The Gorilla (1927)

Wissenswertes

The Gorilla is a 1927 American silent mystery film directed by Alfred Santell based on the play The Gorilla by Ralph Spence. It stars Charles Murray, Fred Kelsey, and Walter Pidgeon.

Production

The Gorilla based on the play of the play The Gorilla, a Mystery Comedy in Three Acts by Ralph Spence. Spencer was previously done work in Broadway for The Ziegfeld Follies and made a bet with other playwrights over dinner that he could write a play in just three days. Producer Al H. Woods overheard this and took him on his bet, leading to Spence writing the play The Gorilla which debuted on Broadway on April 28, 1925.

The Gorilla was a humorous variation on Broadway plays like The Bat and The Cat and the Canary. It stayed on Broadway for 257 performances while other productions were also productions performed in London, Boston and Chicago. On January 3, 1927, Film Daily announced an adaptation of the play as a film titled The Gorilla as a forthcoming feature from the independent production company Asher-Small-Rogers.

Initially, Paul Schofield had been hired to write an adaption but he did not remain with the project.

The play was adapted by James T. O'Donohoe with a scenario written by Al Cohn and Henry McCarty. The film eliminates the play-within-a-play gimmick and turns the black servant Jefferson into a disdainful British butler portrayed by Syd Crossley.

Alfred Santell was announced as the film's director on February 25, 1927 with production scheduled to star in March 1927. Production on the film would then later announced to on May 27, 1927 by Motion Picture News that June 1927 was the star of filming and announced the co-leads being Charles Murray and George Sidney. Alice Day received her role that had originally been announced for Dorothy Revier.

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