MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #2332 SPRING 2007 33
An abridged chapter from the upcoming book Symphony of Horror: How the Hor-ror Film Came to Be.
On October 7, 1926, Gorilla Hunt, adocumentary about the Ben BurbridgeexpeditiontocapturesixgorillasinAfrica,went into general release. Theatergoerswatchedastheexpeditionshotexoticwild-lifeandencounteredmenacingcrocodilesandpygmytribesmen.Thoughnewspaperadsdepictedaferociousgorillastaringbackat the reader, audiences had to settle for the questionablethrillofwitnessingthecaptureofsixbabygorillas.Elsewhere,thehuntfortheGorillaMankillerfollowedagruesometrail of homicide into Portland, Oregon,wherethemaniacaddedthreemorewomentohiscastofvictims.BeforeNewYear’sDay,he claimed seven more in five states, includ-
ing28-year-oldMrs.GermaniaHarpinandher8-month-oldbaby.Morewouldfollow. Gorilla Huntwasstillwendingitswaythroughthecircuitsinearly1927,butwassooneclipsedbyFox’sThe Monkey Talks,adeliriouslyoffbeat circus film starring OliveBorden.BasedontheRené Fauchois stageplayimportedfromParistoen-tertainNewYorkbetweenlate December 1925 andMarch 1926, the film drew alukewarmreceptionfromaudiencesandcritics.Thestrangecircusdramanevergainedtraction,playingtobigaudiencesinsomeloca-tions,butpullingonlyfairbusinesselsewhere.
Borden plays wirewalker Olivette,who becomes the object of affection ofJocko (Jacques Lerner), a tiny performerwho, with an elaborate costume (and aphenomenalchimpmakeupbyJackPierce),convincestheworldhe isa talkingchim-panzee. Olivette, in love with Sam (Don Alvarado),alsobecomesthetargetofliontamerBergerin(MalcolmWaite),whoab-ductsJockoandreplaceshimwithareal,butmalevolent, chimp. The real chimp attacks Olivette, but Jocko arrives in time to engage theapeinmortalcombat.Fatallyinjured,Jocko saves Olivette for Sam. Interestingly, in some contemporary reviews, Sam is namedPierreandJockoisrenamedFano,similartothenameFahousedintheplay. Olive Borden was a timeless beautywhoselookswouldhavebeenasesteemedinthe2000sastheywereinthe1920s.Bor-den left Fox after a contract dispute and madeeighteenmorepicturesofdiminish-ingstatureuntilappearinginChloe, Love is Calling YouwithMickeyNeilanatthehelm.By this time, Neilan was clinging to thebottom rungs of the Hollywood production ladder. In 1947, at the age of 40, charwoman OliveBordendiedofanunknownstomachmaladyinahomefordestitutewomen.The Monkey Talks is extant—one print, suffering somenitratedamage,survivesintheGeorgeEastmanHousearchive. But1927wastheYearofTheGorilla,not only in general, but specifically in refer-ence to the film version of the Ralph Spence mystery-comedy play. That The Gorillawould be a hit was no surprise; Spence’s play had conquered every major city inAmerica,aswellasLondon’sWestEnd. After working for various newspapers inHouston,Galveston,DallasandElPaso
as either a reporter or ad solicitor, RalphSpence entered the publishing game by starting up the first English-language paper inHouma,Louisiana.Unfortunately,almosteverybodyspokeFrenchinthevillageandthe newspaper quickly foundered. Stung by his collapsed venture, Spence moved to Los Angeles, where Mack Sennett hired him to write intertitles for the movies. Soon enough, Spence was writing original scenar-iosandeventuallybeganpenningmoviesforTomMixandworkingforFoxinNewYorkandscriptingsomeofHaroldLloyd’slatest screen comedies. By 1921 Spence was writingfortheZiegfeldFollies.Beforelongagentlemen’swagerwouldpropelhimtosuccessonBroadway.
The Wager The genesis of The Gorilla as the re-sult of awager is something of a legend;whether or not it happened in the waydescribed(thewagerisevenmentionedincontemporarynewspaperaccounts),itisagood story. Spence was having dinner in a NewYorkrestaurantwithtwoplaywrights,authorsofamysteryplaythenrunningontheGreatWhiteWay.Thetwodramatistswere discussing the difficulties of writing a good mystery, when Spence declared there was nothing to it. After putting up with thehigh-hatplaywrightswhowereopenly
contemptuous of his claims, Spence bet thegentlementhathecouldwriteagoodmysteryplayinthreedays.TheBroadwaydramatistsjumpedattheopportunitylikebumsonahamsandwich. Overhearing the spirited debatewas producerAl H. Woods. Woods wasso taken by the sporting enthusiasm ofSpence’s wager that he offered to produce
theplayonceitwascompleted.The offer satisfied one of the conditionsofthebet;theplaywouldbejudgedgoodifitwereproduced. Spence began work onhismysterythatnight;thenext day he showed the first act to Woods, who promptlygave Spence an advance. Com-pleting one act a day, Spence finished his play within the al-lotted three-day period. When Woods could not obtain theactorshedesiredforThe Gorilla,hisinterestwanedandhesentthe play back to Spence six monthslater.Anotheraccountclaims producer Sam H. Harris had first crack at the play but hisreaderrejectedit. Spence’s work seemed to be going nowhere fast. But afriend who knew that Broad-way actor Donald Gallaherwantedtogetintotheproduc-
ing game showed Gallaher a manuscriptoftheplay.Gallaherquicklyfellundertheplay’s spell and became enamored by itspossibilities. Gallaherhadbeenastageactorsincethe age of four, appearing in Sol Smith Rus-sell’s“PoorRelations.”Hisnaturalabilitiessecuredhimacontract,andhequicklyes-tablishedareputationasareliablejuvenileactor. After a two-year retirement from the stage at the ripe old age of fifteen, Gallaher relearned his craft and accepted a juvenile lead in the Broadway production of Our Mrs. McChesney. But Gallaher was bitten by the production bug after reading Is Zat So,aboxingcomedy.HeproducedtheplayinWorcester, Massachusetts, but was forced torelinquishmostofhisshareofinterestinan attempt to bring the play to Broadway. Theproductionwasnolongertrulyhis.Is Zat So was a hit and eventually was filmed a fewyears later starringEdmundLowe.MoreexperiencedandnowarmedwithThe Gorilla,GallaheragaintrainedhissightsonBroadway.Thestory,implausibleasitwas,wasfast-pacedandpackedwiththrills.
The Play Alice Denby, niece of Cyrus Stevens, isvisitingheruncle,whomshehasn’tseensince she was a little girl. With her is her boyfriend,Arthur Marsden, a playwrightlooking for his first break. Uncle Cyrus hasrecentlyreturnedtothefamilymanse,C
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The beautiful Olive Borden in an atmospheric publicity still from The Monkey Talks. In the film, Olivette is menaced by a real ape switched for the kidnapped, gentle Jocko.