Film

The Gorilla

Name: The Gorilla
Genre: Comedy, Mystery, Crime
Released: 1939
Cast: Jimmy Ritz, Harry Ritz, Al Ritz, Anita Louise, Patsy Kelly

Other titles called The Gorilla: the 1927 film, the 1930 film.

Crime

The Ritz Brothers stumble through a murder mystery where an escaped gorilla becomes a convenient suspect—but nothing is quite what it seems. This 1939 screwball comedy leans hard into physical pratfalls and rapid-fire wisecracks, with the trio playing hapless detectives hired as bodyguards. It's frivolous, cheerful stuff, built on the energy of vaudeville rather than plot.

TMDb rating

2.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy old-fashioned spoofs of whodunits where slapstick, rapid-fire wisecracks and a goofy tangle of suspects matter more than logic.

Skip it if you want a tight, plot-driven mystery, since the plot here is loose and the jokes do most of the work, and the gorilla comedy can feel dated.

What it asks of you: Sixty-eight minutes of frantic pacing, like a stage farce, so let the mugging and mix-ups wash over you rather than track every clue.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Flying Deuces1939

Stan and Ollie as bumbling soldiers-of-fortune, complete with identical slapstick timing and a genuine sweetness underneath. Made the same year, same spirit of lovable incompetence saving the day through sheer accident.

But The pacing feels glacial compared to modern comedy, and the sentiment can tip into maudlin. You have to like watching people get hit very slowly.

A Day at the Races1937

The Marx Brothers at peak anarchic energy, tearing through a plot that barely exists to contain them. Groucho's con-artist schemes, Chico's puns, and Harpo's pure physical genius—the template The Ritz Brothers were working from.

But The plot stops dead whenever someone wants to sing or play the harp. The romantic subplot exists only to give the leads something to do.

The Thin Man1934

William Powell and Myrna Loy solve a murder while drinking and flirting brilliantly. The mystery has real ingenuity, but the pleasure is purely in their company—dialogue so sharp it cuts itself.

But The plot requires you to pay attention, and the opening setup is genuinely confusing. It's less gorilla-chase and more locked-room puzzle.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Gorilla

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Freaks1932

Both use the carnival/circus as setting, but Browning inverts The Gorilla's lighthearted monster-as-scapegoat: his 'freaks' expose the real monstrosity in human cruelty and beautiful corruption.

Tod Browning's carnival sideshow as moral universe: the 'freaks' are decent, the beautiful people are monstrous. A grotesque mystery-revenge tale that takes its outcasts seriously in ways mainstream entertainment rarely does. Shockingly moving.

But The real circus performers are shown without softness or romance—you're watching actual people displayed as spectacle, which creates an uncomfortable complicity. Some scenes are genuinely disturbing.

Midnight1939

Wilder's screwball masterpiece about con artists and mistaken identity, with Claudette Colbert and Don Ameche in perfect sync. Every scene crackles with wit and timing; it's what well-oiled farce looks like.

But The cynicism runs deep—no one here is good-hearted, just clever. If you want warmth, look elsewhere.

The Cat and the Canary1927

An earlier stab at the 'spooky house, bumbling detectives' formula with real style and genuine suspense underneath the comedy. Bob Hope hasn't yet calcified into his persona; he's genuinely nervous here.

But Silent film conventions feel alien now. You're reading as much as watching, and the pacing skips around like a scratched record.

Hellzapoppin'1941

Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson's vaudeville chaos brought to film—surreal, anarchic, with tangents so wild they forgot to include a real plot. Pure id in 84 minutes.

But It's utterly plotless and sometimes incomprehensible. If you need narrative momentum, this will drive you to distraction.

Room Service1938

The Marx Brothers (again, but they're too good not to repeat) adapting a stage farce about theater people and hotel staff. More structured than their usual chaos, but that just means you can follow the pandemonium.

But The adaptation flattens some of their weirdness into conventional joke-telling. It's their most mainstream work, which means it's also their least surprising.

The Gorilla1930

An earlier film with the exact same title and premise, proving this joke could be remade. Some prefer the original's slightly darker tone and more assured direction.

But It's obscure for a reason—the mystery is muddled and the pacing drags. You'll watch mostly out of curiosity rather than genuine entertainment.

M1931

Both are mysteries hinging on the innocent being blamed for a monster's crimes, but where The Gorilla is vaudeville, M is tragedy—same structure, opposite register.

Fritz Lang's German masterpiece about a city hunted for a child-killer—the same year as the other Gorilla. A genuine thriller that uses mob hysteria and false accusation with devastating intelligence. Modern in its moral complexity.

But It's bleak, methodical, and entirely humorless. The ending is deliberately ambiguous and unsatisfying. If you want lightness, go nowhere near this.

Hocus Pocus1993

German cinema's answer to the same 'fake-spooky murder/incompetent detectives' formula—a parallel tradition that proves this was an international template, just with sharper dialogue and more visual sophistication.

A German comedy mystery (Ernst Lubitsch) about three bumbling detectives investigating a seemingly magical haunting. Fast, witty, built entirely on misunderstanding and coincidence. Pure entertainment with real craft underneath.

But It's barely available in decent prints, and the print that exists is often badly restored. You'll be squinting. Also in German, though intertitles are manageable.