The Gorilla (1939)

23% of users liked it
(375 ratings)

When Fox bought the rights to Ralph Spence's warhorse stage mystery-comedy The Gorilla for the Ritz Brothers, they walked out en masse, refusing to work on the picture until their contracts were renegotiated and the script heavily rewritten. The finished product features an escaped circus gorilla… More When Fox bought the rights to Ralph Spence's warhorse stage mystery-comedy The Gorilla for the Ritz Brothers, they walked out en masse, refusing to work on the picture until their contracts were renegotiated and the script heavily rewritten. The finished product features an escaped circus gorilla apparently perpetrating a series of murders. Imperiled lawyer Walter Stevens (Lionel Atwill) may well be the next victim, so he summons detectives Garrity, Harrigan and Mullivan (Jimmy, Harry and Al Ritz) to provide protection. It turns out that (a) the murderer is human rather than simian, (b) Stevens is hardly a paragon of virtue, and (c) the person really in danger is young heiress Norma Denby (Anita Louise). Long unavailable for reappraisal, The Gorilla resurfaced on the public-domain market in 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 7 min.
Directed By: Allan Dwan
Written By: Rian James, Sid Silvers
Genres: Horror, Mystery & Suspense, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: May 26, 1939 Wide
On DVD: Mar 29, 2005

Critic Reviews

Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television
Unusual adaptation of a play, with remarkable camera technique.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The Ritz Brothers are a low-rent version of the Marx Brothers.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Featured Audience Ratings

Bruce B

This film was far more then I expected. From the Sons of Kong 10 Movie Collection, Here I thought it would be another Jungle movie filmed before 1940 a copy cat of the so many others in that time frame. I was so wrong, what you have here is a Mystery / Comedy. Its enjoyable to say the… More
This film was far more then I expected. From the Sons of Kong 10 Movie Collection, Here I thought it would be another Jungle movie filmed before 1940 a copy cat of the so many others in that time frame. I was so wrong, what you have here is a Mystery / Comedy. Its enjoyable to say the least. There is a 3 man comedy team in this one that is right up there with the three stooges, just very surprised I never saw more of these three. There are people being murdered in the city and the blame seems to fall on a gorilla, but is he really the one. 4 Stars for this one, quite high for a film from 1939
AJ V

I know the Ritz brothers are supposed to be funny, but they aren't, if you have to hire a comedy group to be your detectives, you really have no hope in solving the crime.