THE SHADOW KNOWS, DON'T PISS OFF THE BIG MONKEY

I must say, that gorilla really does appear to be enjoying himself! This ape may be an odd foe for the mysterious Shadow, but I love how the cover captures that early 20th century notion of the fearsome jungle beast. The simplicity of the layout accentuates the immensity of the enraged ape; the Shadow is tossed aside like a toy and the frantic maiden isn't about to run off anywhere with her locks twisted up in that crazed beast's fist. Typically Shadow covers portrayed the other-worldly detective as an omnipotent demi-god who taunts and dominates his criminal prey but here we have him looking decidedly mortal.

BOLLYWOOD GOES APE

Way, way back when I first began this journey into the mysterious cinematic regions of the Gorilla Men, I recall coming across a mention of an East Indian picture called GORILLA that one would naturally assume, had a gorilla suited lead. Unfortunately, I was unable to uncover much about it and apart from coming across a few muddy pics of lobby cards on Ebay, I haven't given it much thought in quite some time. My usual auction crawl revealed the lovely poster above - and the angry fellow tossing about the native has given me a renewed desire to find this early Bollywood offering. The possibilities of a large scale musical dance number featuring a shaggy simian boggles the mind!
The poster above also features a nicely reworked swipe from THE BRIDE OF THE GORILLA, released two years earlier.

DOUBLE CROSS OF THE GORILLA RANGER

I'd like to see him sneak up on a buffalo! How a giant ape figures into a comic about colonial America isn't exactly clear but then again the joy of silly Silver Age books like this issue TOMAHAWK is the ease in which the insanity can be explained in a handful of panels and exposition. No message boards with dedicated comic geeks to pick apart the logic of the plot in 1960, just frustrated letters to the editor. Later issues had the Revolutionary freedom fighter face off with another forty foot ape, King Colosso -  if he was from the same Plains tribe as this gorilla in unknown.

TIPPY TOES

I have tried three times to watch MARK OF THE GORILLA (1951) and I have yet to make it through without snoozing! It's by no means a terrible film but not one to excite the mind of a sleepy, old curmudgeon who has to watch gorilla suit flicks after the missus has gone to bed. I have a particular fondness for films that have the gorilla suit itself as a plot point. Rascally white men, in full simian regalia, are using the fear of the great ape to intimidate and harass African locals to do something dastardly that I forget because I keep nodding off. Naturally our hero Jungle Jim is not deterred. I was familiar with Weissmuller from the Tarzan films but I was unprepared for his decidedly unimpressive line delivery. When pressed to utter poly-syllabic words he seems to fall a little flat. I certainly prefer, "Me Tarzan, you Jane."
This still recently arrived at the Gorilla Den and features the sneaky tip-toeing of Steve Calvert.

A GO-GO GORILLA WITH A BIG BEAT

Last week's post on gorilla comic book covers was a fine reminder of how much damn fun I once had perusing the comic bins for ape-ly artwork. It was my curious little project Comic Book Gorillarama that lead me down the jungle path to discover the Gorilla Men of Golden Era Hollywood. It seems fitting that I look back to four colour simians of years past and share some of my favourite comic book covers on a regular feature here at G-Men. I usually need a pick-me-up on Mondays after returning to the drudgery of earning a proper living so I can get more Gorilla Stuff therefore you can depend on a regular post highlighting a favourite cover from my CBG Flickr sets. I hope you return again and again to enjoy.

Hawkman was a Golden Age character who finally earned his own title in 1964 for a short lived run but remains today as an iconic DC character. Murphy Anderson bangs out a beautiful cover with Katar Hol facing off with a distant cousin of those winged monkey bastards from The Wizard of Oz. Even though HAWKMAN only ran 27 issues, the Thanagarian policeman had the distinction of not one, but two flying gorilla covers.

STRANGLER OF MEN - KIDNAPER OF WOMEN!

Print Advertisement for the first film adaptation of the smash hit stage production - March 4th, 1928.

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.