IMDb RATING
4.6/10
2.1K
YOUR RATING
Dr. Bernard Adrian is a kindly mad scientist who seeks to cure a young woman's polio. He needs spinal fluid from a human to complete the formula for his experimental serum.Dr. Bernard Adrian is a kindly mad scientist who seeks to cure a young woman's polio. He needs spinal fluid from a human to complete the formula for his experimental serum.Dr. Bernard Adrian is a kindly mad scientist who seeks to cure a young woman's polio. He needs spinal fluid from a human to complete the formula for his experimental serum.
Gertrude Hoffman
- Jane - Adrian's Housekeeper
- (as Gertrude W. Hoffman)
Jessie Arnold
- Mrs. Brill
- (uncredited)
Billy Bletcher
- Short Mustached Posse Man
- (uncredited)
Harry C. Bradley
- Quinn
- (uncredited)
George Cleveland
- Mr. Howley
- (uncredited)
Ray Corrigan
- Nabu the Gorilla
- (uncredited)
Pauline Drake
- Young Girl
- (uncredited)
Mary Field
- Mrs. Mason
- (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland
- Posse Member
- (uncredited)
Julia Griffith
- Townswoman
- (uncredited)
I. Stanford Jolley
- Ape Trainer
- (uncredited)
Stan Jolley
- Boy in Soda Shop
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe final film in Boris Karloff's six-picture contract with Monogram. Filming began 7/29/40.
- GoofsWhen the doctor is showing off his 'cured' guinea pigs, one of the poor critters falls off the table, at the end of the shot.
- Quotes
Danny Foster: I don't like things I can't understand.
- ConnectionsEdited from Under the Big Top (1938)
- SoundtracksSobre las Olas (Over the Waves)
(1887) (uncredited)
Written by Juventino Rosas
Played at the circus for the trapeze act
Reprised as background music on the circus grounds
Featured review
Choppy Video, But Decent Nonetheless
A local doctor and scientist (Boris Karloff) is working on a treatment for paralysis. He finds the cure requires human spinal fluid. But to get such a thing, he must kill. And then a local circus starts on fire and a murderous ape escapes...
First, let me give a shout out to director William Nigh of Berlin, Wisconsin. I always have to support my local directors, even if they're dead. And while there was nothing really out of the ordinary as far as directing style, it was good just the same. And Nigh has a history of working with Karloff, which I'm sure helps quite a bit (look at Tim Burton and Johnny Depp).
This film has a strong point, a weak point and a mediocre pint. The strong point is the plot. My summary will sound strange to those who haven't seen the movie. There is a circus, an ape, a scientist and people are getting killed. It really fits together very nicely, and I found this to be impressive. Many older films fill time with extra fluff, but this one was only the necessities and even that was pretty thorough.
The weak point is the film quality. I don't think I can blame the movie for its quality, but the sound is not great, the picture is not great, and many frames are missing entirely. Either lost, or filmed with bad equipment. Once I adjusted, this wasn't such a big deal. But other films from this time period have fared better, so I wish this had been one of them. A restored, touched up version of this film would have been vastly superior.
The mediocre point is the costume designer. The ape was obviously a man in a costume. However, despite this being obvious it was still a very good costume and worked for the sake of the picture. Can I reasonably expect a better ape without a real ape being used (which would be much harder to control, of course)? Perhaps not. So I give them credit for the effort. (And I assume the costume here is much nicer than the one used in the earlier theatrical production.) This film was alright. As far as older, lower quality movies go, I think this is better than much of the stuff we now call "classic". Karloff delivers, as usual... and we get a good story that has a nice dark comedy element to it, or at least an element of sympathy for evil acts. And that's always nice.
First, let me give a shout out to director William Nigh of Berlin, Wisconsin. I always have to support my local directors, even if they're dead. And while there was nothing really out of the ordinary as far as directing style, it was good just the same. And Nigh has a history of working with Karloff, which I'm sure helps quite a bit (look at Tim Burton and Johnny Depp).
This film has a strong point, a weak point and a mediocre pint. The strong point is the plot. My summary will sound strange to those who haven't seen the movie. There is a circus, an ape, a scientist and people are getting killed. It really fits together very nicely, and I found this to be impressive. Many older films fill time with extra fluff, but this one was only the necessities and even that was pretty thorough.
The weak point is the film quality. I don't think I can blame the movie for its quality, but the sound is not great, the picture is not great, and many frames are missing entirely. Either lost, or filmed with bad equipment. Once I adjusted, this wasn't such a big deal. But other films from this time period have fared better, so I wish this had been one of them. A restored, touched up version of this film would have been vastly superior.
The mediocre point is the costume designer. The ape was obviously a man in a costume. However, despite this being obvious it was still a very good costume and worked for the sake of the picture. Can I reasonably expect a better ape without a real ape being used (which would be much harder to control, of course)? Perhaps not. So I give them credit for the effort. (And I assume the costume here is much nicer than the one used in the earlier theatrical production.) This film was alright. As far as older, lower quality movies go, I think this is better than much of the stuff we now call "classic". Karloff delivers, as usual... and we get a good story that has a nice dark comedy element to it, or at least an element of sympathy for evil acts. And that's always nice.
helpful•115
- gavin6942
- Apr 15, 2007
- How long is The Ape?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 2 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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