Friday Night Beauties and Beasts #1

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Sex sells. Always has, always will. In this weekly post I will share one of the many saucy gorilla and gal pics I have collected over the last decade of simian obsession. Don't get me wrong - a lady should be treated with respect and tenderness - but your average savage monkey boy has trouble restraining his urge to scooping up a lovely lass and taking her back to his primeval pad.

First up in our series, HGM favourite, the dapper chap in the frisky fur, Emil Van Horn with one of his ladies of the stage, Yvonne.

Madhouse of Mystery

A popular venue for the ol' Gorilla and Girl act were the spook shows that roamed America beginning in the 1930's. Dr. Neff's Madhouse of Mystery appears to be one of the more enduring acts that thrilled audiences with magic and a variety of ghoulish gags. Neff was based out of Indiana and performed there well into the 1950's. The outlandish gorilla and girl photo was recently listed on Ebay and I offer my thanks to George Chastain for the heads up on the pic.

Early Emil Erotica

I have nearly exhausted the supply of saucy simians and strippers but it is a joy to see the sheer multitude of images brought together - my thanks to The Mighty Bongo for sharing the images of Emil in the twilight of his burlesque career. I have a notion who the dancer from the previous post might be. Here are a pair of pics that appear to be from the dawn of Emil's erotic adventures.



I came across this image long, long ago at the now defunct Girls and Giants (?)
website. The site's focus were beautiful dames in distress with a variety of oversize oppressors. The photo was not identified but had a site watermark that I subsequently photoshopped out. The image appears to be labelled 'French Casino Breauties' or possibly Beasties or Beauties. I haven't the foggiest if the photo was shot in France or maybe Louisiana, for all I know. It does appear to be of a similar vintage to the second image which was posted at the CHMB and identified by the fellow who posted it.



'Emil Van Horn as Ingagi, with Eleonore Wood at the New York World's Fair, 1939' The date is of particular interest because it pre-dates Emil's film credits which began after 1940.

ORIGINS OF A BEAST AND HIS BEAUTY

It's rare that I have a mystery dispelled so quickly but my recent creation of a Tumblr page has revealed the origins of the image in the previous post THE BEAUTY OF THE BEAST. As I discussed in the post, the photo of Ray "Crash" Corrigan had been retouched and manipulated to produce the drooling monstrosity that hunches over the limp half naked body of a fair woman. While the risque setup suggested some sort of relation to a burlesque promotion, it was an odd arrangement for Corrigan to be involved in. I could not recall where I had stumbled across the photo on the web but this evening I was shocked to bump into it again. Following the bread crumbs of attribution links, I finally came upon a Tumblr page where the photograph had credits and a title.

William Mortensen, L'Amour

"SEX is of course the subject interest, which is here given additional morbid pungency by the sadistic implications of the theme." -- Mortensen

I confess that I have not heard of Mortensen before but his career and creative work is fascinating.

From
Monsters & Madonnas: Looking at William Mortensen An essay by Cary Loren

William Mortensen (1897 - 1965) was one of the most well known and respected photographers in America in the thirties. He worked primarily in Southern California as a Hollywood and studio portraitist and later taught his methods and ideas to younger generations. (See Larry Lytle's online biography of Mortensen.) Mortensen's obscurity today is mainly due to his championing of Pictorialism, a force within photography that promoted retouching, hand-worked negatives, chemical washes, and an artistic, painterly approach that soon faded with the advance of modernism.

The Mad Hatter above is the man himself. While Mortensen's technique has an appeal for modern viewers who have been tempered by the pervasive manipulation of reality in all types of media, his contemporary critics were not as accepting.

From
Monsters & Madonnas: Looking at William Mortensen An essay by Cary Loren

Mortensen was considered an anachronism in photography, an outsider in a field that rejected the theatrical set-ups, retouching and strong imaginative subject matter. Ansel Adams, high priest of the straight print, described Mortensen as both "the devil" and "the anti-Christ." Historians seem to have sided with Adams, as there are few mentions of Mortensen in most of the major photo histories.

From what I can see of Mortensen's subject arrangements, it appears that he worked with live models and props (during the creation of L'amour). My brief perusal of his work seem to indicate he did not alter photos of this period by compositing separate photographic elements. My supposition is Ray posed for the photo but I will have to contact those more learned about Mortensen to lend their thoughts on the matter.

