| Return of the Ape Man | |
| Director: | Philip Rosen |
| Producer: | Sam Katzman Jack Dietz |
| Screenplay: | Robert Charles (uncredited) |
| Starring: | Bela Lugosi |
| Music: | Edward Kay (musical director) |
| Cinematography: | Marcel LePicard |
| Editing: | Carl Pierson |
| Studio: | Banner Productions |
| Distributor: | Monogram Pictures Corporation |
| Runtime: | 61 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Return of the Ape Man is a 1944 American film distributed by Monogram Pictures.[1] [2] It was directed by Philip Rosen with top-billed star Bela Lugosi[3] and supporting actors John Carradine, George Zucco (see note in the Production section), Frank Moran, Judith Gibson and Michael Ames.[4]
Two professors find a prehistoric caveman frozen in ice during an Arctic expedition. Professor Dexter (Bela Lugosi) and Professor John Gilmore (John Carradine) bring the frozen exhibit back home and soon devise a plan. They want to implant a more evolved brain into the caveman, with hopes of being able to control and utilize him.
The working title for the film was 'Revenge of the Ape Man'. Production took place early in October 1943 and the film was released on 24 June 1944.[5]
George Zucco is co-credited on screen and in the publicity, along with Moran, as having played the Ape Man. At the onset of the laboratory scene where Prof. Dexter (Lugosi) and Gilmore (Carradine) are preparing to melt the caveman free from the block of ice, Zucco is shown in the Ape Man makeup - albeit briefly. Zucco's prominent nose, as well as his injured and withered left arm/hand (from a WWI injury) are clearly visible facing the camera. The shot (lasting only a few seconds in total) then switches away from the Ape Man. When it returns again to the same shot, Moran has replaced Zucco.[6] The producers later explained Zucco became ill during the filming and kept his footage as a cost-saving measure while using Moran as a replacement actor for the remainder of the film.
Frank Leigh is also credited by certain modern sources for the character of Long Shot.