‘Oh, Mighty Gorga, I know your thirst for the blood of young maidens is great.’
The owner of a failing circus gambles his future on an expedition to the Congo to find a legendary giant gorilla. On arrival, he finds his contact has disappeared on safari, so he strikes out into the jungle with the man’s daughter to try and find him and fulfil his mission…
No budget ‘King Kong’ antics from writer, producer-director David L Hewitt. He reassembles most of his cast from biker film ‘Hell’s Chosen Few’ (1968) and sends them deep into the Californian jungle where they come face to face with SFX that could be only be described as ‘special’ in a somewhat different universe.
Mark Remington (Anthony Eisley) is well on the rocky road to bankruptcy. His travelling circus is losing money, and there’s little prospect of a reversal in fortunes now his top act has defected to the big leagues, represented by the slimy Arnold Shye (Gary Kent). Of course, a buyout is in the offing, and, of course, Eisley turns it down, preferring one last throw of the dice to save his business and the futures of performers like Mort the Clown (Bruce Kimball).
Leaving his brother Dan (future film director Greydon Clark) in charge, Eisley heads off to Africa to rendezvous with Tonga Jack Adams (Kent Taylor). The trapper has supplied animals to Eisley’s circus in the past, and he’s planning a trip into uncharted territory to look for a legendary giant gorilla and a fabulous lost treasure. When Eisley arrives, he’s too late; Taylor has already disappeared, leaving his daughter, April (Megan Timothy), to run things. She’s being squeezed financially by her father’s old partner and all-around rotten egg, Dan Morgan (Scott Brady), but a quick intervention from Eisley keeps the wolf from the door.
Eisley and Timothy decide to team up and follow in her father’s footsteps, along with headboy George (Lee Parrish) and a couple of bearers. None of the other natives is prepared to go because that part of the jungle is taboo, of course, which is convenient for the film’s budget as it means they don’t have to appear on screen at all. During the trip, iceberg Timothy begins to thaw in the face of the ruggedly handsome Eisley. In another staggering development, the two bearers who have been brave enough to come along quickly do a runner once the expedition comes across some plastic skulls (name one low-budget movie where the bearers don’t all desert in the end).
So, with the nasty Brady and his sidekick, Brandon (William Bonner), hot on their heels, our golden couple strike out on their own, leaving Parrish at base camp. It’s not long before a hazardous climb brings them onto a remote plateau where time seems to has stopped, leaving behind a world of prehistoric flora and fauna (but mostly flora). They soon run into the Mighty Gorga (David L Hewitt) but, after Timothy removes a splinter from his furry finger (off-screen), everyone is best buddies forever. The friendship comes in handy when local witch doctor (Bruce Kimball on double duty) starts to make trouble, and Brady and Bonner turn up for a showdown at the climax.
In a way, the film is weirdly reminiscent of Fred F Sears’ well-remembered ‘The Giant Claw’ (1957). Both films are stunningly mediocre in most ways but tumble headfirst into bad movie legend due to their respective SFX. Sears was stuck with a mutant alien turkey puppet, and Hewitt has a tatty party costume and a toy T Rex. Legend has it that the production only had access to the top half of the gorilla suit, and I can confirm that we never see the ape below the waist.
Further chortles come from a cave monster, appearing courtesy of Vittorio Cottafavi’s ‘La vendetta di Ercole/Goliath and the Dragon’ (1960). Also worth pointing out is that Kimball makes a far more convincing circus clown than he does an African Witchdoctor. It’s not just the unspeakable dialogue he has in the latter role; it’s a question of appropriate casting. Such a part is always going to be an uphill struggle for a blue-eyed white man.
Hewitt wasn’t the worst filmmaker despite being responsible for the SFX here and delivering some truly atrocious films in his short directorial career. His problem was money. Or a complete lack of it. When he had at least some level of resources available, he could deliver a film like the interesting, if narratively confused, ‘Journey to the Centre of Time’ (1967) and his biker films are at least competently made. Unfortunately, he often favoured fantastical subjects and, with no more than tiny budgets available, the results were often completely ridiculous or incredibly dull, or often, a mixture of both.
Taylor was a veteran whose film career began in the 1930s and, at its height, included supporting roles in Mitchell Leisen’s ‘Death Takes A Holiday’ (1934) and John Farrow’s ‘Five Came Back (1939). Leading roles in b-pictures such as ‘Sued For Libel’ (1939) and ‘Half Past Midnight’ (1948) took him into the 1950s when he successfully switched to television. He starred in successful Western ‘The Rough Riders’ and did three years as ‘Boston Blackie’. His film roles of the time were somewhat less impressive, though: dire monster flicks such as ‘The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues’ (1955), ‘The Day Mars Invaded Earth’ (1962) and ‘The Crawling Hand’ (1963).
Brady’s track record was less impressive, but persistent appearances in guest slots on popular network TV shows led to a late-career renaissance with supporting roles in a few notable films such as ‘The China Syndrome’ (1978) and ‘Gremlins’ (1984). Perhaps the most interesting member of the cast is Gary Graver, who also served as director of photography and editor. A year or so after this film, he turned up as a stranger on Orson Welles’ doorstep, offering his services. The two struck up a close personal and professional friendship, and Graver became Welles’ cinematographer on all his film projects until the end of the great man’s life.
A dull and plodding jungle adventure, hamstrung by an almost total lack of budget, destined always to be remembered for some of the worst SFX ever to waltz across a drive-in movie screen.
Mark David Welsh 