O Gorila Branco

Just when you start to think this film isn't as bad as it sounds, it gets as bad as it sounds. It doesn't bother me that there's more stock footage than there is new footage, but it does bother me that they used the same stock footage clips two, three, & four times each! The narrator is integrated into the storyline verbally, but of course can't be integrated into the storyline physically, because the stock footage which comprises the main storyline is based on a 20 year old (at the time) silent movie! To get around this minor problem, the narrator takes the role of a voyeur. He's constantly hiding in the bushes, "observing" others (who of course can't see him because his footage won't be shot for another 20 years or so after they finished filming their part). The narrator rambles on constantly about why he didn't take a shot at the lions who were trying to eat humans, or why he didn't do this or do that. That would be OK, too, but after a while it just makes the narrator (who's the supposed "hero" of the film) seem like a wimp. The real hero of the film is a fellow named "Bennett" (actually Tarzan in the silent serial). There's lots of loose ends that are never tied up (like exactly what happened to Bennett, the Voodoo Priestess, & the little Jungle Boy). There's several fights between the Bad Black Gorilla & the Bad White Gorilla that are never resolved. They fight, then the narration goes elsewhere, then the two gorillas bump into each other again, act surprised, & start fighting again. When you mix all this nonsense together, you come out with one Good Campy Fun movie that must have had an influence on Ed Wood. The "African" wildlife scenes (from the silent serial) are actually pretty good, although non-African animals (like tigers & orangutans) are mixed in just to keep the viewer guessing at which continent this film actually takes place. I guess my favorite scene is the one in which Bennett has to save a damsel in distress from a newly discovered animal: a meat eating hippo! A word of caution to parents: although this film is certainly good fun for the kids, too, the Something Weird Video version contains several shorts after the feature, which contain full nudity, which is not stated on the video box.

Fascinatingly awful, this composite of Ray Corrigan (as the gorilla) waylaying Ray Corrigan (as the hero), interspersed with an extraordinary amount of cheesily acted old serial footage, has to be seen to be believed. Sad to say, the hero of the serial is Frank Merrill, a champion gymnast who was still a household name when I was growing up. Mind you, the chubby little jungle boy, riding on the trunk of a real elephant, does a creditable turn, but the rest of the serial players, especially including hero Merrill, heroine Gilbert and heavy Belmour (or Belmore) are strictly from hunger, enacting in a weirdly exaggerated style that went out of fashion around 1910. On the other hand, the animal footage of snapping lions would be still tolerably exciting, but it's ruined by poor presentation at the wrong speed.

As for the talkative framing story of the white gorilla, it will enthrall only Mr Corrigan's keenest fans. Production values can only be described as Poverty Row minus. It's sad to see Francis Ford, Lorraine Miller and an unflatteringly photographed Charles King mixed up, however briefly, in this charade.

The White Gorilla is a jungle movie shot in 1945 but it looks like it was made in the early thirties and often reminded me of the much older silent pictures. The reason for this is that this movie used stock footage that was available from films going back to the silent picture days. The main problem with this is that it just doesn't fit it well. Some of the old footage is put in at the wrong times. There are many times that the speed isn't even right. When watching this movie, it is very obvious that something is amiss here. This stock footage that was used just plain looks too old and out of place. It is a great detraction from what little plot there is to the movie. The stock footage that was used makes this look almost like a comedy. There just isn't too much going for this film. Being a low budget film is one thing but there just wasn't enough effort made in making this movie.

This film seems to leave you with more questions than it answers, such as what the heck were they thinking. Take the old country store setting add 4 guys sitting around spinning yarns, set it in the jungle and you have the start. Next add silent era footage for the action and put our hero on the outside looking in angle and you have this film. It's actually humorous to watch the hero coming up on the action time and again and always having a good excuse for not getting involved. The term slacker might come to mind but hey, since he has no time machine well all he can do is watch. The gorillas fighting each other is highly laughable. I almost half expected a right cross or left hook to be thrown. Another funny spot is our silent era hero saving the damsel in distress from the attack hippo. That extremely rare menace of the jungle. And of course who can leave out the end where the black gorilla comes upon the dead white gorilla, his sworn enemy and feels remorse. I mean jeez, give me a break. I almost expected to hear the black gorilla (in his best Zachary smith impression) to start with. "oh the pain, oh the agony of it all." In the end Ray Corrigan sums up the moral of the tale which wasn't the same one I came up with, but hey it's his gig. If you can find this movie cheap it is worth a look.. Other than that don't waste your time.

"A rare white gorilla is shunned by the rest of the gorillas due to its unique nature and is forced to live a life of solitude. The time alone makes the gorilla hate all other primates and turns it into a murderous monster. A final confrontation between the white gorilla and his former tribe's leader will decide the fate of all of Africa," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Ray "Crash" Corrigan (as Steve Collins) extensively recalls seeing the 1927 serial "Perils of the Jungle", which had noting to do with "The White Gorilla" in his present form (as Ray Corrigan). To wit, Mr. Corrigan witnesses his "friend" Frank Merrill (as Ed Bradford) in the old silent serial. Mr. Merrill, who also played "Tarzan", must have got a kick out of seeing himself co-starring in a new movie, after almost 20 years of retirement from film. The opening credits promise an "All-Star Cast", but neither Bing Crosby nor Greer Garson appear in this movie. The 1927 footage is better than the newer parts.

* The White Gorilla (1945) Harry L. Fraser ~ Ray Corrigan, Lorraine Miller, Frank Merrill