HOLLYWOOD MUSEUM OF ART - Images of Gorillas with human women have been popular in movies and beyond ever since the 1931 mockumentary "INGAGI." The thematic material was commonplace in adventure novels of the late 1900s, & thus in early cinema. The African adventure novels of H. Ridger Haggard such as King Solomon's Mines popularized the idea of meat-eating killer gorillas as a race distinct from the gentle vegetarians that actually exist, & this theme was taken up by scores of Haggard imitators, including Edgar Rice Burroughs for his Tarzan books. Thus in Johnny Weismiller's first film Tarzan of the Apes (1932) we encounter an African tribe of white dwarfs in blackface who worship a giant gorilla.
The reason for their continued success is an endless fascination by men and women alike showing the passive female in the hands of a beast. King Kong, Mighty Joe Young and many others have made billions of dollars in box office receipts on this simple fascination. INGAGI is thought to have been the highest grossing film of the Depression. It was in consequence of the profitability of Inagaki that RKO Pictures was encouraged to film King Kong (1933).
Thanks to to the Hollywood Art Museum for letting me video their exhibition.
