Yes, "The Gorilla" is another old horror movie involving primates. I swear I think at least a third of all black-&-white horror movies involved monkeys/apes/gorillas of some kind. At least this one is more the idea of a killer using a gorilla motif than an actual animal.

This one is all about a gorilla that is a serial killer. He (it, whatever) gives his victims 24 hours notice and then closes the proverbial curtain. A wealthy businessman, Mr. Stevens, has gotten such a notice but reacts oddly. Instead of contacting the police he keeps the threat quiet and hires a team of private investigators: the Ritz brothers, who turn out to be bumbling idiots.

As the plot unfolds it’s difficult to determine who is the villain and who will become the victim. Is the whole gorilla deal a ruse by Stevens to cover his own secrets?

Yes, it’s a Ritz Brothers comedy if that means anything to you. I personally had never heard of the Ritz brothers, and if this is the typical quality of their work it’s no wonder. They aren’t teeth-grindingly bad, they’re just dull. Their comedy feels uninspired.

This is supposed to be a suspenseful comedy and though it may be moderately suspenseful it's not very funny. Most of the jokes got groans rather than laughs out of me. The thing is I got put off pretty early on. The first scare involves Mr. Stevens’ housekeeper whose name I quickly and intentionally forgot. This woman’s screaming is intensely annoying in part because it goes on for so very very long. It’s entirely possible that in my attempts to tune her out I missed some important plot points. That’s the way it goes. Even though nothing else in the movie is so intensely annoying I kept expecting it to happen which hurt my enjoyment of the story.

Except for the starting premise of a gorilla serial killer (do they REALLY think it’s an actually gorilla doing the killing?) the suspense portion of the movie isn’t terrible. I mean it’s nothing grand, but it at least keeps the whole movie from being intolerable. Bela Lugosi finds himself in yet another creepy butler role. Is he the villain or not? I’m not telling! I like Bela, but this is not his most noteworthy appearance. Even not at his best, though, he’s as good if not better than anybody else in the movie. I guess it’s just that presence he’s built up from so many classic horror flicks.

Anita Lousie and Lionel Atwill in the non-comedic lead roles are pretty good. They carry the straight portion of the movie well enough to keep it interesting. Atwill balances his character so that if he turns out to be either good or evil it would be believable which aids in the making the mystery more suspenseful. If we could combine their straight acting with Mantan Moreland’s comedy from "King of the Zombies" we might have a real winner.