To learn more about William Mortensen read the essay quoted above and also check out another fine page on the artist at The Scream Online. The second article also features a illuminating description of Mortensen's process-well worth checking out.

BEAUTY IS THE BEAST

I adore burlesque "Beauty and Beast" acts of old where ill-fitting, gorilla suited guys sweated it up on stage, pawing and groping pretty gals in skimpy, diaphanous outfits. A delightfully surreal twist on the act blends the two elements together in a Siamese twinning of the fair maiden and her animalistic tormentor. Pictured below is Little Brooklyn, a modern burlesque dancer I discovered on MySpace, who still cavorts about the stage in the same fashion as her predecessor above.

Gorilla Men wants you to check out a photo on MySpace in the My Photos album

Image originally discover on Tumblr courtesy of PHANTOM OF THE RADIO

ROAMS THE AUDIENCE IN THE DARK!

Ladies accompanied by one of those squeeky voiced, pimply punks can expect things to go very badly once the house lights dim.

THE BEAUTY OF THE BEAST

Gorilla suit "Beauty and Beast" photos are far from rare but this shot of Ray "Crash" Corrigan in his earliest suit stands out as a particularly odd and unique image of the Cowboy apeman. While Emil Van Horn migrated from the silver screen to the stripper's stage and back again throughout his career, I can think of no other Gorilla Man who cavorted about with scantily dressed erotic dancers. Our resident g-man The Mighty Bongo discussed the shocking still with Bob Burns who recalled seeing the image years ago. Bob felt confident that it is a pastiche of a Corrigan still and some studio elements - he expressed the unlikelihood that Ray would be involved in a risque topless shoot. Ever the sharp eyed ape, Bongo noted the proportional differences between gorilla and gal. With Ray approximately 6'6" in his suit, the lovely lass would measure about 4'6". Bongo also remarked that the eyes have been accentuated with a little white and a tasteful helping of drool was added to the gruesome grimace.
Regardless of the photos dubious origins, it remains a salacious and disturbing tableau, indicative of the twisted undercurrents of the psyche of years past.

STILL GORILLA

ORIGINALLY POSTED 5-14-2009
As promised, more silent gorilla thrills with a still from 1927's THE GORILLA. The shot itself is somewhat lacking, with the fearsome beast slouching and blankly staring at the lens. I have seen other images from the same sitting that are more theatrical than this one, however, I appreciate the opportunity for a nice full frontal gander at this suit.

PERVERSE GORILLA POLKA

ORIGINALLY POSTED 5-10-2009

This mag's been kicking around the Gorilla Den for some time now - hell, it was already sitting in the scanner waiting for me to get my ass in gear.
Truly awful title for the photo spread - polka doesn't quite capture the essence of provactive interspecies courting. The text names the gorilla as Scotty Roche, who apparently learned the craft from his Hungarian poppa who also performed a similar act back in the homeland. Scotty's wife, Diane Revere, is the Beauty to his Beast.
I haven't come across any other references to this particular act outside of this men's mag but the duo worked the Sunset Strip and there is likely local publications of the period that mention them.
Enjoy!

GIRLS GONE WILD!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 1-5-2009

The recent post GORILLA VS SINDIE VIRTUE got me hankering for more apes and jungle girls. There is a long lineage of jungle flicks revolving around pale fleshed, scantily clad beauties like SHEENA but comics also featured a variety of women in the wild.

GORILLA VS SINDIE VIRTUE

ORIGINALLY POSTED 1-3-2009

Who wins - we do!
;-)

ALL APES ARE MEN!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 1-1-2009

GORILLA MEN's resident gorilla man, The Mighty Bongo has managed to sniff out a pungent slice of the aforementioned ALL MEN ARE APES. The invaluable SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO has posted a cut on YouTube for our viewing pleasure - the ape is most certainly not Prohaska though I wonder if he would mind the shoddy treatment our amourous ape receives from his white goddess.
Happy New Year to all!

WHO ARE YOU ROOTING FOR?

ORIGINALLY POSTED 12-02-2008



My oh my, I bet when this mag was published the reader's sentiments probably differed from mine.
Regardless of who you might be putting your Benjamins on, the artist has captured a near perfect 'OH SHIT!' moment.
Think he's got enough time to reload before Gargantua turns him into a pretzel?

