THE GORILLA HUNT

This is the beginning of a gorilla countdown to help everyone get in the spirit of National Gorilla Suit Day on the Jan. 31.

I rummaged thru the Neato Coolville archives to find this little gem, a movie herald advertising The Gorilla Hunt.

There’s not much info out there on this movie and I’m not sure if a print still exists. It was released in 1928 by FBO (Film Booking Offices), owned by Joseph Kennedy the father of JFK. FBO would later merge and become RKO Studios, who gave us the ultimate gorilla picture in King Kong!

This movie starring Ben Burbridges was probably a predecessor to Frank Buck’s Bring ‘Em Back Alive that was released in 1932. Besides wearing his pith helmet, Burbridges wore many other hats for this movie and is credited with actor, writer, director, editor and cinematographer.

I got a chuckle out of one of the tag lines, “SEE The Most Gigantic Thrills Ever flung Upon the Screen!” Funny that they used the word flung, if you know what I mean!

This herald was handed out at the Bennett Theater and it must have played on August 13 as someone penciled the date under the theater stamp on the back. The Bennett might have been located in Hermann, Missouri.

Maybe there’s a copy of this movie out there somewhere and hopefully it will have men in gorilla suits being hunted instead of real ones. One can only dream!