Lorraine of the Lions

Odd mix of adventure, the occult, and broad comedy make for unsure viewing. Patsy Ruth Miller stars as the heiress who is shipwrecked as a child while traveling with her parents and a circus. The child and many animals wash up on a jungle island where she grows to adulthood.

Meanwhile, he rich grandfather in San Francisco spends 12 years seeking news from a bunch of phony mediums about the fate of his granddaughter, until one day he meets a fellow occultist (Norman Kerry) who is able to break through the spirit world and find out where Lorraine is.

Meanwhile, the old man's distant relative and his shady lawyer are trying to bilk the old man and keep him from finding the proper heir so they can collect the estate.

They all set off in the old man's yacht and find the wild child, who is protected from harm by a loyal gorilla (Fred Humes). Kerry and Miller hit it off right away, and they all sail back to San Francisco with the gorilla.

The granddaughter is introduced to society but the gorilla goes berserk and causes pandemonium amongst the refined types.

Patsy Ruth Miller and Norman Kerry are wasted in cardboard roles, and the production values are pretty cheap. Fred Humes plays the gorilla and would soon embark on a minor career as a cowboy star at Universal.

It all begins when Frank Newberg, his wife and their daughter are returning from Australia with their circus. They're discussing his father, Joseph Dowling. He doesn't approve of the circus life, and wants to raise his grand-daughter who, even at the age of 7, has an uncanny command of the elephants, lions and gorilla. A storm sinks the ship, but she escapes with a few of the animals to a jungle island. Meanwhile, Dowling has a mystic vision and goes around seeking spiritualists who can help him. When he almost runs over Norman Kerry, he discovers him a mystic seer, who leads him to that island, discovering that the little girl has grown into Patsy Ruth Miller. She, however, won't leave without her beloved gorilla -- as who would? -- played by Fred Humes. This leads into the third act...

It's an awkwardly assembled movie, with Kerry's character typical. At first he's a depressed spiritualist, refusing to fight against fate, yet by the end of the second act, he's turned into a man of action, and by the third act, has added suaveness to his repertoire. Neither is there much well-executed humor, as one would expect of a film directed by Eddie Sedgwick; it's all Miss Miller pounding on terrifying animals. Yet despite that, it seems to have its place in movie history. Although gorillas trying to carry young girl across staid lions for immoral purposes seems like a fixed melodramatic trope, the final sequence here, with the gorilla carrying Miss Miller to the top of the house seems like a precursor of the finale of KING KONG.