Baker himself wore the ape suit in John Guillermin’s 1976 remake of King Kongand as the gorilla named Dino in The Kentucky Fried Movie[John Landis, 1977]. His apes for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes[Hugh Hudson, 1984] and Gorillas in the Mist[Michael Apted, 1988] remain unsurpassed.
Why do apes continue to intrigue, amuse, frighten, and fascinate us? Look in the mirror.
Monstrous Apes[ Book Contents]
Mighty Joe Young [Ron Underwood, 1998]
Charlize Theron and Bill Paxton with the amazing, full-size Joe Young built by Rick Baker for this remake.
Monstrous Apes[ Book Contents]
Stories of the Gorilla Country [Paul du Chaillu, 1867]
Cover of the first edition of Paul du Chaillu’s book about his adventures with the gorillas of Africa. (From the Author’s collection.)
Monstrous Apes[ Book Contents]
Gorille enlevant une Femme (Gorilla Carrying Off a Woman) [Emmanuel Frémiet, 1887]
A bronze sculpture by Emmanuel Frémiet. (From the Author’s collection.)
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Konga [John Lemont, 1961]
Mad scientist Michael Gough is helpless in Konga’s giant grasp in this publicity paste-up photo.
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Robot Monster [Phil Tucker, 1953]
I’m not entirely sure what George Nader is trying to do to Ro-Man in this publicity shot for one of the all-time, strangely fascinating, terrible movies. I admire the sheer balls of putting a space helmet on a gorilla suit and thinking that would be okay as an alien monster. With music by a young, “gray-listed” Elmer Bernstein!
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The White Gorilla [Harry L. Fraser, 1945]
Ray “Crash” Corrigan in his now white gorilla suit. Corrigan also plays Steve Collins and the Narrator. A triple threat.
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Captive Wild Woman [Edward Dmytryk, 1943]
A publicity shot of Cheela the gorilla (Ray “Crash” Corrigan) holding Paula Dupree (Acquanetta). In the film, sexy Acquanetta becomes a gorilla (also Corrigan) and then sultry but deadly Paula Dupree. It is all very impractical.
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The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters [Edward Bernds, 1954]
The monsters the Bowery Boys meet are a vampire, a robot, and a gorilla.
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Bride of the Gorilla [Curt Siodmak, 1951]
A steamy melodrama, in which South American plantation manager Raymond Burr murders his boss to get to his wife, Barbara Payton, and is cursed by a witch doctor to turn into a murderous gorilla at night. Directed by the screenwriter of The Wolf Man[1941]. This time, Lon Chaney, Jr. is the cop on the case.
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The Monster and the Girl [Stuart Heisler, 1941]
His brain now inside this massive gorilla’s head, Scott Webster regards his sleeping sister, Susan (Ellen Drew). Charlie Gemora’s best gorilla-suit performance.
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Murders in the Rue Morgue [Robert Florey, 1932]
Charles Gemora as Erik, the orangutan about to kidnap another woman for his master Dr. Mirakle (Béla Lugosi). Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue[1841], which many believe to be the first true detective story.
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At the Circus [Edward Buzzell, 1939]
Harpo, Groucho, and Chico crooning with Charlie Gemora in this publicity photo.
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Blonde Venus [Josef von Sternberg, 1932]
During the “Hot Voodoo” dance number, as the drums pound and the trumpet wails, a gorilla menacingly comes onstage. The gorilla removes its head to reveal the beautiful face of Marlene Dietrich (inset)!
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The Ape Man [William Beaudine, 1943]
Experiments by mad doctor James Brewster (Béla Lugosi) turn him into an ape man! He and his gorilla must obtain human spinal fluid to reverse this situation before it’s too late. A Monogram Picture, so you know it’s cheap.
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Never Give a Sucker an Even Break [Edward F. Cline, 1941]
W. C. Fields, writing under the pseudonym Otis Criblecoblis, created this surrealistic and very funny film, about Fields pitching a film to producer Franklin Pangborn. Fields is pictured with a gorilla, played by Emil Van Horn.
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Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes [Hugh Hudson, 1984]
The infant Tarzan, safe in the arms of apes that adopt and raise him in the jungle. The first part of the film, dealing with Tarzan in Africa, is great. Rick Baker made the magnificent apes.
IN CONVERSATION
Rick Baker
“There is something scary about 45° angles.”
Rick Baker at home (photo by the Author).
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JL: Rick, what’s your definition of a monster?
RB: I think I have a different concept of a monster than most people. I’ve always been fascinated by them, but I don’t see them as bad. The kinds of monsters that I like are Frankenstein’s Monster, Quasimodo, and guys like that. The ones I like are sympathetic.
JL: OK, but what aremonsters?
RB: Monsters are creatures that don’t exist in the real universe.
JL: Mythological monsters, like dragons and Cyclops…
RB: I like all those. I’ve always been attracted to things that aren’t in the real world. Fantastic things, grotesque things. I don’t like gory stuff…