A Marca do Gorila

Mark of the Gorilla (1950)

** (out of 4)

Fourth film in the series has Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) investigating some gorillas that are attacking and killing people. It turns out that a doctor (Onslow Stevens) is looking for some gold hidden by the Nazies during WWII and he's having his men dress is gorilla suits to scare off the locals but Jim isn't fooled and plans on catching them all. I don't think there's anyone in the history of mankind who could actually argue that the Jungle Jim series was full of good movies. Even the best that the series had to offer were rather childish, stupid and at times downright silly and that's exactly what MARK OF THE GORILLA is. If you enjoy bad "B" movies then you should enjoy this thing but if you can't stand "so bad they're good" type of movies then it's best you stay far, far away from this thing. There's no question that this series was made for young kids and to give them something to do at the Saturday matinée but and the only way an adult could fully enjoy this series was for them to turn their brain off and not attempt to put any logic to anything you see. The entire plot is downright silly as the plan of Stevens never makes a bit of sense and you keep asking yourself how incredibly stupid could this guy be. There's one ten-minute sequence in the film where Jim has caught onto the guy and yet the doctor is able to attempt and kill Jim at least four times. It looks like after the third time Jim would do whatever he could to make sure it didn't happen again. The way the screenplay goes about making excuses for this guy as he does one bad thing after another just gets to be laughable. Weissmuller will always be remembered for playing Tarzan and his "acting" style is pretty forgettable here. He certainly can't deliver lines and there are several times where it appears he forgets his lines, has to think real quick and then say them. As campy as Weissmuller is he doesn't have a thing on Suzanne Dalbert who plays one of the supporting roles. She's not any better and her line delivery would make Weissmuller appear to be an Oscar-winning Shakespeare actor. Trudy Marshall doesn't add much of anything but Stevens (HOUSE OF Dracula) comes off the best. MARK OF THE GORILLA is just one stupid sequence after another but thankfully it's so corny and campy that you might find yourself being entertained.

This film begins with LOTS of stock footage--much like other cheap African films of the era. In addition, like these other cheap films, it intermingles footage of BOTH African and Asian animals! So, you'll see African and Indian elephants as well as lions and tigers! It makes no sense at all to anyone with passing familiarity with these animals and it's obvious they were cramming in any film they could find--whether it made sense or not.

The plot involves rogue gorillas doing evil things. It's obviously some guys in gorilla suits and they look little like gorillas. The only saving grace of this is that you learn that these are supposed to be guys dressed up like gorillas in order to fool the natives. But, judging by their outfits and Jungle Jim's difficulty noticing how phony they are, you must assume all these folks are amazingly stupid. But why? Why dress up like gorillas and kill people coming into this territory? What are these wicked men looking for and exactly who are they? Well, the answer is a bit silly--at least in regard to who they are. Tune in to this silly little film if you care....though I must admit that I really didn't the more I watched "Mark of the Gorilla".

All in all, this film is exactly what most jungle films were of this time--badly written adventure films that were made on a shoestring budget. Clearly these Johnny Weismuller films are NOT the same quality of his better Tarzan films. Aside from lousy stock footage, some very uneven acting and a remarkably silly plot sink this one.

How wonderfully silly. Johnny Weissmuller stars as Jungle Jim, getting himself in a serialisation of a character not a million miles away from the Tarzan role that would define his film career. Plot has Jungle Jim going about his jungle business, hunting in the wild and larking about with his animal pals, when he is suddenly thrust into a mystery involving dubious Gorillas, stolen Nazi treasure and the protection of a couple of babes. Nefarious treasure hunters will stop at nothing to get the treasure, but they hadn't counted on Jim and his animal pals. Hooray!

What follows is a blend of stock wildlife footage with Jungle Jim wrestling a number of fake creatures, including men in Gorilla suits who are about as subtle as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Dummies are flung off of cliffs when the chance arises, the human acting is about as useful as a brick built toilet at the Rhinoceros swamp, and Jim's indestructible being puts Captain Scarlet to shame. The animals are really cool, with Caw Caw the crow smarter than your average Gorilla and Skipper the dog capable of fighting off a lion and celebrating with a good smoke when survival of the fittest is assured.

Crappy but honest with it, a good time assured for those of us who trawl the lowbrow splinter of jungle based adventures... 6/10

There are good reasons why I watched the Weissmuller Tarzan films as a kid and not the Jungle Jim films. The television stations were too embarrassed to show them.

This film starts with stock footage of wild animals from Africa and Asia, I guess at the time most people did not notice the difference.

Jungle Jim investigates Gorilla attacks in an area where there should be not gorillas and although these gorillas look like men dressed up in a gorilla costume, it is because they are men dressed up as gorillas and trying to frighten other humans.

The reasons being that some dastardly Nazis are trying to retrieve some Nazi gold hidden during the war.

Weissmuller looked old and flabby, the plot is flimsy and silly. Even as a B film this is just bad.

Johnny Weissmuller reprises his "Jungle Jim" character in this entertainingly dreadful drama that sees him having to face down some marauding gorillas. Except. Wait for it... Are they actually gorillas? Perhaps they are really people dressed up? Why? Well, it turns out that there is some long lost Nazi bullion hidden amongst the dense jungle of California. What's more, these creatures can throw a rock a mean distance and they have a top secret hideout too. Luckily (or not) "Jim" has two damsels to help him out on his quest to thwart this evil plan. "Barbara" (Trudy Marshall) and the local "Nyobi" (Suzanne Dalbert) but will they be enough against the menacing "Brandt" (Onslow Stevens) and his gang? It's so bad it's funny, this, with precisely no effort made to create the supposed leafy environment as these nimble furry critters clamber over the desert boulders trying to stop their heads coming off or knocking over the pot plants. There's an annoying little dog in here too, and by the denouement you almost want the baddies to win just because you know that despite their overwhelming cunning and firepower, good will prevail. The acting and writing merit no mention at all and basically it's just terrible.