A scientist seeks to transplant a brain into the body of a thawed caveman in order to get it to do his bidding.A scientist seeks to transplant a brain into the body of a thawed caveman in order to get it to do his bidding.A scientist seeks to transplant a brain into the body of a thawed caveman in order to get it to do his bidding.
Teala Loring
- Anne Gilmore
- (as Judith Gibson)
Tod Andrews
- Steve Rogers
- (as Michael Ames)
Eddy Chandler
- Sergeant
- (as Ed Chandler)
Horace B. Carpenter
- Theater Watchman
- (uncredited)
Mike Donovan
- Policeman Barney
- (uncredited)
George Eldredge
- Policeman
- (uncredited)
Frank Leigh
- Long Shot
- (archive footage)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGeorge Zucco was hired for the part of the Ape Man and showed up for initial costume fittings and preliminary make-up applications, but he fell ill prior to shooting and was replaced by Frank Moran. However, his contract required that he receive third billing, so even though he appears in the film for only a few seconds*, he is still billed third. He does appear in some lobby cards, however, and there are publicity photos taken of him in full costume and make-up. (*Keen eyed viewers will spot him in the initial scenes of the dormant ape-man lying on Dexter's lab table. Frank Moran takes over just as creature stirs and wakes up). He did recover to join Bela Lugosi and John Carradine in the follow-up, "Voodoo Man."
- GoofsThe prehistoric cave man who is thawed back to life is wearing modern cotton underwear beneath his animal hide loincloth.
- Quotes
Prof. Dexter: Some people's brains would never be missed!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Fantasmic Features: Return of the Ape Man (1967)
Featured review
The apes of wrath.
Standard low, low budget Monogram programmer stars the legends Bela Lugosi and John Carradine as a pair of scientists. Professor Dexter (Lugosi) is determined that they find a perfectly preserved prehistoric man so they can continue with their cold storage experiments. Naturally, they do find an ape man (prizefighter Frank Moran), who comes back to life and wreaks predictable havoc. Dexter thinks that the solution to controlling the ape man will be donating a portion of a rational mans' brain to the confused cave dude.
Although this is routine stuff, clocking in at barely over an hour, Bela and Carradine are once again great value. Carradine, who played his own fair share of mad scientists over the course of his career, here gets to play the moral centre / voice of reason - and also gets to play that oh so familiar composition "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano. Bela, meanwhile, clearly has fun as the irrational, totally self serving cretin who doesn't care what he has to do to realize his ambitions. The supporting cast is sufficient: gorgeous Teala Loring as Carradines' niece, Michael Ames (a.k.a. Tod Andrews) as her fiancée, Mary Currier as Carradines' wife, Eddy Chandler as a police sergeant, and Ernie Adams as a hobo. George Zucco was originally cast as the title character, and had done the required hair and makeup tests, but fell ill, and had to leave the picture. As a result, he's barely in it, spending a few seconds on the slab until the ape man wakes up and is then played by Moran. Still, Zucco clearly had a good agent; his contract allowed him to get third billing no matter what.
Overall, this is a mildly enjoyable lark, with nothing special or memorable about it, but it's got a decent forward pace and enough chuckles to make it palatable. The director is Phil Rosen, an extremely prolific B filmmaker whose credits include some of the Charlie Chan features.
Five out of 10.
Although this is routine stuff, clocking in at barely over an hour, Bela and Carradine are once again great value. Carradine, who played his own fair share of mad scientists over the course of his career, here gets to play the moral centre / voice of reason - and also gets to play that oh so familiar composition "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano. Bela, meanwhile, clearly has fun as the irrational, totally self serving cretin who doesn't care what he has to do to realize his ambitions. The supporting cast is sufficient: gorgeous Teala Loring as Carradines' niece, Michael Ames (a.k.a. Tod Andrews) as her fiancée, Mary Currier as Carradines' wife, Eddy Chandler as a police sergeant, and Ernie Adams as a hobo. George Zucco was originally cast as the title character, and had done the required hair and makeup tests, but fell ill, and had to leave the picture. As a result, he's barely in it, spending a few seconds on the slab until the ape man wakes up and is then played by Moran. Still, Zucco clearly had a good agent; his contract allowed him to get third billing no matter what.
Overall, this is a mildly enjoyable lark, with nothing special or memorable about it, but it's got a decent forward pace and enough chuckles to make it palatable. The director is Phil Rosen, an extremely prolific B filmmaker whose credits include some of the Charlie Chan features.
Five out of 10.
helpful•51
- Hey_Sweden
- Nov 25, 2017
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Возвращение человека-обезьяны
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Return of the Ape Man (1944) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer