The Ape (1940) on Netflix
Dr. Bernard Adrian, a small town physician, works on a serum to cure Frances Clifford's polio, but the formula still needs human spinal fluid. A circus ape called Nabu is loose.
- Netflix2.3/5
- IMDb4.7/102,315 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes43%
Trailer
Plot summary
Rejected by the medical community, Dr. Bernard Adrian works as a physician in a small town while he continues his experiments on nerve regeneration. His mute elderly housekeeper Jane supports the work. The doctor is determined to cure Frances Clifford, a local girl whose polio has left her paralyzed, so that she can one day marry Danny Foster, her sweetheart. After a great deal of labor he concludes that his experimental serum needs spinal fluid from another human being. In the meantime, a vicious circus ape called Nabu has mortally wounded its handler, left its cage and is terrorizing the townspeople.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Ape (1940)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Screenwriter Curt Siodmak said of adapting The Ape that, as with his other films The Climax (1944) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943), he never used the original material and used his own stories instead.
- Film historian Tom Weaver said the circus footage in The Ape appeared to be taken from another film, and that shots of Karloff's character leaving and entering his house are repeated, even though the film was promoted as a bigger-budget Monogram production.
