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.

Gorillas Prefer Blondes

Of all of the fellows who have ambled across the silver screen in fur, the one man that continually fascinates me is Emil Van Horn. He is perhaps the most mysterious of the small club of professional Golden Age Hollywood Gorilla Men - he avoided being photographed out of suit (yet he was nabbed at least once!) and rarely spoke of his past in print. Snippets can be found here and there but what is known relates mostly to his activities beyond film. Gorilla suited performers have been active on the burlesque circuit since KONG became a household name and Emil saw value in having a steady income. Sex always sells! Throughout his film career Emil Van Horn performed in a variety of venues and acts across the US, chasing after barely clothed bombshells for more than a decade.

Much has been said of Emil and his simian stagecraft at the Classic Horror Film Board but this quote comes from film historian and scallywag, Tom Weaver (write that damn Gorilla Suit book already!) recollecting info the Gorilla Godfather, Bob Burns had shared with him.

From the Bob Burns Archives: Emil on Emil

For a girlie magazine of (possibly) mid-1960s vintage, Emil Van Horn wrote this short, humorous article about his current stint, performing in his gorilla suit in clubs for live audiences. Only the torn-out article still exists, with no indication of the name of the magazine. It was illustrated with shots of Van Horn menacing a gal dressed in a skimpy "jungle girl"-type outfit on the club stage.

My gorilla suit is especially made to my specifications and is all done by hand by costume artists in Hollywood. The complete suit weighs 65 pounds and it's made of Canadian bear fur, a rich coat such as a real gorilla sports.
I completely blacken the area around my eyes with theatrical greasepaint. This is very important since the eyes are a dead giveaway to my many imitators who copy the style of my suit but fall by the wayside with their grinning eyes and very ungorilla-like mannerisms.
Twenty minutes is the maximum amount of time that I can stay in the complete costume. The moment I come off stage, my handler gets me out fast. I then cry out and, with his assistance, pound on doors backstage, giving the illusion of a gorilla being caged until the next time he is set free.
On occasions to satisfy an audience I have attempted to remain in costume past 20 minutes. But this has more than once sent me to a nearby hospital to be revived by oxygen. And if you can imagine doctors giving a headless gorilla oxygen--well, just imagine it! It's laugh-provoking, but on more than one occasion it has saved my life.
Some five years ago, in Chicago, the gorilla was stolen from my locked car. I made appeals on the radio and the newspapers, but this mystery has never been cleared up. Perhaps the thief or thieves died of fright when they opened the trunk and saw the suit. My conclusion has been that it would have been bank thieves who stole the suit, planning to use it on a job to throw panic into bank employees and any witnesses. It has not been executed to my knowledge as yet. But it would have to be done within 20 minutes or there is going to be one very dead man inside a HOT gorilla suit. And in this case HOT means a little more than the term for stolen goods.
People have asked me whether members of the monkey family cringe from me when we come face to face in zoos or circuses. Chimps for one are petrified when they see me on a publicity binge, banging their cage as though I want to get inside and tear them apart.
Club patrons have broken bottles and chairs over my well-creased head to protect the female members of their party from the nasty gorilla that is tearing up their tablecloth and drinking their spirits--as well as threatening to carry the women off. There have been times I have had to rip my head piece off to show an angry drunken customer that there is a real man inside the suit. When that happens, they do not know how to react--whether to laugh or cry. Women sometimes run in terror, and, in more squeamish cities like Boston. my act has been banned by the police.
I have had many offers from TV and undoubtedly will do a series of films when I get time. People love to be scared, hence the great popularity of horror pictures.
On a publicity stunt in Detroit last year, a policeman (who I learned later had not been aware of the stunt) drew a gun and threatened to shoot me dead if I came another step. My handler shouted: "There is a man in the suit." But the policeman was not buying, until I shouted: "He is right...there is a man in the suit and it's me, Emil Van Horn."
That was my closest shave, and if he is reading this magazine I am certain that he is getting a chuckle out of an episode that could have been my last.
I will not consent to being photographed out of my costume since this, more than anything, would be destroying as an act such as mine creates such an illusion--and without this bit of doubt on the audience's part as to whether I am real or not, I would not have an act. I have made a very good living being a gorilla for hire, and after 24 years of the act still get a great thrill from the audience when I step into the role.

The first article here dates from 1941, the earliest instance of his burlesque career I have come across in my searches. I had the good fortune to find this gem on EBay some time ago when George Chastain had alerted me to the articles' existence. What is particularly remarkable about the piece is the rare unmasking of Emil - George had sent me the cleaned up and reworked image during our chats about the article (see above). I was struck by how dapper the fellow looked - I don't quite know what I was expecting but he does appear rather pleased (perhaps, the photo was shot post-girly grappling!). The photos were shot at the Florentine Gardens in L.A. - a popular destination for GI's during WWII.





The photo below corresponds to the first page of the article above - I found it at an image database ages ago.



The girl below tangled with Emil in the same stage show. Doris was apparently a regular of the Gardens.



More Emil to come! Stay Tuned!

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.

