"THE APE" is one of the least shabby of poverty row horrors Monogram made (talk about "faint praise" but I don't mean it that way). I actually like this film quite a lot; despite my general aversion to horror movies featuring an ape as the monster. Yawn. However, this one has a nifty little story and Boris Karloff so I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. "Dear Boris" plays Dr. Bernard Adrian, a kindly, grandfatherly doctor who is haunted by the disease-ridden death of his wife and daughter. He befriends wheelchair-bound polio victim Frances Clifford (Maris Wrixon, who is less insipid and more likeable than many actresses in similar parts I have seen). Boris has our sympathy right away; which is why the beginning of the film is so perplexing to me. A group of young brats (including child actor Buddy Swan, who played Charles Foster Kane as a boy in Orson Welles' Citizen Kane) skulk outside Boris's house (in broad daylight, yet!) daring each other to approach what they treat as the spookiest, most haunted house a small town has seen since Boo Radley! They throw rocks and smash windows until Boris frightens them off. It seems like the whole town treats Dr. Adrian as if he's Dr. Frankenstein renting a local bungalow. Perhaps the biggest plot hole in the script (written by Curt "The Wolf Man" Siodmak & Richard Carroll) is exactly why the town feels this way. Boris is quite likeable and sweet and, unlike in "The Devil Commands", there doesn't seem to be any reason for the town to view him this way (that THEY know of). A circus is in town. Frances and her boyfriend Danny Foster (Gene O'Donnell) attend and make a night of it. We then see a sadistic animal trainer (played by I Stanford Jolley who was wonderful as a gangster in the underrated Poverty Row quickie "The Black Raven" with George Zucco) torments an ape in his cage. Said ape proceeds to maul the trainer almost to death! Jolley's cigar drops to the hay, the circus burns down and the ape escapes to the countryside. The townspeople carry the wounded trainer to Dr Adrian (which is odd considering how much they just said they avoided Karloff). Left alone with his patient, Karloff first gets that gleam in his eye. "Man," he says, "is the highest animal" as he reaches for the hypodermic needle. Cut to the next scene where the trainer has conveniently expired; but not without first making a contribution to mad science! As Karloff writes in his journal: "By means of Lumbar Puncture, all spinal fluid removed from deceased circus trainer. With this human spinal fluid, will attempt to relieve paralytical condition of patient Frances Clifford by means of spinal injections." It turns out this wacky treatment actually begins to work as Frances begins to feel a heavy sensation in her legs. Of course, in perhaps the most bumbling move ever by a mad scientist, Karloff places his container of serum on a lab table. It slowly rolls off and smashes to the floor! The Doc ain't too happy. Later, the rampaging ape crashes through Karloff's window and is stabbed to death by our grandfatherly doctor. A string of ape murders ensues. The dead ape is apparently alive again! Has the mad doctor found a way to revivify the dead killer ape??? Do we have a zombie ape on our hands now??? A ghost gorilla??? "The Ape" was made as a direct result of the renewed popularity of horror movies caused by the release of Universal's "Son of Frankenstein" in 1939. From the mid-30's till then, horror was out (mostly because of a management change at Universal and Britain's "horror ban" of the mid to late 30's). This is when poor Bela Lugosi was almost out of work, Peter Lorre was stuck in all those Mr. Moto movies and Karloff languished in an increasingly dreary series of Mr. Wong, Detective films. By this time (1940), horror got a second wind and Boris left the final Mr. Wong film in the series to Keye Luke and began playing horror roles once again. "The Ape" was one of them. Since Monogram is notorious for simply not having the money to hire big talent, it is surprising that Curt Siodmak co-wrote the script. The author of "The Wolf Man" and "Donovan's Brain" was quite a coup for Monogram. Karloff, who brought all his acting talent to such a minor production, is wonderful as usual. The moody photography is by Harry Neumann (who was more used to filming westerns) and is greatly helped by the typically dark and gloomy Monogram sets. The less one sees of a Monogram set, the better. Poverty Row did not have the benefit of hiring Hammer's Bernard Robinson to transform nothing into something. The supporting cast performs quite well. Maris Wrixon as the paralyzed Frances is particularly affecting when she manages a slight movement of her foot and realizes the serum is actually working. Wrixon's expression of hope, exhaustion, surprise and happiness is very real to the viewer. Standout performances are also turned in by Philo McCullough as a nasty, two-timing husband and Mary Field as his long-suffering wife. In one scene, McCullough is off to his mistress and Field confronts him about it. She is ashamed that everyone in town knows about his philandering and pleads with him to "carry on" out of town where he won't be seen. "Why don't YOU try going somewhere else?" sneers McCullough. Field replied tearfully: "I have no folks! I've no place to go!" As he walks out the door, McCullough snaps: "You've got the river!" Wow! The writing and the acting are much better than one might expect from a Monogram Picture. "The Ape" doesn't have much in the way of bells and whistles but it's a solid, enjoyable and little known film that is a cut above the usual poverty row standard.