Ape (1940)

Cast:

Boris Karloff is Dr. Bernard Adrian
Maris Wrixon is Miss Frances Clifford
Gene O'Donnell is Danny Foster
Dorothy Vaughan is Mother Clifford

What the box says:

Dr. Bernard Adrian (Boris Karloff) is a mad scientist trying to discovera cure for polio that has killed his daughter and now infects his neighbor, Frances (Maris Wrixon). Set in the small town of Red Creek, a vicious circus ape breaks out of his cage and kills a man. The Doctor then is able to remove the dead man's spinal fluids as a partial cure for the dying Frances. The Doctor now becomes desperate and ruthless, disguising himself as THE APE, killing the locals and taking their spinal fluids. Will he get the spinal fluids he needs? Or will he be exposed as the scientist that has gone mad?

Plot:

Circus music plays as the credits roll.

The circus parades through the town.

The most annoying hateful child monsters act tough and decide to throw rocks at Dr. Bernard’s house. Note: OK, that is Boris Karloff and I’m just going to call him Boris and doctor when needed.

Boris is able to grab one of the kids and lets him go. The esteemed doctor returns to the science in his lab and checks on his animal specimens.

At the general store, the lazy bums want to run Dr. Boris Karloff out of town. They think he used his patients as guinea pigs. The annoying brat brigade run in claiming Boris went after them for no reason. Mason, the banker, is more heartless than a college scholarship officer renewing a scholarship. He also wants Karloff out of town.

When Boris walks in the general store slash pharmacy; everyone gives him the silent treatment.

Karloff checks on his neighbor’s daughter, Frances. She has polio and been unable to walk for 10 years. Frances also reminds Karloff of his daughter. He will make her walk again.

Danny, Frances’s boy friend arrives. He has several many doubts about Karloff. Frances doesn’t believe the rumors about the good doctor.

Karloff has convinced Frances to go to the circus with Danny. The happy couple drives off.

At the circus, punk monster children talk about the gorilla.

Circus fun ensues with a smattering of trapeze artists.

After the show is closed for the night the circus workers are kicking back. The ape is being beaten by a trainer whose father was killed by that ape. Halliday, the ringmaster, wants the trainer to quit bothering the gorilla.

Well, the gorilla is able to maul the trainer and escape the ape cage. It also accidentally starts a fire. The circus workers rush to put out the fire.

The trainer is taken to Dr. Karloff. He realizes he has a test subject for Frances.

Karloff’s lab notes reveal that spinal fluid can be used for his serum.

The sheriff has a posse ready to hunt the ape.

In the morning, Karloff visits Frances. He has the serum ready to be tested.

Mason, the evil banker, wants the sheriff to drop everything to serve a foreclosure notice.

Frances is starting to get some feeling back in her legs.

In his lab, Karloff accidentally breaks the other vial of the spinal fluid serum.

The ape is roaming about the countryside and being tracked by the posse.

The ape spies in Karloff’s lab before breaking the window and trashing the lab. Boris is able to kill it with one swipe of a scalpel.

The posse stops by to mention the ape is in the area.

Boris wants his maid not to mention that the ape is dead.

We get another scene where Danny doesn’t like whatever Boris is doing.

The posse is still on the job.

We see the Ape walk out of Karloff’s house.

At the home of the evil banker, Mason is about to leave. His wife knows about him cheating on her. He doesn’t care that she knows or even gets angry. Well, Mason swaggers out and is promptly gotten by the Ape. Bless you killer Ape. Go after the hateful snotty monster children….

Back at the general store, the posse wonders what to do next. The bloodhounds react to Karloff.

Karloff is hard at work.

Danny thinks that Frances is getting worse with the pain she’s feeling in her legs. He wants to see Karloff who sees this as being able to help many people. However, Danny loves Frances just as she is and doesn’t care about the suffering of other people.

The coroner has Dr McNulty check on Mason’s autopsy. He learns the townsfolk hate Karloff for his research and experimentation in the middle of a polio plague some years back.

Boris sees that Frances is able to move her foot slightly.

Dr McNulty pays a visit to Karloff. He asks about spinal injections on the trainer and Mason. 25 years before, Karloff was thrown out of a medical foundation for his theories. He has been trying to prove his theories this long.

They go to check on Frances. She is unable to move her foot at all. However, McNulty felt a muscle reflex. He asks for Karloff to return to the foundation. Boris will stay here but keep them informed of his progress.

Ape goes out again.

The devil-punk-snot brats shot at the Ape.

The Ape heads home.

Several women are chewing out the sheriff about their missing kids who run in at that moment. The liar-hateful-snot monsters claim to have killed the Ape.

Boris is hard at work.

The sheriff stops by to talk with Boris. He wonders what could cause the Ape to stay around Karloff’s house for so long and why have the dogs barked at Karloff, too. Karloff brings out the trainer’s coat and claims that is the reason. .

Frances has another session of trying to move her legs but still can’t walk.

Sheriff stops by the circus and checks with Halliday about the gorilla. What does it eat? He also learns that the trainer’s coat could draw the gorilla.

