The Monster And The Girl (1941)

A naive small town girl (Ellen Drew) goes to the big city where she finds herself forced into prostitution. When her brother (Philip Terry) goes to the city to find her, he is framed by the gangster (Paul Lukas) who forced the girl into prostitution for murder. Directed by Stuart Heisler (THE GLASS KEY), this odd combination of crime and horror is neither fish nor fowl. The title is a misnomer, there is no monster. Just a homicidal gorilla bent on revenge. It's complicated far fetched plot burdens whatever (unlikely) promise it may have had. We're to accept that a giant ape is able to freely roam the streets of a major urban city without detection? This isn't a pre code film but I'm surprised at what was allowed to sneak through. It's very discreet but the implication of white slavery prostitution is very much there as well as the suggestion that Drew's character had a very satisfying night of sex when she wakes up in the bed she shared with Robert Paige. I'm making it sound more titillating than it is. Actually, I kind of enjoyed it even though I could tell it was a bit of a mess. With George Zucco (again playing another unethical doctor conducting dubious experiments), Joseph Calleia, Rod Cameron, Gerald Mohr and Marc Lawrence.