Review of Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952) by Larry Y — 18 Oct 2014

BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA is the story of entertainers (a loose term) Duke Mitchell (a singer mimicking Dean Martin) and Sammy Petrillo (a comedian - another loose term - mimicking Jerry Lewis.

They crash land on a desert island and are rescued by the local tribe of natives. The beautiful daughter of the chief falls for Duke, while her fat sister falls for Sammy. The beautiful one works by day for a mad evolutionary scientist (Bela Lugosi, of course) on another part of the island.

The cast make the most out of a pathetically poor script that features lots of jokes, only they aren't funny. Interestingly, Bela has serious designs on his beautiful young island girl/assistant. Things liven up a bit with the introduction of Ramona the Chimp, who like the fat island girl, seems to fall in love with Sammy, or at least she's just using his lesser IQ to get what she wants.

Perhaps she gets it when they sleep together in her lab cage, but the scene fades out. Meanwhile, Bela plans to use a serum to change a man into a gorilla, with Duke as his intended test subject. Eventually this all ends with Bela getting revenge against the entertainers for meddling with his evil plans, or does it? The twist ending leaves a lot to be desired.

As usual, Bela Lugosi is the best thing in the film, and handles his role professionally throughout. The real Martin and Lewis eventually sued Mitchell and Petrillo, ending their mimickry.