Boris is furiously working and has the maid hold onto his records. He needs one more.

Posse splits up into a number of groups. The sheriff starts to look for Boris.

Guys are on watch. The Ape manages to get one of the guys. The posse leaps into action. Somehow, the Ape is winged.

Frances spots the limping gorilla heading for Karloff’s house. She wheels herself out to warn the good doctor.

The posse is able to shoot the Ape again.

The sheriff checks on the ape and unmasks it to reveal Karloff.

Frances stands out of her wheelchair. The dying Boris sees her walk to him before expiring.

Later, Frances slowly walks to Danny. She has burnt her chair to never use it again.

What I say:

How many low budget movies feature spinal fluid as a wonder drug? Ape Man and Corpse Vanishes are the other 2 that pop up. Those movies feature Bela Lugosi. I would almost consider former Universal classic Horror Legends portraying Scientists Obsessed with Spinal Fluid a sub-genre. Are there any others movies in that area? Somewhere, John Carradine had to play a mad spinal fluid obsessed scientist. The late 80s saw the birth of the brain fluid as a drug genre. While, it was more contemporary, Brain Damage and I Come in Peace lack the subtle charm of Karloff wearing a skinned gorilla or Lugosi transforming more and more into a gorilla.

This movie has another scene reminiscient of another movie. The scene where Danny the boy friend threatens Karloff. I was reminded of Dead Men Walk which had a similar scene but was made 3 years later. It's really weakens the movie when Poverty Row has to continually rip off scenes from their previous movies to add a little run time to other films. Why can't I shake the feeling the production company tacked a few minutes of a circus entertainment just to get it long enough for the "b" reel of a double feature....

While Bela Lugosi appears to be sinister, Boris Karloff seems to have a very sympathetic vibe about him. Yes, murder is wong. You can understand how determined he is to allow Frances to walk again. It is known that he considers her as a daughter almost trying to atone for being unable to save his daughter. Karloff has had a number of truly evil roles. He still is able to project sympathy though he isn't able to place glass tubes in test tube racks to keep them from falling and breaking on the floor.

The idea of a guy running around in a gorilla suit or skinned gorilla terrorizing the populace seems almost Scooby-Dooian in its logic. If only it was done to scare people away from a mansion that had a secret treasure, it truly would have been Scooby-Doian in its logic. For that matter, the townspeople automatically jump on the ape-hunting bandwagon. The posse wasn't very observant. They apparently missed the broken in bay window in Karloff's house.

Was there more than one murder committed? It is implied that Karloff killed the trainer but is not shown. The only man the Ape killed was the ruthless arrogant banker who was the only man as hated as Boris Karloff in the town. Are we to consider Boris the villain for offing the banker who seemed to have been voted "most likely for the town to pray to be run over ," it seems to be harder to see the Ape-clad scientist as a killer and villain.

The banker was lucky to have lived as long as he had. Foreclosing on people in the middle of the night. He cheated on his wife and dragged his girlfriend around the town where everyone could see them. You have to appreciate the stones of anyone that gutsy. He doesn't apologize to his wife but just tells her to jump in the river.

The gang of little juvenile deliquents needed to be horsewhipped. They tried to engage in vandalism and when they got caught lied and blamed Karloff for it. I'm surprised that the one who had a gun hadn't killed somebody yet. I'm sure he grew up to be Starkweather's apprentice. These are the kids who would throw a fit in the grocery store for the toy at the checkout lane ahead of you at the grocery store.

If everyone in town hated Karloff, why didn't they run him out of town? Most of the people just make a few snide comments and turn away when he appears. The kids seems to have taken up trying to deface the doctor's house at every chance. If kids see they can get away with something like harrassing the doctor, they'll keep pushing as long as possible.

It isn't shown much. The sets had to have been bought at clearance sale. The town looks like a worn-out Western town even though the interiors look like regular houses. The town has far too many hitching posts for anything besides a Western town.

In the 40s, several actors were able to make decent careers out of using gorilla costumes. Look at the number of jungle movies that had men in gorilla suits. Probably, the most famous gorilla costume was used in a mid 50s movie" Robot Monster. A guy in a gorilla suit wearing and a diving helmet is a robot terrorizing the last few humans on Earth.

Most movie scientists seem to have gotten into their areas of expertise because of a personal tragedy. I can't recall if Karloff was researching spinal fluid before his daughter was paralyzed. He was determined to find a cure after she died to at least make her death meant something.

Another Poverty Row movie with an actor that deserves far better than a movie like this. Boris Karloff is able to go through a Poverty Row movie with far more dignity than Bela Lugosi. That may be about the best that can be said for a movie that seems to be so generic. The story seems to have been done half a dozen times by all the various versions that Poverty Row cranked out.

Quotable Dialogue
"You'll be chasing bones in the morning."
"We all have to die sometimes."
"Do apes ever return to the scene of the crime?"
Morals of the Story
Married guys take their mistresses out in public.
Police get free hot dogs.
Violent animal training a is a dominant trait in offspring.
Don't beat the monkey or spank the gorilla.