The Gorilla Man

The Gorilla Man is a wartime espionage story starring John Loder with a ton of th character players from Hollywood's British colony. Loder is a wounded RAF pilot at a coastal hospital that's run by a small cohort of Nazi spies.

Loder has found out where the planned invasion of the United Kingdom is to be made and he wants to tell those in power. But the bad guys frame him for a murder and he's now a hunted one.

Some similarities between. The classic 39 Steps of Alfred Hitchcock and the James Garner film 36 Hours. Nowhere close to those and the plot has to manu holes,

And if you want to know the origin of the title, The Gorilla Man you watch the movie.

Not bad at all, a nice slow developing movie The country was on the "if you see something, say something mode" during those years, Hollywood was running behind the culture back then but writing scripts to fit life at that time.

Between the title, the fog-shrouded opening shots, and the medical men talking about being less squeamish with their experimental subjects, I expected this to be a horror movie. It was not long, however, before nurse Mary Field called one of the doctors "Herr" and their posh English accents switched to German ones, that I had my doubts. Then a wounded John Loder staggers into their hospital,straight from a commando operation. They tend to his wounds, but he insists on speaking only to General Lumsden Hare. So the German spies decide to wreck Loder's credibility by having John Abbott, looking ridiculous in coke-bottle spectacles, strangling people and pinning the crimes on Loder.

Put that way, it seems a roundabout method of dealing with the situation. Were I one of the spies, I would suggest killing Loder before he can make his report, and then blaming his wounds. That movie, however, would be either very short or very different. As it is, this B movie runs at such a high speed that there is little time to consider such matters. Ross Lederman knew how to crank them out fast, and Warner's cast of supporting character actors, rush this one through in a snappy 64 minutes.

Doctor Dorn leads a Nazi spy operation from his clinic on the British coast. Commando Captain Craig Killian is injured after an important operation. His men leave him under Dorn's care. He's hiding secrets for the military and Dorn is desperate to uncover them. His exploits have become famous and he's known as The Gorilla Man for his climbing skills.

There is no gorilla here and this is not a horror movie. It's an espionage film. This would be a more threating premise if Killian wash up ashore by himself. Dorn can interrogate him with impunity. As it stands, the movie is too convenient. Police Inspector Cady is too infuriating. At the very least, it does not paint the police in the most flattering light and that's not good in terms of propaganda during wartime. Even catching the Nazis is one of the most convenient solutions possible. Killian is too calm. In general, the acting is rather stiff. The British are all doing their stiff upper lip performances. I can't abide by the final solution and I have to give this a marginal fail.

Of course, any movie buff will think of 36 HOURS plot watching this one. The scheme is very rare, bizarre, daring for the mid forties, even as a propaganda film. This movie is the best example to show how great some B pictures can be from time to time, among many other ones, unfortunately mostly bland, flat, boring, looking all alike. If you are lucky enough, you can find some golden diamind gems like this one. It is rare, not available on you tube, and I admit that I was lucky to have purchased it a long time ago thru a broker whom I have forgotten about. A TV taping off, I guess. A real true gem from D Ross Lederman. I guess his best film.