The Gorilla Ship

While on an ocean cruise, millionaire Phillip Wells suspects his wife Helen of having an affair with his old friend, Dave Burton. Incensed with jealousy, Wells sets fire to their yacht. The trio is saved from certain death by the arrival of crooked Captain 'Gorilla' Lawson and his seafaring crew of ex-convicts. Wells and Burton are forced into manual labor onboard Lawson's ship, while Helen becomes the Gorilla's latest 'mate'. Now the two former rivals must work together to save the woman they love from the clutches of a crazed sea captain.

A pulp story come to life, The Gorilla Ship is directed by Frank Strayer from a scenario by George Waggner. The prolific Strayer directed over 80 movies, including 14 entries in the popular 'Blondie' series starring Penny Singleton. He also made the Poverty Row horrors The Monster Walks (1932) and The Vampire Bat (1933). Waggner is best known as the director of the Universal horror classic The Wolfman (1941). Top-billed Ralph Ince was the youngest of three famed brothers in the film industry (John Ince and Thomas H. Ince being the other two.) Handsome, athletic Reed Howes was a matinee idol during the silent era, usually cast in Westerns and serials. He played John Wayne's rival in The Dawn Rider (1935). When aired as part of "Adventure Theater" in the early days of television, The Gorilla Ship was re-titled Vengeance Rides the Sea.