Die Braut des Gorilla

Beautiful Barbara Payton is married to a much older man who has little time for her. What is a blonde, buxom girl to do? Well, no secret here that she has an affair with the foreman of her husband's plantation, Raymond Burr, who gives a performance worthwhile yet plays a guy with which you will have virtually no sympathy. Things get nasty in the jungle: Barb's husband is killed and Ray marries her. Yet, a native old woman seeks revenge on Burr by poisoning him so that he will turn into some jungle demon...a big gorilla. On his track is none other than Commissioner Tarro - Lon Chaney Jr. playing a native-turned-educated policeman from the jungle land. Chaney isn't really bad, just unbelievable in his role. Curt Siodmak directed this film and wrote the script. Siodmak was the writer of Universal's classic The Wolfman. In both pictures we have an average man turn into a beast at night. In both pictures we have transformation scenes - grand ones in The Wolfman and pitifully cheap ones in this production. Chaney also is in both films. Siodmak really does a less-than-average job behind the camera. My guess is budgetary constraints really held his hand in check. This is a very cheaply made film. The jungle house looks fine, but jungle scenes look less than real. Siodmak does have a few nicely shot scenes, particularly as the lens becomes a character walking into the jungle. What about the gorilla? No Jack Pierce here. In fact the gorilla maybe makes three appearances and none of them very substantial. The film has a lot of talking, Raymond Burr brooding a lot, and Chaney lecturing us on the "laws of the jungle." Payton does a decent job, but let's face it. She is there for one reason only. And Evelyn Ankers she is not! Character actor Tom Conway rounds out the leads, giving another one of his wooden but amiable performances.

Bride of the Gorilla (1951)

*** (out of 4)

Barney Chavez (Raymond Burr) kills a man in cold blood so that he can steal his wife (Barbara Payton) and he thinks he's gotten away with it but he didn't realize that a voodoo witch has placed a curse on him. The curse turns him into a gorilla but he really changing or is it all in his mind?

Curt Siodmak wrote and directed this low-budget "B" film and that's worth noting because he wrote some of Universal's biggest hits of the 1940's. One such film was THE WOLF MAN, which was obviously the inspiration for this movie. If you're familiar with that 1941 film then you might remember that the screenwriter originally wanted to make it unclear whether the Lon Chaney, Jr. character was a werewolf or if it was all in his mind. Well, that scenario is basically what plays out there.

If you look around at the reviews you'll notice that the majority of them are negative but I feel that's a bit unfair. While this here certainly isn't a classic movie it's at least a lot more entertaining than a lot of the "B" horror movies that were out there around this time. The film obviously doesn't have much money and this is rather clear when you see how cheap some of the special effects are. In fact, the majority of them are off screen or POV shots.

I thought the film was at least entertaining enough to hold your attention throughout and I must admit that I really liked the Burr character even with what he did. I thought it was interesting seeing what he was going through and of course there's the mystery of what exactly is happening. Burr turns in a good performance as did Payton. Then you've got Chaney, Jr. in a supporting role and while it is a throwaway part he's at least fun.

BRIDE OF THE GORILLA is a bunch of low-budget non-sense but I've always found it to be mildly enjoyable.

Barney Chavez (Burr) is in-love with Mrs. Dina Van Gelder (Payton) but she is married to his employer. Chavez ends up killing the employer but is seen by a voodoo priestess who casts a spell, a curse, on him that turns him into a murderous Gorilla. Barney and Dina end up married but with lots of problems. Police Commissioner Taro (Chaney) is on the trail to find out the answers. The question is: Is Chavez' transformation into a Gorilla real or all in his mind.

Raymond Burr is good in this role - convincing, Barbra Payton does well as a woman tormented, Lon Chaney Jr makes a good police commissioner - so the film is overall fun to watch.

This film is not nearly as bad as the critics say it is - it's actually interesting. There are some intense moments and it's a good ending. If you like movies where one of the characters is transformed into a creature and film concerning voodoo then you might like 'Bride of the Gorilla'.

