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Auction History Result 6h368 GORILLA 8x10.25 still '30 great fake ape attacks Walter Pidgeon romancing Lila Lee, rare! Date Sold 4/30/2017 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Theatrical 8" x 10 1/4" [20 x 26 cm] Movie Still (Learn More) The Gorilla, the 1930 Bryan Foy ape horror murder crime comedy (from the play by Ralph Spence) starring Joe Frisco, Harry Gribbon, Lila Lee, Walter Pidgeon, Purnell Pratt, Edwin Maxwell, and Charles Gemora (uncredited in the title role as The Gorilla). Note that this was sort of a remake of a 1927 movie that was based on the same play, but in this version, they added a huge slapstick element, where not only is there a gorilla wandering through a "haunted house", but one of the characters puts on a gorilla suit in order to lure the gorilla out of hiding, and most of the cast members end up confused as to which is the "real" gorilla, and which is the man pretending to be a gorilla, which certainly stretches reality beyond a reasonable measure. Also note that Walter Pidgeon was the only cast carryover from the earlier movie, but his character was significantly changed in this one! Also note that Walter Pidgeon was born in 1897, and started making silent movies in the mid 1920s, but he had limited success. He had a wonderful speaking voice, but that did not lead to stardom in early sound movies. Finally, in 1937, at the age of 40, MGM put him under contract, but still limited him to supporting roles. His "big break" finally came in 1941 with "How Green Was My Valley", and he became one of MGM's top stars of the early 1940s (no doubt helped by so many other male stars being away at war). He stayed with MGM for the remainder of his career. Also, note that this is a "lost" film which means that no surviving copies are thought to exist. Note that starting in 1929 and continuing into the 1940s, Charles Gemora played gorillas in many movies, likely because he owned a gorilla suit, and could do a somewhat convincing job portraying a gorilla. Just a few years later, Ray 'Crash' Corrigan would also start playing gorillas, and no doubt they competed for roles in every movie requiring a gorilla! NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. Important Added Info: Note that in all our years of auctioning, we have never sold even one movie paper item from this early horror comedy, and now we have been consigned two excellent stills from it, which we are auctioning in two separate auctions. We know that this still is from the 1930 version of this movie and not the 1927 version (see above), because the leading ladies are different in the two movies. Also note that this still measures 8" x 10 1/4" [20 x 26 cm]. Condition: fair to good. There are dot stains scattered throughout the bottom half of the still, but fortunately, they are not in the stars' faces, although they are in their clothes and in the bottom of the ape's body. They are not massively distracting, but they are a significant defect, so bear this in mind before bidding on this really cool still. Learn More about condition grades 
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