''The Gorilla'' (1930) is an American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

mystery-comedy film produced by First National Pictures, distributed by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, and directed by

Bryan Foy Bryan Foy (December 8, 1896 – April 20, 1977) was an American film producer and director. He produced more than 200 films between 1924 and 1963. He also directed 41 films between 1923 and 1934. He headed the B picture unit at Warner Bro ...

. It stars

Joe Frisco Joe Frisco (born Louis Wilson Joseph; November 4, 1889 – February 18, 1958) was an American vaudeville performer who first made his name on stage as a jazz dancer, but later incorporated his stuttering voice to his act and became a popular ...

, Harry Gribbon,

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...

and

Lila Lee Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. Early life The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...

, and is based on the 1925 play of the same name by Ralph Spence. The 1930 film version was a sound remake of the 1927 silent version, also produced by First National Pictures.The AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1893-1993:''The Gorilla''
/ref> ''The Gorilla'' is presumed lost; none of its visual elements are known to survive. The soundtrack, which was recorded on

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

disks, may survive in private hands.

Plot

The story opens with a murder supposedly caused by a gorilla. Police catch only a glimpse of a gorilla's shadow, cast against a brick wall, before it disappears. When Cyrus Stevens (Maxwell) receives a note that the gorilla will arrive at his home before midnight, he hires detectives Garrity (Frisco) and Mulligan (Gribbon) to help protect him. Stevens lives with his ward, Alice Denby (Lee), who is in love with Arthur Marsden (Pidgeon). Garrity and Mulligan stand guard outside the house until close to midnight, but do not see anything suspicious. Mulligan persuades Garrity to don a gorilla suit to entice the gorilla and trap him. To avoid being shot by those searching for the gorilla, Garrity wears a white ribbon around his neck. While Garrity searches for the gorilla, the real gorilla appears and chases Mulligan, who climbs a tree and calls for help, but no one arrives. The gorilla breaks off a branch of the tree and Mulligan falls to the ground. The gorilla then finds Garrity, who has hidden in another tree. He reaches for Garrity, but simply removes the white ribbon and places it around his own neck. The real gorilla then wanders freely, leaving Garrity, unable to remove his costume's head, hunted as the real gorilla. Garrity finally removes the head, but is still pursued and shot at in the dark until he reaches a lighted area. Marsden, who turns out to be an undercover detective, discovers that Stevens, in a gorilla suit of his own, is the real murderer.

Cast

as Garrity * Harry Gribbon as Mulligan *

as Arthur Marsden *

as Alice Denby *

Purnell Pratt Purnell Pratt (October 20, 1885 – July 25, 1941) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1941. He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California. Partial filmography * ''The Great ...

as The Stranger * Edwin Maxwell as Cyrus Stevens *

Roscoe Karns Roscoe, also spelled Rosco or Roscow, may refer to: People * Roscoe (name) Places United States * Roscoe, California (disambiguation) * Roscoe Township (disambiguation) * Roscoe, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Roscoe, Illinois, a villag ...

as Simmons *William H. Philbrick as Jeff *

Landers Stevens John Landers Stevens (1877–1940) was an American stage and film actor. A character actor he appeared in prominent screen roles in the early 1920s before switching to smaller supporting parts, often authority figures, in the following decade. ...

as Inspector * Charles Gemora as The Gorilla

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorilla, The 1930 films First National Pictures films American comedy mystery films Warner Bros. films American black-and-white films Lost American films 1930s comedy mystery films American comedy horror films 1930s comedy horror films 1930 lost films Lost comedy horror films 1930 comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links