The Monster and the Girl (1941)

The Monster and the Girl: Directed by Stuart Heisler. With Ellen Drew, Robert Paige, Paul Lukas, Joseph Calleia. After a young woman is coerced into prostitution and her brother framed for murder by an organized crime syndicate, retribution in the form of an ape visits the mobsters.

“This oneu0026#39;s weird in the best way. Starts off like some kind of urban drama about a small town girl (Ellen Drew) who comes to the big city and, as often happens in films, finds herself forced into prostitution. Her brother (Phillip Terry) comes to the city to rescue her and winds up framed for murder. This was all interesting enough but the movie really kicks into high gear when it becomes a horror movie as u0026quot;madu0026quot; scientist George Zucco transplants Drewu0026#39;s brotheru0026#39;s brain into the body of an ape. The ape brother then seeks revenge against the men who turned his sister into a hooker and framed him for murder.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eReally good cast for this little B gem. George Zucco is always worth the price of admission but you also have Paul Lukas, Joseph Calleia, Robert Paige, Onslow Stevens, Marc Lawrence, and Gerald Mohr! Also Edward Van Sloan in an uncredited part as the warden. This is a pretty amazing lineup for a little-known B horror flick. The bad guys are so completely rotten you canu0026#39;t wait to see them get theirs from the killer ape. Speaking of killer apes, thatu0026#39;s often a particularly anemic subgenre of horror. This oneu0026#39;s exceptional of its kind. The ape suit is really good. Just compare it to u0026quot;The Apeu0026quot; or u0026quot;The Ape Man,u0026quot; made from around the same time, and youu0026#39;ll see what I mean.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSeedy subject matter mixed with fun horror staples — the mad scientist and the guy in an ape suit. Very cool stuff. If youu0026#39;re a fan of old school B horror and gangster pictures you should like this one a lot.”