Slings and Barrows

tednewsom

George Barrows did not appear in KONGA-- his gorilla suit appeared in it. Barrows shipped the suit over to England on a rental basis; it was worn by an as-yet-unidentified English stuntman and returned the worse for wear. Barrows never rented the suit out again without HIM being in it.

Cohen's first choice for the "role" was apparently Steve Calvert, who was a friend and frequent "actor" in Cohen films. Calvert and his gorilla suit had appeared in BRIDE OF THE GORILLA and BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA, and he played the entire Venusian robot army in TARGET EARTH, all early Herman Cohen films. Clavert retired from gorilla-impersonation by about 1960 and gave his suit to Western Costume, where it (naturally) was left to disintegrate. The metal frame of one of the gorilla heads is in Forry Ackerman's prop collection.

I spoke to Cohen several times and knew Steve Calvert very well; they were friends, but I don't know that Cohen and Barrows were close at all.

As for KONGA-- how can a movie be any more perfect!

score 10/10

tednewsom 25 February 2006

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1300254/