authorities discover his status, they find that he and his daughter Doreen have chartered a local plane to escape. The plane flies into a punishing lighting storm while flying over Africa. The pilot cannot keep the plane aloft, and it crashes into the dangerous jungle. A search party is sent out to recover any survivors, but hordes of angry gorillas keep humans away from the wreckage. A huge gorilla is shot by the search party and nursed back to health by the child, Doreen (see where this is going?). Several years later, adventurer Ray Gorman (Buster Crabbe) arrives in Africa seeking the whereabouts of the embezzled money. His father was Stockwell’s business partner who took the heat for the embezzlement, and subsequently committed suicide. So now Ray has a huge chip on his shoulder; his mission is to seize the fortune and return it to the proper authorities, thereby clearing his late father’s name. But there is one faction working against him, Carl Hurst (Barton Maclane) and his deceiving girlfriend Marie (Fifi O’Dorsay). The money-grubbing duo have heard stories about a White Witch and her simian companion guarding a hidden fortune—they want the money too, and will stop at nothing to get it.

Ray teams up with native African Tobu (Prince Modupe), who claims he can bring Ray to the territory of the White Witch. They are unaware that Hurst and Marie are trailing them. After crossing harsh terrain and wrestling with some alligators, Ray and Tobu finally discover the liar of the White Witch. A massive gorilla appears and kills Tobu. Ray heads for a nearby cave, but the gorilla traps him in it. The gorilla is just about to crush him, when the fully-grown Doreen interrupts. She is unfamiliar with the ways of the outside world, but she has a clear crush on Ray. She orders her companion (named Samson) to back off, but he doesn’t particularly care for all the attention Ray is getting from Doreen. Ray tries to convince Doreen to return the embezzled money to the authorities. She refuses because her deceased father’s final words were to guard the fortune. The crooked Marie shows up, and distracts the weird love triangle. After the gorilla thrashes her, she convinces Ray to build a bamboo cage to hold the gorilla—so they can escape unharmed with the money. Ray complies and lures Samson into the cage and then locks it so the gorilla can’t escape. Now that the Samson is no longer a threat, Carl emerges from the brush and ambushes Ray and Doreen. Ray attacks him, and in the struggle Carl shoots Ray. Then he discloses his desire to capture Doreen and return to America with her and the hidden loot. The dejected Marie releases Samson from his cage, and the angry beast is free to seek revenge on those who harm his mistress!

NABONGA borrows liberally from the King Kong, Tarzan, and Nayoka (the jungle girl) legends. The undisputed king of science-fiction serials, Buster Crabbe, takes center stage as the all-American boy seeking to clear his father’s name. NABONGA marked the debut of shapely Julie London, who later appeared in several musicals. Director Sam Newfield was known mainly for the sheer number of Westerns he helmed, but he also has some solid genre credentials with pictures like THE MAD MONSTER, THE FLYING SERPENT, and THE MONSTER MAKER. Like all PRC pictures, NABONGA suffered from an ultra-low budget including sets, props, costumes, and performances that do not age well. Despite this, the film does offer some entertainment value for sheer campiness. The man in a gorilla suit (played here by stuntman Crash Corrigan) is a hoot, though the suit is not overtly convincing. But if you enjoy seeing Buster Crabbe wrestle rubber alligators, man-in-a-suit gorillas fighting each other, or a gorilla chaperoning a romance between Crabbe and London, then NABONGA may provide some entertainment value for you. Be warned however, that the film contains some racial stereotyping that may offend some—the African natives are depicted in a very subversive and ignorant manner typical of the Tarzan films of this era.

A serial killer known as the Gorilla is on the loose. His modus operandi is that he sends each victim a message stating that he is going to kill them within the next 24 hours. Even the police have not been able to stop The Gorilla from killing a single victim. In the home of insurance tycoon Walter Stephens (Lionel Atwill), The Gorilla prowls around the rooftop threatens his maid, Kitty (Patsy Kelly). The killer places a note on Kitty’s person. As she runs downstairs screaming and yelling, Mr. Stephens and his butler, Peters (Bela Lugosi), intercept her. They don’t believe she was threatened by the killer, until they find the note pinned to her. It is a death threat from The Gorilla stating that he will murder Mr. Stephens within 24 hours. Instead of calling the police (since the law is clueless concerning the killer), he calls a private detective service. Within moments, bumbling detectives Garritty, Mulligan, and Harrigan (played by brothers Jimmy, Alan, and Harry Ritz) arrive and start sniffing the house for clues. Mr. Stephens also calls his niece Norma (Anita Louise) and her beau, Jack (Ed Norris). They are there to help Mr. Stephens formulate his will, should he end up dead. The detectives find no evidence of a killer, and gather everyone together in Mr. Stephen’s office. Suddenly, an announcement comes over the radio that at exactly 12 midnight, Mr. Stephens is history. Everyone sweats as the hours tick by until midnight approaches. When the clock strikes 12 the lights go out, until the butler turns the lights back on. They find that Mr. Stephens has disappeared. Garritty, Mulligan, and Harrigan begin to suspect everyone in the building and set about investigating them. Their ongoing search leads them to do discover hidden chambers and passageways patrolled by a large, fearsome simian! Are there two different predators prowling the mansion corridors, or are these menaces one and the same?

THE GORILLA was originally was a 1925 stage production created by Ralph Spence. Three films were adapted from this play in the ensuing years. First National Pictures filmed the first version in 1927; Warner Brothers produced the second version in 1930, and Fox the third in 1939. Fox bigwig Daryl Zanuck saw the project as a comedy-horror vehicle for their comedy stars, The Ritz Brothers. Zanuck recruited director Allan (MOST DANGEROUS MAN ALIVE) Dwan and actor Peter Lorre to play the butler role. But Lorre was ill at the time and withdrew from the production. Bela Lugosi was brought in to take his place. However, the script was not written around Lugosi or the other character actors; it was scripted around the comedy team of the Ritz Brothers. When the script was presented to them, they tried to walk out of the production. When Zanuck threatened them with a $150,000 breach of contract lawsuit, they returned to do the film. Legend has it these comedians considered themselves singers and dancers, in addition to comedians, and they were unhappy because THE GORILLA had none of that (not good for them, but good for audiences who did not have to endure their multiple "talents"). This is their best film just because they don’t sing or dance. Director Allan Dwan successfully mixed the hit-or-miss comedy of the Ritz Brothers with the old-dark-house genre. THE GORILLA benefits from a great character cast including Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Joseph Calleia, and the riotous Patsy Kelly. The film is also highlighted from the presence of an enormous gorilla running unchecked through the mansion. This man in an ape suit is more capably handled than Ray "Crash" Corrigan’s ape performance in NABONGA.

- Phil Chandler