Bride of the Gorilla is a 1951 B-Movie horror film written and directed by Curt Siodmak, starring Raymond Burr, Barbara Payton, Lon Chaney Jr., and Tom Conway.
The film centers around Barney Chavez (Burr), a manager at a South American rubber plantation who murders his boss, Klaas Van Gelder (Paul Kavanagh), in order to marry Van Gelder's wife Dina (Payton). Due to the odd method of killing, he is able to avoid conviction by the local police commissioner, Taro (Chaney). However, the murder was witnessed by elderly native woman Al-Long (Gisela Werbisek), and as punishment for the crime she puts a curse on Barney. Soon afterward he begins acting strangely, becoming obsessed with the jungle and disappearing at night. Meanwhile, reports begin to crop up of a gorilla-like beast terrorizing the locals.
Not to be confused with the similarly-themed Ed Wood film The Bride and the Beast. Or with Gorilla at Large, another gorilla movie featuring Raymond Burr.
This film contains the following tropes:
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: The gorilla creature that Barney turns into is identified as a Súkara, a gorilla-like folklore creature that shares some similarities with Bigfoot.
- Brownface:
- Hungarian Gisela Werbisek plays Native South American Al-Long.
- Lon Chaney Jr. as Commissioner Taro is an extreme case of the "Informed Attribute" variation; viewers have no way of knowing the character is a Native South American until it's explicitly said in the film.
- Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Despite being potrayed by a man in a gorilla suit and the movie being called Bride of The Gorilla, the creature Barney Chavez turns into is never actually referred to in-universe as a gorilla; Taro identifies it as a Súkara, which is described as a "jungle demon".
- Gypsy Curse: With the Magical Romani swapped out for a Hollywood Native South American; after Barney jilts Larina and murders his boss, Al-Long curses him to "be like a animal", turning into a gorilla periodically. It's actually made ambiguous as to whether this is an actual curse or if it's all in Barney's head. It's heavily implied that Al-Long had slipped Barney a plant that made him hallucinate he was a gorilla.
- Hungry Jungle: In the opening narration, Taro describes the jungle as beautiful but deadly, and it's credited with the Laser-Guided Karma / Sanity Slippage experienced by Barney Chavez.
- Killer Gorilla: Barney Chavez is cursed to turn into a gorilla-like beast that rampages about and disturbs the locals.
- Minority Police Officer: Police Commissioner Taro was brought up in an Indigenous South American community. His struggle to reconcile his cultural beliefs and Western schooling is discussed in one scene.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: Barney Chavez is cursed to turn into a killer weregorilla seemingly at random. Then again, it may all be in his head...
- Rage Against the Reflection: One scene has Barney smashing a mirror when he looks in it and sees himself as the gorilla.
- Secondary Character Title: "Bride of the Gorilla" refers to Dina Van Gelder, whom Barney Chavez romances and then marries after murdering her husband.
