Gorilla at Large (1954)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Memorable, crazy movie

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Although Goliath the gorilla in Gorilla At Large is not a monster like King Kong he does create a whole lot of mischief at the carnival he's a feature attraction at. Several murders are suspected of being pinned on the poor beast. But is a human hand behind it all.There are no lacking suspects in this film, the whole show is filled with intrigue of all kinds. Police detective Lee J. Cobb first suspects young Cameron Mitchell who is working at Raymond Burr's carnival for the summer. Wife Anne Bancroft who is a trapeze artist wants to get Mitchell in the act and she eyes him like a slab of beef. Her former husband Peter Whitney is the animal handler and the real friend of Goliath.Given the title I was really expecting some kind of schlock film, but Gorilla At Large is a very nicely done mystery with a really good cast of solid players. Lee Marvin has an unusual part for him, he plays a really dumb uniform cop under whose watch the gorilla escapes and wreaks havoc on any and all.The ending is a surprise, I guarantee you will not suspect who it is.

This picture is, in some ways, a re-working of Fox's CHARLIE CHAN AT THE CIRCUS. The problem with the whole affair is that the pacing is deadly. Most emblematic of this is poor Lee J. Cobb. He sleepwalks through his performance (this is the same year he played Johnny Friendly in ON THE WATERFRONT). I would love to have been a fly on the wall between takes listening to Cobb and fellow Actors Studio chum Anne Bancroft bemoaning their current assignment. Don't get me wrong - this is a swell slice of cheese; the color is magnificent and even in 2-D it's a visual banquet set dec-wise. But it should have moved a lot quicker and clocked in around 76 instead of 83 minutes. With so much footage devoted to the investigating officer, they needed a firecracker in the Jimmy Gleason mold, not tired-out Willy Loman at the end of one of his long trips.As for Raymond Burr being surprised that John Kellogg was a schnook behind the shooting gallery counter, he should have seen THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH!

The title of this film would bring to mind the myriad low budget shockers from the 50's. But with a cast including Anne Bancroft, Lee Marvin, Raymond Burr, Cameron Mitchell, Lee J. Cobb, John Kellogg, and Warren Stevens, we're talking 8 Academy Award nominations, and 2 wins. That doesn't sound like the typical low budget 50's shocker and this Technicolor 3-D thriller is nothing of the sort. Of course, none of the nominations had yet occurred, and whether this film was the springboard that launched the careers of the aforementioned actors is no absolute. But there is no question that shortly after this film all of them began to appear on a regular basis in more important roles and in more important films and television, the most successful examples being Anne Bancroft, Lee Marvin, Raymond Burr and Lee J. Cobb. And this film is a perfect example of Lee Marvin's early work where it was obvious he was emblazoned with "Star". Oddly, it was the director Harmon Jones whose career seemed to go downhill after this film. After having previously directed such notable efforts as, Paddy Chayefsky's "As Young as You Feel", the popular biopic "The Pride of St. Louis", "The Silver Whip", "The Kid from Left Field", and "City of Bad Men", Harmon's career seemed from then on to be destined for weekly television episodes.As for production values, script, suspense and action, the film is not bad. That is with the exception of the man in a gorilla suit which was supposed to be a real gorilla. I guess they were never able to get that right until "Planet of the Apes"! We're fortunate that Fox Movie Channel had rediscovered this peculiar gem. Although the film's current condition is good, a restoration for release on DVD and the inclusion of 3-D glasses would surely be a success.

This movie was dusted off in the 1980's and used as a promotional gimmick for Channel 46 (in some areas). The 3-D glasses (distributed at local restaurants, stop-n-gos, and radio stations) had Channel 46 plastered across the center. And I also recall the commercials & promo spots (quite a few actually). The significance of all this over-hyped "Gorilla at Large-mania" was unknown to me as a young child...and still is today. Because to this day I can't recall any other spectacularly hammy 3-D movie promotions...especially movies that had died in the vault 30 years before! Does anybody out there in TV Land recall seeing this movie back in 1954? I'm quite curious to learn about their perspective on the whole thing. All I can remember was getting "very" bored about halfway through the film...and the 3-D effects were quite poor...and there was lots and lots of dreadful acting. There is nothing quite as pitiful as a grown man dressed in a gorilla costume parading around in front of a camera.