6.5/10

Typical and run-of-the-mill monster movie in the Fifties style. Very mediocre terror movie with some scenes fun to watch . On a remote and deep location, in a South American jungle rubber plantation , a foreman called Barney Chavez (Raymond Burr) spends much time dodging working and visiting the boss' (Paul Cavanaugh) wife , Dina Van Gelder (Barbara Payton) , whom he tells he would like to take away from her husband. When her hubby , the chief Klass Von Gelder dies from suspicious circumstances Barney deceives his jealous lover Larina (Carol Varga) but the housemaid Larina Gisela Werbisek) uses weird magic to cast a spell on Barney , who's plagued by a strange voodoo curse . Barney starts transforming before his own eyes into a Gorilla and family physician Dr. Viet (Tom Conway) sees that the man is laboring under something he believes is poison . Then an enormous being on the loose begins to become evil and escapes around the lush jungle , killing here and there . When investigating the rampage of an ancient and mythological being called Sukara , local constable Taro (Lon Chaney, Jr.) realizes that Barney is missing at night coinciding with ravaging animal killings on the jungle and he and Dr. Viet work to get to the bottom of the mystery . Along the way, Barney suffers long lapses of memory loss, and continues to see himself as a Gorilla causing wreak havoc . Her clothes torn away, screaming in terror!.Her marriage vows were more than fulfilled!.A Blonde Beauty and a Savage Beast... alone in the Jungle!

Routine and regular monster movie about habitual issue concerning an enormous , unfriendly , stalking and very anger gorilla. This is a cheap , humdrum and monotonous production, written director Curt Siodmak himself , being spoiled by suffering from lousy interpretations and an embarrassing lack of imagination . Fakey special effects might have been decent in the Fifties or Sixties , but they just don't cut it today. T Here only stands out Raymond Burr who travels to jungle where he meets a wife , a plantation and a curse in this African twist on the werwolf legend , replacing him with a gorilla . In fact , there appears Lon Chaney Jr ,though he doesn't takes his Wolf Man usual role , but a local police officer on the trail a strange creature on the loose . Raymond Burr physical changes are amusing to watch , while turning nightly into a rampaging gorilla . And gorgeous Barbara Payton (who acted in important films as ¨Dallas¨, ¨Only the valiant¨, ¨Drums in the Deep South¨, ¨Kiss Tomorrow goodbye¨, ¨The Great Jesse James Raid¨) , she performed one of the saddest stories from dark chronicle Hollywood . Attractive blonde sexpot and her life eventually disintegrated , mostly for her own doings . She was the subject of a spread in Confidential Magazine in the early 1950s when then fiancé Franchot Tone allegedly caught in bed with Guy Madison . Tone later married her , despite of the indiscretion , in addition she had a tempestuous relationship with Tom Neal . But happened the downfall , her once enticing countenance now blotchy and once sensational figure now bloated , Barbara sank deeper into the bottle and had several brushes with law , among them public boozy , bad checks and ultimate prostitution . The 39 years former star was found on the bathroom floor . They're well accompanied by a nice secondary cast , such as : Tom Conway, Lon Chaney, Paul Cavanagh, Gisela Werbisek , Carol Varga and Woody Strode.

The motion picture was badly directed by exiled writer/filmmaker German Curt Siodmak . One of Siodmak's first film-writing assignments was the screenplay for the German sci-fi picture "Floating Platform 1 Does Not Answer", based on his own novel. Curt and brother Robert Siodmak started in the film business writing German inter-titles for Mack Sennett comedies. In 1928 he wrote scripts for movies for the first time; his idea for the script for People on Sunday (1930) constituted the first directorial success for his brother Robert Siodmak. Compelled to leave Germany after Adolf Hitler and the Nazis took power, Siodmak went to work as a screenwriter in England and then moved to Hollywood in 1937. He got a job at Universal through his director-friend Joe May, helping write the script for May's The Invisible Man Returns (1940) . It was at Universal where Siodmak became identified with science-fiction and horror; especially with movies like The invisible women (1940) and The wolf Man (1941). Landed a worldwide success with his novel "Donovan's Brain" in 1942, which was filmed four times over the next 20 years. Siodmak directed a few films such as : Ski Fever , The Devil's Messenger , Demon Street , Tales of Frankenstein , Love Slaves of the Amazons , Curucu, Beast of the Amazon, The magnetic monster. His final significant genre credit was for Terence Fisher's German production Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace . Bride of the Gorilla(1951) rating : 4.5/10 . Below average.

In my movie reference books this movie is variously described as a "bomb" or recommended as a suitable choice for inclusion in the 100 worst movies of all time. Nevertheless, I have no qualms in saying that it is not that bad, and was quite happy to sit for 65 minutes (the short running time probably helps) and see it through until the end.

To begin with Curt Siodmak's story is interesting enough (as are many of his screen writing efforts), and has more than a touch of complex moral ambiguity. His direction here however has very little flair and tends to be on the perfunctory side. The low budget is a major constraint, and for the most part the film tends to be on the flat side visually, with unimpressive jungle scenes and minimal interior set pieces of the kind typical for a low budget production.

The cast (described in one reference book as 4 non-actors) are actually all competent, and Raymond Burr, in fact, is quite good in the part, managing to impart a human dimension to what could have been merely an unsympathetic villain. In fact it is interesting to actually analyse how much of the films dramatic load actually rests on his shoulders.