A fascinating curio, a vehicle for two Martin and Lewis impersonators, Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, plus Bela Lugosi. Herman Cohen was associate producer and William Beaudine directed; both men have been associated with a fair few stinkers in their careers, as has Lugosi.
The plot is familiar stuff for all those who enjoy Martin and Lewis (and Abbott and Costello) – Mitchell and Petrillo wind up on a tropic island and romance some local ladies (hot one for Mitchell, fatty for Petrillo). The one European on the island is a Moreau-like doctor who is performing nefarious experiments to change humans into monkeys. Lugosi lusts after the attractive American-educated chief’s daughter, who serves as his assistant – which results in him transforming Mitchell into an ape.
I’ve got to say I enjoyed this film a fair bit, a lot more than I thought I would. I found it genuinely interesting to see Mitchell and Petrillo ape Martin and Lewis – Petrillo especially has the voice and gestures down pat (apparently Lewis sued him). Lugosi looks drug addicted and haggard – his head now too big for his body – but the voice is still there and he’s still Bela Lugosi and he delivers the scientific mumbo jumbo for the umpteenth time with conviction. Some of it’s quite funny, especially when Mitchell is turned into an ape and Petrillo does shtick with him. But the ending is awful – it turns out to be all a dream of Petrillo’s. Why do they do this? There was no need for it.
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