1940's THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL, not to be confused with Republic's 1944 THE LADY AND THE MONSTER, was a rare Paramount excursion into Universal horror territory. This was the studio that brought genre fans the 1931 DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, 1932's ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, 1933's MURDERS IN THE ZOO, 1939's DR. CYCLOPS, and 1940's THE MAD DOCTOR, all quite distinctive and respectable. Leonard Maltin's review praises the originality of the white slavery angle, depicting how poor Ellen Drew is lured into a life of prostitution, while her brother (Phillip Terry) is executed for a murder he didn't commit, donating his brain to Dr. Parry (the great George Zucco) to use in a surgical procedure that puts his mind in the body of a gorilla. Maltin dismisses the mad doctor stuff as clichéd, but the truth is, all the characters are strictly by the numbers; it's quite possible that if it consisted of one storyline over the other, the results would never be remembered today. Like Boris Karloff in Warners' 1936 THE WALKING DEAD, the vicious racketeers are marked for death from beyond the grave, and the second half of the film shows how the gorilla (Charles Gemora) manages to escape detection as it travels around town, executing all the gangsters with virtually no interference, aided by his faithful dog (!). This is not A BOY AND HIS DOG, and it really is better than it sounds, it's only disappointing in that little is made of Zucco's experiment, and his role is very small. Best of all is Charles Gemora's sensitive portrayal of a gorilla with a human mind, and it is excellent; it couldn't have been easy to act in such a costume, but it looks as good as any from old Hollywood, and is light years superior to Emil Van Horn's embarrassment in Bela Lugosi's THE APE MAN. A remarkable cast of familiar faces make this an easy watch, apart from the condescending Paul Lukas, whose accent was no match for Lugosi's (surely Bela would have been available). Look fast for unbilled Edward Van Sloan, veteran of FRANKENSTEIN and THE MUMMY, playing the prison warden who helps Zucco get the plot moving toward its inevitable climax (Zucco proved to be even busier than Lionel Atwill in that department).

..which seemed inspired by the Val Lewton productions at RKO. The story stars off as court room melodrama. Scott ( Philip Terry) is on trial for shooting a gangster- but in one of several flashbacks we can see that he was framed. He was defending the honor of his sister Susan (Ellen Drew) who had been tricked into becoming a prostitute. Scott is found guilty and sentenced to death and now the film becomes a mad scientist movie. Dr Perry (George Zucco )convinces Scott to let him transplant his brain into a gorilla (because this is somehow going to help humanity?!) Scott laughs at the thought but agrees anyway. The censors were not happy with the white slavery angle and it was cut but it's obvious what poor Susan is forced to do.

There is also a subtle gay angle between big city gangster Bruhl (Paul Lukas) and one of his henchmen who he refers to as " his favorite thorn" . The movie has one very effective Lewtonesque scene in which the ape stalks one of his victims with the aid of Skippy the dog. The film is out on an excellent blu ray the Universal Horror collection from Shout /Scream factory.

Back in its salad days Paramount was a studio that did not go in much for the horror genre. So this film The Monster And The Girl is something of an anomaly for them. I'm sure Cecil B. DeMille, Preston Sturges, or Mitchell Leisen never had this script on their desks.

Philip Terry gets framed by Paul Lukas and his mob for murder and despite the earnest pleas of girl friend Ellen Drew gets sentenced to die. Dr. George Zucco in one of his patented mad scientist roles asks Terry for the use of his brain after he's deceased and Terry agrees to it.

After Dr. Zucco transplants Terry's brain, strange things are happening. Like the gorilla with the Terry brain inside and that brain has some scores to settle. Settle them the Terry gorilla does and in a most gruesome manner.

Perhaps had Universal done this one it might rate as a classic as they knew how to serve these up. Still despite some mediocre production values The Monster And The Girl should satisfy the die-hard fans of the horror genre.