Sunday, April 28, 2013

Charlie Gemora...Genius Monkeyman !





Hey gorilla gang,
As all of our Hollywood Gorilla Man members know, one of the most influential, and defining Gorilla Men of all time was the great Charles Gemora.
Charlie set the bar for all gorilla men, extremely high., and continued to do so throughout his career.
Charlie's ape suits show a steady evolution in realism that culminated in his incredible suit "Sultan" as seen in the classic " Phantom of the Rue Morgue" in 1954.
Sultan remained the most realistic gorilla suit in film until the advent of Rick Baker in the 70's.
This alone speaks volumes , about the level of skill and talent Charlie possessed.

But Charlies innumerable talents go far beyond his work as a gorilla man !
He was not merely proficient, but an absolute master in the arts as a sculptor, painter, portrait artist, Make-Up artist, special effects, screen writing and production design.
And if you can believe it , he was also a producer, director, and inventor!


Now you can help to bring our favorite gorilla into the spotlight , and allow Charlies contributions to finally acknowledged !

Hollywood special effects artist Jason Barnett ( and all around great guy) has made it a personal quest to see that Charlie receives the recognition he so richly deserved.We've already touched base on Jason's amazing life-size figure of Charlie, but this is far more important.
Jason's new documentary ;

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1816447378/charlie-gemora-genius-monkeyman

needs our help ! If you can help out with a donation, please do !
This is a more than worthy cause gang, because if not for Charlie, this humble blog may never have existed !  Please click the link, and see what Jason, and Diana Gemora (Charlies daughter) have in store on this great effort !

Tell'em Bongo from HGM sent you !

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Space Gorilla 1999 !

Hey Gorilla Gang,
Here is a quick treat from the classic Gerry Anderson series Space 1999.
In the episode called Metamorph, Maya ( Catherine Schell) transforms into a gorilla, played by Reuben Martin.
The face is not very good looking but the over all shape of the body is fantastic.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Charlie Gemora....Reborn !!!


 
Bob Burns and his mentor, Charles Gemora
 
 
Hey gorilla gang !


 


Charlie Gemora made a surprise appearance at the April 12th - 14th, 2013 Monsterpalooza convention in Burbank Ca.
Was Bob Burns's time machine used to accomplish this feat ? Not quite, although Bob was there for the fun.
Charlie was brought to life through the skilled hands of Special Effects make-up artist Jason Barnett. The sculpture of Charlie is so completely life-like, you would think your standing next the Charlie himself !  

Jason gives us a little background on his project :



I've worked as a makeup artist/sculptor for over 20 years. I've never challenged myself with creating a likeness. Let me tell you, making a life-sized Charlie Gemora was incredibly tough! I spent over a year sculpting and looked at over 25 reference photos supplied by Charlie's daughter, Diana. I did my best to capture the playful nature that was so Charlie.   -Jason Barnett

 
Bob Burns, Charlie 2, and Charlies daughter Diana Gemora Fox Jones
 

Jason's involvement with Charles Gemora doesn't start or end here. Jason is a dedicated historian, chronicling Charlies life and contributions to the film industry. He has an amazing website about Charlie called ;   
                                                                charliegemora.com
 
 
Diana, and Jason Barnett
 

Jason is also in the early stages of a  documentary about Charlie. who was the first of the great Gorilla Men ! The documentary will cover all aspects of Charlies incredible talent...from Hollywood set sculptor and designer, to make-up artist...From rampaging gorilla, to invading martian.  Charlie was such an incredibly skilled artist in all aspects, it's easy to see why Jason would be so devoted. 
 
If you would like to contribute to this noble cause, please visit Jason's fund raising page on Kickstarter, and be a part of Charlies incredible tribute. 

Sunday, April 14, 2013

E-Gors Gorilla Goodies...Monkeys Makin' Movies !

 Good old E-Gor has done it again ! He's burrowed into the depths of his monumental collection and discovered two fantastic articles, Both showcasing legendary Hollywood Gorilla Men !
This time our fine furry friends are photographed clowning behind the camera !

First up, Ray Corrigan...filming "The Ape"
 
 
And next up, the legendary Charles Gemora, cutting up on the set of
"Sing, Bing, Sing"
 
 

Sunday, April 7, 2013

E-Gor's Gorilla Goodies ! Wonder Woman Vs. Gargantua

Old E-Gor, damned sure knows how to appeal to my primal instincts, when he sent me this photo of the stunning Lynda Carter wrasslin' a gorilla.
This is from the first season of ' The New Adventures of Wonder Woman", in an episode called Wonder Woman Vs.Gargantua.
Gargantua was played by veteran TV"big guy" Mickey Morton.
Morton, at over 6'7" in height ,seemed to tower over the 6' Lynda Carter, as the Amazon princess.
Morton's Gorilla suit was a mixed bag of ape elements, that never quite fit together as a gorilla man quality suit.
The fur suit was fairly well done, while the face was done with recycled Planet of the Apes gorilla appliances. While the make-up afforded Morton the ability to express a wide variety of emotion quite effectively, the face looks painfully small next to the giant proportions of the suit.
To try to rectify this, the costumers tried to make the head much larger by making a gorilla proportioned headpiece that fit on like a wig.
This further added to the problem, by having it look like the tiny face gorilla was wearing a Russian fur hat.
 
The one advantage to this enlarged head, was an additional 10" in height added to Morton's already formidable proportions.
The character of Gargantua was based on the famous gorilla of  Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus fame.
 
 
Mickey Morton also played another furry giant as the Malla, the wife of Chewbacca the Wookiee in the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special !


 

Saturday, April 6, 2013

E-Gor's gorilla Goodies !....Yakima Canutt and Mogambo !

E-gor's outdone himself with this installment of EGG !
One of the most seamless integrations between real gorillas, and "reel gorillas" prior to Gorillas in the Mist was the 1953 adventure thriller MOGAMBO !
While filming in Africa, the second unit footage featuring real gorillas was directed by legendary stunt man extraordinaire, Yakima Canutt !
Yak carefully integrated the live ape footage ( including some rather pissed off gorillas going on the attack ) with skillfully orchestrated stunt footage of men in very convincing gorilla suits.
The gorillas were attacking star Clarke Gable, who would shoot the rampaging beast while the diving from the brush within just a few feet of him. The inter cuts between real and artificial gorillas was so well edited that it was nearly impossible to detect the change overs.
Yak, as he was affectionately called was no stranger to the world of simian cinema, having actually played an "ape-man" in the 1932 film The Circle of Death.

You can read about more of Yakima's hair raising exploits in his autobiography, STUNT MAN.
I gotta hand it to him, Yak makes one hell of a scary ape !

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Mad Science !

Just a bit of fun with our old friend Charlie Gemora.