The social effects of BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA

[The Burgomaster]

At my office, we occasionally have Cinema Lunches where someone brings in a DVD and we watch it in the conference room while we eat lunch.  A few weeks ago, I brought in BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA.  Since that day, a small cult following of Sammy Petrillo and Duke Mitchell fans has developed among my co-workers.  One guy was so impressed by how cheesy the movie was that he actually researched it online and started e-mailing us information about the budget, filming schedule, actors, etc.  THE POWER OF BAD MOVIES IS UNDENIABLE!

[trekgeezer]

I have this movie on a $1 DVD, but have never worked up the nerve to watch it yet.

[The Burgomaster]

Trek Geezer - - You MUST watch this movie!  It is hilarious (in a bad way) from beginning to end.  Duke Mitchell sings the song "Deed I Do" (which was recorded numerous times by a lot of famous singers including Bing Crosby) several times during the movie (including a couple of times in a gorilla suit).  Sammy Petrillo does a very annoying imitation of Jerry Lewis (and ended up getting sued by the real Jerry).  Bela Lugosi is at his campy best as a mad scientist.  They scraped the bottom of the budget barrel on this one, making it MUST SEE entertainment.

[Gerry]

How about this:

The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater is holding a one night double feature tribute to B movie producer Jack Broder, on March 9 at 7:30 pm.

There is much to say about Jack and his entertainment career. He was a Russian-Polish immigrant who opened a candy concession stand in Detroit's Colonial Theater in 1930, within a few years establishing his own theater chain in the city. In 1947 Jack helped create Realart Pictures, the distribution company that theatrically reissued many of the titles in the Universal Pictures library. In the 1950s and 60s he financed and produced approximately 15 low budget features, ranging in genre from horror and westerns to science fiction and crime drama, all distributed by Realart.

On March 9, the Egyptian will be showing two of these films, both made in 1952. The first is a gritty little drama, KID MONK BARONI, featuring Leonard Nimoy in his first starring role as a New York street gangster who turns to professional boxing. The film also stars Bruce Cabot, Allene Roberts, Mona Knox and Jack Larson, who went on to fame as Jimmy Olsen in "The Adventures of Superman." The second film is the notorious horror comedy BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA, starring, of course, Bela Lugosi, and the Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis lookalike team of Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, not to mention several gorillas and a chimpanzee.

In between the two films there will be a discussion with Leonard Nimoy, Jack Larson and Mona Knox from KID MONK BARONI and Judd Bernard, the unit publicist on BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA. The program should end around 11 pm.

For more information about the program, please visit <http://www.americancinematheque.com>

[peter johnson]

on my birthday . . .
they never do stuff this cool in Boulder . .
damn . . .
peter johnson/denny crane

[trekgeezer]

Damn, why do I live in the backwoods where nothing cool happens?

[Flangepart]

peter johnson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> on my birthday . . .
> they never do stuff this cool in Boulder . .
> damn . . .
> peter johnson/denny crane

Because there is a lot more room to bury the bodys?

[Just Plain Horse]

I haven't yet seen it, but I can't shake the image that it's like an episode of the Three Stooges, plus a guy in a bad ape suit and Bela "weird eyes" Lugosi.

I've done similar stunts with small groups of people from time to time- mostly with anime or giant monster movies; they always scoff until they experience it. Then things get interesting...

[The Conqueroo]

Leonard Nimoy Was Also In Another Cheesy SciFi Movie From The Fifties Called "Satan's Satellites".There's Just Something About Corny SciFi From The Fifties Like "Commando Cody";"Satan's Satellites";and iof course Gordon MacClendon's attempts with "The Killer Shrews"and "The Giant Gila Monster"and most certainly anything of Ed Wood!!Ed Wood-The John Ford of Really Bad SciFi!!Of course,occasionally there's something on Tv that's so bizarre,it's hilarious!!Last Monday Night,I Was Channel Surfing When I Stiopped on a Spanish Language Station Here in the DFW Area.Seems They Were Showing A Mexican Pentecostal Annoninting Service!!There's People Dancing In The Aisles After This One Preacher Put Oil On Their Heads While This Other Preacher Kept Saying Something That Sounded Like "YABBADABBADABBADABBADABBADABBADABBADOO!!"or"ALIBABABABABABABABABABABA!!"or"BABABOOEYBOOEYBOOEYBOEEYBOOEY!!"or "AHAMINAHAMINAHAMINAHAMINAHAMINAHAMINA!!"or something like that!!

[plan9superfan]

Which do you think was worse:

"Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla" or "Abbot and Costello meet the Killer, Boris Karloff"?

[The Burgomaster]

plan9superfan:

BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA is much, much worse

[Gerry]

Hmm...let's see... Sammy Petrillo and Duke Mitchell on the one hand....and Bud Abbott and Lou Costello on the other.  How can you possibly even ask that question?  It's like comparing Uwe Boll to Orson Welles!

[The Conqueroo]

Probably "Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla".I Mean Abbott&Costello Had A Little Charm About Them.Poor Old Bela Lugosi Was Reduced To Playing Schlock Like "Brooklyn Gorilla".

[plan9superfan]

Ahh, but you fail to consider that Boris Karloff was equally humiliated in "Abbot and Costello meet the Killer"

[Derf]

Yes, but Abbott and Costello are funny. I own the horror that is Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, and I can say that no matter how humiliated Boris Karloff may have felt, it cannot begin to compare to the agony Lugosi must have gone through daily on the set of Brooklyn Gorilla. Abbott and Costello are always watchable, even on their worst day. Mitchell and Petrillo were talentless ripoffs of their betters (Martin & Lewis) and deserve the lack of fame they received. I had a very difficult time sitting through this movie, and I love some of the real stinkers: Giant Claw, Deadly Mantis, Giant Gila Monster, Killer Shrews, etc. I couldn't take this one simply because I believe bad actors that are trying to be funny aren't funny. Bad actors trying to act well is funny.