Review 7- Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

   This is a movie that stars one of the horror movie greats, Bela Lugosi. But on the downside, it is easily one of the worst films he's ever been in. And to put a cherry on the crap sundae, it was directed by William "One Shot" Beaudine, who brought us such other masterpieces including "Billy the Kid Versus Dracula" and "Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter". So, let's jump into "Bela Lugosi meets a Brooklyn Gorilla".

   The movie starts off with a narrator describing the wonders of the jungle, over stock footage of animals that don't live in the jungle, and live mostly in savanna (Including lions and hyenas). It then cuts to the stars of our film (You thought that Bela would be the star? Well you're way off!), Duke Mitchell (A Dean Martin ripoff) and Sammy Petrillo (Jerry Lewis ripoff). They are lost on this island, and are looking for the way off. The Natives decide to let them stay in their village, and are friendly to the ripoff duo. Dean... I mean Duke falls in love with the Native Nona, who assists Dr. Zabor (Bela Lugosi), and she thinks he could help them get out.

     The duo and Bela meet, and after telling a few terrible jokes, become terrible enemies. He explains that he is creating a way to turn men into apes. After more unfunny jokes with a chimpanzee, they decide to stay at his hut.

     Jealous that Duke is closer to Nona then he is, he decides to turn him into a gorilla. But we don't see this happen until the LAST 10 MINUTES OF THE MOVIE. Meanwhile, we get some bad songs, terrible dialogue, and even worst jokes. Once he finally turns into a gorilla, Jerry... I mean Sammy finds him, and tries to figure out a way to set him free. Once they do, Bela finds and shoots him. I'm not kidding.

   But, it ended up it was all a dream! Yes, this is probably the most cliche way to end the movie. And it ended up they were about to be late for their routine. And on the way to the stage, he runs into all the people he saw in his dream- Nona, Chula (Bela's servant), Saloma, and even Bela himself.

  This is the worst movie I've ever seen Bela in, without a doubt. Worst than "Bride of the Monster" and "Glen or Glenda?" combined. Also, Sammy and Duke were sued at the time of this release by Martin/Lewis for stealing their act. So, this was a big flop either way.

My rating: 2/10 IMDB rating: 2.9 Next Review: Zaat! (1971)