Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

Released Sep 4, 1952

1h 14m

Comedy

List

29%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

16%

Audience Score

100+ Ratings

Brooklyn buddies (Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo) are stranded on an island with a mad doctor (Bela Lugosi) who turns one of them into a gorilla.

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Seraphina Alaimo

New York Daily News

Come to think of it, Ramona the chimp was the only authentic actor among the crew.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 25, 2021

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Film4 Staff

Film4

Poor Bela.

Mar 30, 2019

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TV Guide Staff

TV Guide

Lugosi is at his scary best, but the movie is awful, with Mitchell and Petrillo doing awful imitations of Martin and Lewis.

Rated: 1/5

Nov 28, 2018

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Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Truly bad film with Lugosi hamming it up, yet marginally entertaining.

Rated: 1/5

Dec 19, 2005

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Phil Hall

Film Threat

Although it carries a horrid reputation, it is actually one of the greatest comedy films ever made.

Rated: 5/5

Oct 22, 2004

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Daniel Palmer

TheShiznit.co.uk

Beaudine's films were delivered to a small and easily pleased audience with the haphazard rapidity of someone with nothing better to do. One can't help but admire his persistence.

May 24, 2003

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Matthew D

Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo are genuinely good Martin and Lewis impersonators, but aren't given many funny things to do.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

10/20/21

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Audience Member

The only good thing about this movie is the actress Charlita. Your eyes follow her throughout the movie. Couldn't take my eyes off her!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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Audience Member

Poor old Bela Lugosi slumming it again to keep his demons at bay. This time with a half assed Martin and Lewis rip off. Still, I guess one could find a couple nostalgic chuckles in it...

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

The movie sucks but Sammy Petrillo's dead on Jerry Lewis persona must be seen.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

http://letterboxd.com/zbender/film/bela-lugosi-meets-a-brooklyn-gorilla/ The jungle, Bela Lugosi, and a gorilla. So basically everything in the title tells all? Wrong. Instead meet Sammy and Duke. They're parachutes have gotten them on an island home to an Indian tribe that doesn't speak a lick of their own language, and a bewildered Bela Lugosi who at this point has been passed around the industry a fair share of times. Duke and Sammy is essentially a knock off of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis except Sammy is the bastard child of Jerry Lewis and Jim Carrey and is made a fuck ton more annoying. They were gonna be the next great duo, and there wasn't a lack of trying. Sammy's trying to bust jokes that completely missed me, and Duke has some pipes. But goddamit what about Lugosi? I felt terrible for the guy. I wonder what Lugosi was thinking when the director told him to do his Dracula impression. How horrid. At least for a moment Lugosi was reminded of what was and what would never be again. The best acting came from Ramona the monkey, they gave Sammy too many lines, and this movie could've used more Bela Lugosi meeting a fucking Brooklyn Gorilla. 72% of this film is Sammy making loud high pitched whines. Duke has a dull romantic side story bout with a woman on the island. And in the end it all won't matter when we have a "dream cop out" ending. Maybe I should be glad Bela Lugosi decided on comedy toward the end of his life. Unfortunately, for Duke and Sammy this would be their only bout together, and the Martin and Lewis get up would end along when the real Martin/Lewis team ended.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA is the story of entertainers (a loose term) Duke Mitchell (a singer mimicking Dean Martin) and Sammy Petrillo (a comedian - another loose term - mimicking Jerry Lewis. They crash land on a desert island and are rescued by the local tribe of natives. The beautiful daughter of the chief falls for Duke, while her fat sister falls for Sammy. The beautiful one works by day for a mad evolutionary scientist (Bela Lugosi, of course) on another part of the island. The cast make the most out of a pathetically poor script that features lots of jokes, only they aren't funny. Interestingly, Bela has serious designs on his beautiful young island girl/assistant. Things liven up a bit with the introduction of Ramona the Chimp, who like the fat island girl, seems to fall in love with Sammy, or at least she's just using his lesser IQ to get what she wants. Perhaps she gets it when they sleep together in her lab cage, but the scene fades out. Meanwhile, Bela plans to use a serum to change a man into a gorilla, with Duke as his intended test subject. Eventually this all ends with Bela getting revenge against the entertainers for meddling with his evil plans, or does it? The twist ending leaves a lot to be desired. As usual, Bela Lugosi is the best thing in the film, and handles his role professionally throughout. The real Martin and Lewis eventually sued Mitchell and Petrillo, ending their mimickry.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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William Beaudine

Director

Bela Lugosi

Dr. Zabor

Duke Mitchell

Duke Mitchell

Sammy Petrillo

Sammy Petrillo

Charlita

Nona

Muriel Landers

Saloma

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Synopsis

Brooklyn buddies (Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo) are stranded on an island with a mad doctor (Bela Lugosi) who turns one of them into a gorilla.

Director: William Beaudine
Screenwriter: Tim Ryan
Production Co: Jack Broder Productions Inc.
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 4, 1952, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 7, 2016
Runtime: 1h 14m

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