Watch The Gorilla For Free

I love this movie so much

Fresh and Exciting

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

1939's "The Gorilla" was hardly the best choice for a Ritz Brothers vehicle, somewhat reduced in stature by a complete lack of song and dance patter. Much more at home in the old dark house setting is horror veteran Bela Lugosi, able to effectively prowl with equal amounts of seriousness and bemusement as the butler Peters. His employer, Walter Stevens, is played by frequent co-star Lionel Atwill, so at least the duo lend dignified stature to the lighthearted proceedings, made well before Bob Hope's more successful remake of a similar 1920s chestnut, "The Cat and the Canary." The Ritz Brothers are still an acquired taste, but here the talented trio are handicapped by the single setting and lack of decent material to work with, snappy verbal sparring all they can muster in this one. Contrary to what is often reported, this was not in fact the last straw for the brothers at Fox, doing one final feature for Sol Wurtzel's B unit, "Pack Up Your Troubles," a vehicle for pint sized Jane Withers, leading Harry Ritz to famously quip that their careers had gone "from bad to Wurtzel!" A subsequent move to Universal fared little better, departing after only four additional titles, ironically missing out on the mystery musical "Murder in the Blue Room," which at least would have allowed them plenty of room for dancing and singing, a far more suitable vehicle than the stifling confines of "The Gorilla," a decent horror comedy but hardly the brothers at their best (it is after all hard to upstage the scene stealing Bela Lugosi). Lon Chaney Jr. had earlier appeared with the Ritz Brothers in "Life Begins in College" and "Straight Place and Show," while John Carradine earned more prestigious roles in both "Kentucky Moonshine" and "The Three Musketeers."

This is a very fun comedy-horror film that is very much underrated. If you enjoy comedy-horror movies, Lionel Atwill, Bela Lugosi, The Ritz Bros. or Gorillas then look no further than this funny mystery horror classic.All of this film is good right from the very beginning but I think my favorite part of the film is the "invisible butler" (Lugosi) carrying the trunk from upstairs to downstairs right in front of the Ritz Bros.The biggest question or mystery in this film is "who or what is the gorilla"? This one may surprise you a bit towards the end.This is a great matinée type of film and could easily be a double feature with a movie like "King of the Zombies (1941)" or "One Body Too Many (1944)" 8.5/10

This slice of late 1930s Hollywood caper plays upon the much over used idea of a haunted house, a murderous who done it and a whole bunch of suspects who are as off the wall as the dodgy props, trap doors and eerie light effects. But, this film does the whole thing rather well, aided along by Bela Lugosi, The Ritz Brothers and Patsy Kelly (of the Todd and Pitts Roach shorts fame). If you love any of these actors then its worth a pop because really its not that bad, fast moving and well paced considering the budget. At times the film is quite surreal and for the age the gags although a little trite are very sharp. Kelly sadly seems a little out of place as she tends to in films that deny her of other strong female leads to spark of but she plays a great part and leaves one in little doubt that she can work this film with ease. I like this film and will watch it again so it cant be as bad as the original reviews of the movie from back in the day... Enjoy

With today being Halloween, I thought I'd celebrate the day by watching some comedy teams' films with scary things. So after so many years of reading about The Ritz Brothers' The Gorilla, I finally watched this public domain movie on YouTube. Along with Patsy Kelly as an easily frightened maid, brothers Jimmy, Harry, and Al provide some funny lines and one of them also does quite a hilarious scared face when encountering some chills in a house where the title character threatens through a radio. Oh, and there's a real gorilla involved as well. I didn't think everything was funny but there were enough laughs for me to recommend this. Oh, and Bela Lugosi also appears as a butler. Is he one of the suspects? Well, I'm not gonna tell...