Don Post Hollywood Gorilla

One of the great things about growing up in the 60's and 70's was the abundance of magazines and comic books catering to little monster fans like myself. As an avid reader of Famous Monsters of Filmland, I would optically devour every issue as I acquired it.

I loved the articles pertaining to gorilla movies the most, specifically the guy in a suit type.

The one thing in each and every issue that would stop me in my tracks was the great adds for Don Post Studios monster masks.

I would spend countless hours staring longingly at those magical black and white photos of the coolest masks on the planet.

The one that always singled itself out (to Me), was the Hollywood Gorilla !

It was an amazing piece of hand crafted latex rubber with a full head of hand applied hair !

The look of the mask exuded the quintessential essence of all those great gorilla classic films I had loved all my life.

It was only in the last 5 years that I learned the reason for this.

In an interview I read with the late Verne Langdon, ( the former co-owner and vice president of DPS)he stated that he had sculpted the Hollywood Gorilla from a clay press of Charles Gemora's ape face master mold ! ( The mask was later to be re sculpted by Pat Newman)

A clay press is the process of heating clay to soften it and pressing it into a plaster negative mold.

The clay is the removed and you have an exact replica of the original sculpture.( In this case, Charlies gorilla face.)

Verne then sharpened up the details that were distorted or lost during the molding process.

He also made subtle alterations to facilitate the production process.

Once the corrected sculpture was finished, it was covered in plaster in two halves (front and back) to make a new mother mold.

Liquid latex rubber was then poured into the molds and left to dwell until proper thickness was achieved by moisture being drawn away by the plaster.

The remaining latex was then poured out of the mold, and left to dry.

When dry the fresh rubber mask was powdered with talc on the inside to keep it from sticking to itself and removed from the mold as a thick rubber mask.

This was then painted and hair was applied to complete the look.

The Gemora sculpture that was used as the base was the gorilla used in "Phantom of the Rue Morgue", which was the greatest gorilla Charlie had ever sculpted.

This amazing mask was reproduced by Don Post several years ago as part of their 'Retro line masks"

I still haven't acquired one yet, but the search is still on !

Gorilla Gang Goes Amuck!

Now here's the stuff that mysteries are made of! This still is among the images that Charlie's daughter, Diana, had sent along to me a few years ago. Initially I had dismissed the image as possibly belonging to another performer's film but when checking out the image for posting this evening, I have surmised that it is Charlie in the foreground. I cannot for the life of me, figure out what film it may have come from. The suit appears to be the same one used for the Abbot and Costello flick AFRICA SCREAMS(1949), so it would peg the appearance from the early fifties. What I find terribly odd, and a little exciting (for a gorilla geek) is the ape to left of our possible Gemora. Call me crazy, but I will be damned if that isn't Emil Van Horn; the arm extensions and signature mug are hard to confuse with other major Gorilla Men. I spent the day in the sun so perhaps my brain might be cooked but I also think the gorilla facing the opposite direction next to 'Emil' has a profile that makes me think of the suit worn by Art Miles!

Perhaps I should sleep on it and see if I am seeing Gorilla Men where there are none tomorrow. Maybe our resident Gorilla Man himself, The Mighty Bongo, can shed light on this furry conundrum!

LAUREL, HARDY AND CHARLES

ORIGINALLY POSTED 7-28-2008



For those of you unfamiliar with my deep admiration for the greatest of all Gorilla Men, the diminutive Charles Gemora, you need to check out the tribute site I have constructed with the aid of his surviving daughter Diana. I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to open a regular dialogue with the little lady who not only had an ape for a father, but who also helped him keep his fur well combed! Diana was a Studio child through and through, raised amongst the cameras and fairy tales, who eventually earned her pay on the Disney lot and later as an artist herself.
It was quite a long journey before I managed to finally speak to Charlie's only daughter (he also had 2 sons) but the relationship that has grown was an unexpected reward. Her warmth and generosity is boundless, as is her enthusiasm for what her father accomplished during his tenure as one of Hollywood's premier effects and make-up man ( oh yeah, and there was that gorilla thing too!). I have to reign in the praise less I seem disingenuous but Diana is truly a special woman.
Recently she sent me a treasure trove of photos that were printed from files passed along to her from Bob Burns. I was stunned to flip through the tidy stack of Kodak prints and realize that the majority were images I have not seen before. With Diana's blessing, I am thrilled to post the images for others to enjoy. I will work through the stills in the coming months, posting the images with additional videos or relevant info and links.
THE CHIMP (1932)generally gets short thrift from Laurel and Hardy fans but I think that it's a great example of Charlie's comic genius. According to Diana, the legendary comic duo loved working with the wee Filipino and an autographed photo shot with Stan, Ollie and Belle (Charlie's wife) demonstrates their affection aptly. The gorilla antics in this short are roundly impressive - it's no surprise Charlie worked with Tinsel Town's funniest stars during his aping career.

REAL LIVE GORILLA!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 2007-01-12

When it rains it pours – and the past day on Vancouver Island here we have seen a months rain some places. Considering that Steve Calvert is one of the lesser covered gorilla men (no reflection upon his talent!) I was thrilled to discover the 2 pager on him this week. When I posted the wonderful pictorial, I had to email Ted Newsom who penned CONFESSIONS OF A HOLLYWOOD GORILLA and let him know. Ted informed that me that Steve had mentioned there was only one article published about him other that the one readers here enjoyed recently. He also passed along a YouTube link that he had seen on the Classic Horror Message Board. In the ten minute segment, around the halfway point, the HOUSE OF WAX appearance that he had wrote of is represented by a newsreel. (UPDATE July 30th 2008 - new clip only features Bela and Steve arriving in the first minute of the clip.)



Gorilla suited performers were a staple of B movie promotions for local theatres – an inexpensive and sensational way to titillate the audience. ‘Spook shows’ became commonplace during the horror revival of the sixties and a jungle menace often terrorized moviegoers.

In the gorilla suit fandom must-have, HOLLYWOOD GOES APE, Bob Burns spoke of a MUNSTERS promotional tour that he tagged along on. In full ape regalia, Bob was lead by Eddie Munster, snarling on a chain through an airport crowd while police apprehended a suspicious boy in attendance. Apparently the young lad had a cup of acid he had intended on tossing in Bob’s, er, Kogar’s mug. He was curious how the ape would react. And they say kids today are not quite right.

Diana Gemora, Charlie’s right hand girl, had this anecdote about a promo appearance that went south due to the authenticity of Gemora’s suit.

Speaking of promos. In the 20’s and 30’s, the Studios and individual producers put on great promotions. A funny one was when Charlie had to promote a "Road" flick. Dorothy Lamour and he were stationed on Hollywood and Vine to sign autographs. Well that was Dorothy’s job and Charlie’s was to be in a cage. Dorothy wore a fur coat over her sarong seeing as how it was winter, in those days we actually had them. Charlie, on the other hand, was sweltering in his suit.

Everyday a little ole’ lady would come and look with pity at Charlie. He was trying to be fierce. She’d just shake her head and walk away. After 4 days of this, she could stand it no longer and complained to the Humane Society that the Studio was being mean and cruel by freezing this poor gorilla and it was indecent for him to be NAKED on top of that.! On their last day he was forced to keep a blanket around him. She almost killed him with kindness and decency.