UNBELIEVABLE PICTURES OF THE MONKEY WORSHIPPERS!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 3-25-2010

Between uploading gallery items to Flikr, transferring posts to Gorillamen 2.0 (and here we are), and sifting through NewspaperArchive.com for all manner of gorilla suit film ads, articles and fresh leads on Gorilla Men, I'm amazed I still find the time to post something here! I am still in information overload mode with the archive searches. Here's a wee sample of FORBIDDEN ADVENTURE (1935) print advertisements - another flick following in the deplorably racist footsteps of INGAGI, coupling tedious travelogue footage of Angkor with staged sequences of jungle giants and their amorous native girls. More to come.

ACTUAL JUNGLE SECRETS

ORIGINALLY POSTED 3-21-2010

It's hard to believe that INGAGI played the roadshow circuit for nearly 25 years or more. Despite the revelation that the film's main attraction, that of native and gorilla coupling, had been exposed as fraud the very year it was released, crowds still flocked in great numbers across the US to see for themselves what the controversy was all about. This ad dates from 1946, sixteen years after INGAGI had it's sensational debut in 1930, yet the copy still proclaims "Attendance records smashed!". While this is most likely to be total hype, the fact that the film remained in circulation is astounding.
Why the Satanic floating head accompanies the proclamations of "Daring! Dynamic! Humane!" I have no idea! But it certainly catches the eye, don't it!

GORILLA VS SINDIE VIRTUE

ORIGINALLY POSTED 1-3-2009

Who wins - we do!
;-)

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?

UNTAMED, UNASHAMED!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 10-14-2008



Care to discover why that ape looks so disappointed?
Waste an hour watching UNTAMED MISTRESS and find out.
This is one best left a mystery...

TOR NOT GORILLA!!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 10-09-2008

When is a gorilla not a gorilla?
When he is a hu-man..

THE "KING KONG" GORILLA THAT TERRORIZED A TOWN

ORIGINALLY POSTED 9-29-2008

Fresh out of the mailbag, straight from the Gorilla Men Den, I present this salacious tale of an escaped 500 pound Circus ape rampaging about the countryside pursued by bloodthirsty rednecks. Don't worry there's a moral in there somewhere.
I have been enjoying Taschen's MEN'S ADVENTURE MAGAZINES - the result being my brain has steeped in blood, sweat and breasts for the past week. It's a delight to have this issue of FOR MEN ONLY arrive on my doorstep to further illustrate how bizarre and unabashedly male these publications were.
Enjoy!

PEEPING PRIMATE PSYCHOPATH

ORIGINALLY POSTED 8-28-2008

If I had a nickel for every time someone attempted murder in a gorilla suit...



Image by way of THE PERCY TROUT HOUR.

DAMN DIRTY APE!

ORIGINALLY POSTED 7-24-2008

I came across a one sheet for this film on Ebay some time ago but only recently tried to uncover some information about it. JUNGLE BLUE (1970) has a listing on onesheetindex.com with a beautiful scan of the pressbook. I have both the uncensored images from the listing and the censored image from onsheetindex.com -  you can log onto the site and view a high resolution scan without the white bars but I couldn't be bothered. I had wondered if there was any cross species action in this soft porn flick and the credits on onesheet seem to imply this would be so - John Holmes plays Chico (Gorilla). Oooof!
Here's the plot sypnosis - head over to onesheetindex for a good look at the pressbook.


This is the story of a super human, better than Tarzan and bigger too!

Filmed entirely in the heart of the Amazon jungle, Peru and Colombia, it shows the influence of the torrid climates on the bodies and minds.

Evor, a handsome man, has the super-natural powers to elevate women into heights of passion never known before.

Susan Alison is a beautiful, ambitious woman who is after a legendary treasure of diamonds and emeralds, which are part of the ornament of a tribe of savages in the Ucayale river (a fluent of the Amazon). She flies to Iquitos, Peru, in the company of Hank Rollins, also an adventurer after the jewels.

Jane Royce, a really beautiful girl, is also in the jungle looking after her father, a missionary lost while trying to convert the head hunters. They adventure into the jungle and meet evor. Both girls are aroused to tremendous heights of passion and, one after the other, discover sex with a super human being.

Hank convinces Evor to take him to the tribe in order to get to the jewels; once there, they poison the entire tribe, taking the jewels and Jane as a prisoner. Evor goes to rescue them, jungle style. Susan is attacked by a poisonous snake and Hank is caught by the piranhas; Jane is saved by Evor for a sensual rendezvous in paradise.

Prior to this adventure, Susan and a group of Americans in Peru tried the Yassahuacca, a drug obtained from a tree bark which is capable of bringing the group into an incredible sex orgy.

This orgy and the adventures are paralleled in the story of Jungle Blue, making it a very unique adult motion picture.


For uncensored ladies check out the other Flikr images.

UNTAMED MISTRESS: SEX HAS ALWAYS SOLD TICKETS

ORINALLY POSTED 7-16-2008



I have only forced myself to watch this film once but I don't recall anyone of the female persuasion actually flashing her chest. If you choose to head over to Flikr and check out the NSFW stills from UNTAMED MISTRESS, you can skip the utter boredom of the actual film. I tracked this down on VHS a couple of years ago and naively thought this might be a juicy exploitation film. Fifty years later and suckers like me are still falling for the hype. The story is dull, the sets laughable and the gorilla suits Grade D - not quite MIGHTY GORGA bad but the costumes were well beyond their 'prime' years. Writer/Director Ron Ormond typically worked in the Western genre but attempted to expand his creative boundaries here by putting more mental effort into selling this stinker than the quality of the film itself.

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.