The Ape

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ape
A promotional film poster for "The Ape."
Directed by	William Nigh
Produced by	William Nigh
Written by	Adam Shirk Curt Siodmak Richard Carroll
Starring	Boris Karloff Maris Wrixon Gene O'Donnell
Music by	Edward J. Kay
Cinematography	Harry Neumann
Editing by	Russell F. Schoengarth
Distributed by	Monogram Pictures Corporation
Release date(s)	30 September 1940
Running time	62 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Ape is a 1940 horror film made for Monogram Pictures, co-written by Curt Siodmak and starring Boris Karloff.

1 Plot outline
2 Cast
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot outline

Dr. Bernard Adrian is a kindly mad scientist who seeks to cure a young woman's polio. He needs spinal fluid from a human to complete the formula for his experimental serum. Meanwhile, a vicious circus ape has broken out of its cage, and is terrorizing the townspeople.

The Ape eventually breaks into Dr. Adrian's lab. The Doctor manages to kill it before any harm can come to himself. However, the spinal fluids he requires to perform his experiments have all been destroyed during the struggle between him and the Ape.

Doctor Adrian then concocts an idea: he will tear off the ape's flesh and use its skin to disguise himself as the escaped circus animal and murder townspeople in order to extract their spinal fluid. Thus the murders will be blamed on the Ape and he, himself, will manage to avoid any suspicion.

However, one of his attacks towards the film's end is unsuccessful; he is fatally knifed and the Ape's "true identity" is revealed.