GORILLA VS THE LEMON GROVE KIDS

ORIGINALLY POSTED 10-01-2008

I am in the mood for a slice of wholesome gorilla goodness with a Bob Burns twist.
Here's a great piece from a 1977 magazine called KING OF THE MONSTERS - more from this issue in future posts.

GORILLA! PRACTICAL JOKER INVADES TOWN

ORIGINALLY POSTED 9-20-2008

The Martian scare on the radio which Orson Welles gave a gullible listening audience some years ago is still the topic of conversation around the country. However, it fades into insignificance beside the thrills and scares given the citizenry of peaceful Thorton, Indiana, not long ago when rumours of a gorilla on the loose began to circulate throughout the quiet countryside. Some reputably sober citizens reported seeing a beast and even provided minute descriptions. Swimming holes and fishing spots suddenly began to loose customers and the local schools reported a startling decline in truancy and deaths of Grandmas. Then, without warning, as the temperature soared to the 90's, a massive, heavy-coated gorilla plodded down the almost deserted main street of the town. Merchants rushed out with shotguns, farmers left their plows, barber shop customers stopped handicapping, and some of the less hardy souls fainted. What might have happened to the gorilla is anyones guess. He was saved when he pulled off his head, revealed himself as reporter Lloyd Walton, fotog for the Indianapolis Times. His paper just wanted to know how a small town would react to a gorilla in it's midst.

I bought a 1949 issue of PICTURE SHOW magazine thinking that the article titled GORILLA! would feature the usual sort of Beauty and Beast fare that would be typical of most vintage cheesecake rags. I was certainly surprised to find no half dressed maiden menaced by an ape, but rather a goofy stunt engineered to produce a few silly photos. Although the gorilla suit is not even remotely realistic, if Lloyd did indeed go traipsing through the bushes of small town America, he is damn fortunate he did not get his ass full of buckshot.
Reading the piece I could not help but think of Karloff and Corrigan in 1940's THE APE, a Poverty Row study of one mad doctor's desire to heal humanity by murderously rampaging about town in a gorilla suit harvesting spinal fluid needed for his research. The clip below features Frankenstein vs Ape - once victorious, Boris skins the creature to create the aforementioned suit.

GABY AND THE GORILLA

ORIGINALLY POSTED 9-9-2008

This arrived in the mailbox today - a a smutty little gem from 1968. ADVENTURE magazine is a low end newsprint PLAYBOY with more flesh than Hef typically offered and a good smattering of He-Man fiction. My interests were stirred primarily by the Beauty and Beast pictorial posted here for you viewing pleasure. To avoid any unwanted surprises, the saucy bits are displayed in the extended body of the post.
One further note - the article remarks that the photographer is Bill Rostler. Checking the mighty IMDB, Bill appears to have been involved with a number of adult films in the late 60's in a variety of capacities. Many of these I believe are available from SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO - the one that immediately caught my eye was MANTIS IN LACE a bizarre LSD fueled tale of a murderous stripper.
I think Bill was a tad more beastly than the gorilla chasing Gaby!

Here's a small taste - the rest of the adult oriented images can be found at Flikr.
Enjoy!

NAUGHTY MONKEY!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-23-2008

I am uncertain where this illustration was used but it reminds of the cheeky one page gags in old Penthouse and Playboys.
What I don't quite understand - why does the ape looks so damn cross?
Not so SFW
Follow peekaboo to Flikr and the full image will be adjacent in my Photostream.
Or click HERE!
Enjoy!

THE GORILLA AND THE GIRL

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-9-2008

If you didn't get enough of Kristen and Gorilla Bob with my recent post I DREAM OF BANANAS here's a saucy strip posted at their MySpace page. The video is pretty much NSFW but is hardly triple XXX material. I only wish the video was a wee bit sharper ;-). Enjoy!

The Gorilla and the Girl

I DREAM OF BANANAS

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-7-2008

To celebrate the addition of a quick list of Gorilla and Girls posts now found on Gorilla Men's sidebar (found on gorillamen.com but not yet listed on Blogger), here's a great shot of East Coast Gorilla Bob and the deliciously curvaceous Kristen Lee.

DESTROY THIS MAD BRUTE

ORIGINALLY POSTED 7-30-2008

A beautiful and disturbing US Army Enlistment poster from WWI spelling out in no uncertain terms the threat of the barbarous Hun.