Bride of the Gorilla (1951) Starring Barbara Payton, Raymond Burr & Lon Chaney, Jr. Written & Directed by Curt Siodmak Produced by Jack Broder & Edward Leven

"This is Jungle," intones Police Commissioner Taro (Chaney) as the camera pans over verdant (well, it's black and white, but.) foliage and exotic animals. Identifying himself and the locale, Itman County on the border of the Amazonas River, the camera then sweeps into a plantation house, crumbling into ruin, the jungle reclaiming the works of man. "This was Van Gelder Manor," Taro continues, "built to stand against the searing sun, built to shelter generations of Van Gelders, it also has become prey to the powers of the jungle, that terrifying strength that arose to punish a man for his crimes."

The film proper opens on a buxom blonde, Dina Van Gelder (Payton), as she twists and dances in a low-cut dress, shimmying to her maximum. Enter Barney Chavez (Burr), the foreman at Van Gelder's rubber plantation. His carnal interest in Dina is palpable as he urges her to flee the jungle, to civilization where she'll be appreciated. Her husband, Klaas (Paul Cavanagh) is less then appreciative of Barney's interest in his young wife, and his general carelessness around the plantation. Barney is fired.

On his way out, Barney encounters Larina (Carol Varga), a young woman he'd been bedding on the side. He breaks her heart, rejecting her requests to take her away. When she runs off sobbing, her pain is witnessed by Ah-Long (Giselle Werbisek), an elderly medicine woman and servant to Van Gelder.

Barney also has a final run-in with Klaas Van Gelder, that ends with Barney pushing the old man to the ground, directly on top of a poisonous snake. Klaas dies, though whether venom or age-related infirmity is left relatively unresolved. Ah-Long sees the crime, and once Barney leaves, pronounces a curse upon him - that he will be "as an animal." She leaves a pair of leaves over Klaas' eyes.

Police Commissioner Taro leads an inquest into Klaas' death, with Barney as the prime suspect. However, Taro lacks sufficient evidence to convict. Plus, Ah-Long comes forward to corroborate Barney's alibi. She asserts that Barney was nowhere near Klaas when he died, being in fact in Dina's room. When Taro questions her about the leaves, she admits to owning a "Plant of Evil," used in witchcraft, but the matter is dropped.

Barney and Dina are married; then, Ah-Long's curse kicks in. While entertaining guests, Barney sees his hand change into a gnarled, hairy claw; no one else sees the transformation. Dr. Viet (Tom Conway), the only local practitioner of Western medicine, examines him but finds nothing the matter. That night, the jungle calls to Barney, siren-like, and he flees into the night, leaving Dina in confusion. In Barney's mind, he's become an ape-like creature; he sees it when he pauses to drink at a stream, in his reflection.

Taro remains unconvinced of Barney's innocence, certain that he killed Klaas; with the discovery of the "Plant of Evil" in Ah-Long's possession, he begins to suspect that Barney may be acting under compulsion; that he may even believe he's become a Su-kah-rah - a mythological demon of the jungles. And even if he doesn't believe it.well, many murders have been committed in the jungle and blamed on the Su-kah-rah, Taro notes to Dr. Viet.

Barney makes plans to leave the jungle with Dina, but ultimately changes his mind, insisting that he cannot leave the jungle. He takes off into the jungle, and Dina follows, where a massive, shaggy ape grabs her. Her screams bring Taro and Dr. Viet running. A careful shot and the ape drops Dina - and the ventilated corpse of Barney Chavez falls to the ground.

ANALYSIS

I found Bride of the Gorilla to be a pretty nifty little film. I really appreciated how, up until the very end, it remains ambiguous as to whether Barney is actually turning into an ape or simply perceiving himself as such - and even then, there remains a question in my mind as to how much Barney Chavez actually physically changed. Are we seeing events "as they happened" or are we seeing Barney's perception of events? Something to ponder while watching the film.

Bride of the Gorilla bears some strong similarities to The Wolf Man; while some comparisons are inevitable given the subject matter of beastly transformations and Siodmak's involvement in both films. Siodmak was fascinated with the idea of the duality of human nature - an element of "Jekyll and Hyde" is a common theme through his work. Some of the connections are almost too much, however; one can accept that in both films a man signifying scientific progress is dismissive of the possibility of supernaturalism, only to be proven wrong; but Giselle Werbisek's Ah-Long is almost stunningly identical to Maria Ouspenskaya's Gypsy woman Maleva, other than Ah-Long being as gaunt as Maleva is plump.

More interesting, I find, is the single greatest difference between the two films. Lawrence Talbot was a tragic hero - a good man who did evil against his will. Barney Chavez is a brute from the start. Never far from his lower, animal nature, Barney cares only for the satisfaction of his base urges, and never allows himself any sort of emotional attachment to any one. Women are pretty baubles to him - he'll kill his employer to be able to sleep with his employer's wife, but she has no value to him beyond the sensual. When Lawrence Talbot became the Wolf Man, there is an understanding that as a man he was a noble creature, and becoming a beast was a reversion to something primeval that man has grown beyond; when Barney Chavez became the Su-kah-rah, there is a sense that a mask has been removed and we're seeing his true self.

All in all, Bride of the Gorilla is an interesting take on the "man becomes a beast" story, from the mind of a writer/director who perhaps knew these shapeshifters better then any in Tinseltown. Talented actors, a taut script, and deliciously judicious restraint in use of the ape suit combine to make Bride of the Gorilla a must-see piece of Classic Camp.