Directed by Harry L. Fraser, The White Gorilla is a fascinating relic of Poverty Row filmmaking, stitched together from old silent footage and new scenes to create a jungle adventure with a surreal, patchwork feel. Produced by Louis Weiss, the film stars Ray “Crash” Corrigan, a veteran “gorilla man” who plays both the explorer and the titular beast.
Plot Summary
Explorer Steve Collins (Ray Corrigan) recounts a bizarre tale from the African jungle, where a rare albino gorilla—Konga—is ostracized by other gorillas and becomes a violent loner. Through flashbacks narrated by Collins, we witness a series of jungle adventures involving a man, a woman, and a mischievous native boy—all taken from Fraser’s 1927 silent serial Perils of the Jungle. The climax features a dramatic gorilla-on-gorilla battle, symbolizing Konga’s tragic isolation.
Cast Highlights
- Ray Corrigan as Steve Collins / Konga / Narrator
- Lorraine Miller as Ruth Stacey
- George J. Lewis as Hutton
- Charles King, Francis Ford, and Budd Buster in supporting roles
- Silent-era stars Frank Merrill, Eugenia Gilbert, and Bobby Nelson appear via archival footage
Behind-the-Scenes Trivia
- The film was shot in just three days and one night, with extensive use of 1927 footage from Perils of the Jungle
- Corrigan, one of Hollywood’s top “gorilla men,” owned his own suits and had played apes in dozens of films since Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
- The white gorilla costume was later reused in Jerry Warren’s Man Beast (1956), a low-budget horror flick
- Fraser admitted the film was “pure hokum,” created quickly to meet a San Francisco premiere deadline during a wartime film stock shortage
- Corrigan’s character spends much of the film watching action from the bushes, narrating scenes he never interacts with—leading to unintentionally hilarious moments
Legacy
The White Gorilla is often cited as one of the most bizarre jungle films of its era. Its heavy reliance on silent footage, mismatched film speeds, and disconnected narration give it a dreamlike, almost experimental quality. For fans of cult cinema and vintage oddities, it’s a must-see curiosity.
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