The Ape

Watched this 1940 movie last night and had fun watching Karloff. His scenes as the caring Doctor trying to find a cure for the paralyzed girl (played by Maris Wrixon) were touching and well done. His mad obsession to cure her seemed very believable to me. Though it looks like Wrixon played mostly bit parts during her career, she did a good job in this larger role and she is beautiful. Gene O'Donnell as her protective and jealous boyfriend seemed unrealistic as he took an immediate and illogical dislike to Karloff, the man trying to help his girlfriend walk again. Maybe he thought he resembled some kind of mad scientist, remembering Dr.Janos Rukh in 'The Invisible Ray' or Dr.Ernest Sovac in 'Black Friday.' Of course, this Monogram film is lacking in production values and the supporting cast is for the most part forgettable. And, Karloff has certainly been more fun to watch in some of his other films. The killer ape was a little goofy, as were the never-ending posses hunting him. However, with all that being said, it was still fun to see an old Karloff film, if only for old time's sake.