The Ape Man

The Ape Man
Directed by	William Beaudine
Produced by	Jack Dietz Sam Katzman
Written by	Karl Brown Barney A. Sarecky
Starring	Bela Lugosi Louise Currie
Music by	Edward J. Kay
Cinematography	Mack Stengler
Editing by	Carl Pierson
Distributed by	Monogram Pictures Corporation
Release date(s)	March 5, 1943
Running time	69 mins
Country	United States
Language	English

The Ape Man is a 1943 horror Science fiction film starring Bela Lugosi and directed by William Beaudine. The film follows the tale of a part human part ape.

A sequel, in name only, called Return of the Ape Man, followed in 1944, one year later after this film and starred Bela Lugosi, John Carradine and George Zucco.

Plot

Dr. James Brewster (Bela Lugosi) and his colleague Dr. Randall (Henry Hall) are involved in a series of scientific experiments which have caused him to transform into an ape-man. In an attempt to obtain a cure Brewster believes that it will be necessary to inject himself with recently drawn human spinal fluid. When Randall refuses to help him by providing the fluid, Brewster and his captive Gorilla must attempt to find an appropriate donor.

Cast

Actor	Role
Bela Lugosi	Dr. James Brewster
Louise Currie	Billie Mason
Wallace Ford	Jeff Carter
Henry Hall	Dr. George Randall
Minerva Urecal	Agatha Brewster
Emil Van Horn	The Ape
J. Farrell MacDonald	Police Capt. O'Brien
Wheeler Oakman	Det. Brady
Ralph Littlefield	The Strange Little Man*
Jack Mulhall	Reporter
Charles Jordan	Det. O'Toole
Charlie Hall	Barney (the Photographer
George Kirby	Detective #1
Ray Miller	Reporter
Ernest Morrison	Copyboy
William Ruhlas Martin	Editor

• NB - Ralph Littlefield's character is often misleadingly called "Zippo". In fact the character has no name in the movie, but is rather a comically-dressed, odd-acting little man who appears at various times during the story, his purpose unclear. At the very end of the film, he claims to be its scenarist. This is intended as a humorous surprise revelation. Why the name "Zippo" was invented and used in the film's publicity, much less later copied without comment in literary and internet filmographies, is unknown; however, it is amusing to find him credited with this role name in the AFI Catalogue entry on "The Ape Man", and then in the notes to read extensively about an "unnamed character" played by an "unidentified player."

See also

• Bela Lugosi filmography

References

• Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985)
• Halliwell, Leslie. Halliwell's Film & Video Guide 2002 (HarperCollinsEntertainment, 2002), edited by John Walker

External links

• The Ape Man at the Internet Movie Database
• The Ape Man is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The Ape Man at AllRovi