Ed - the reason why Matt LeBlanc will never be a movie star.
Silent apes:
Tillie’s Tomato Surprise (1915), She (1917), The Goat (1918), Tarzan of the Apes (1918), The Romance of Tarzan (1918), Under Suspicion (1918), A Scream in the Night (1919), It Might Happen to You (1920), Jungle Adventures (1921), Pilgrims of the Night (1921), The Man of the Forest (1921), Travelin’ On (1922), Trifling Women (1922), When Husbands Deceive (1922), The Woman Who Believed (1922), Jungle Trail of the Son of Tarzan (1923), Trailing African Wild Animals (1923), Evolution (1923), Her Reputation (1923), Merry-Go-Round (1923), Hold Your Breath (1924), Darwin Was Right (1924), Equatorial Africa: Roosevelt’s Hunting Grounds (1924), Lorraine of the Lions (1925), The Unholy Three (1925), The Gorilla Hunt (1926), Money To Burn (1926), Sunshine of Paradise Alley (1926), Unknown Treasures (1926), Chang (1927), The Monkey Talks (1927), The Gorilla (1927), The Wizard (1927), Ginsberg the Great (1927), A Hero for a Night (1927), The Missing Link (1927), The Monkey Talks (1927), Arizona Cyclone (1928), Circus Rookies (1928), The Leopard Lady (1928), Hold 'Em Yale (1928), Why Sailors Go Wrong (1928).
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
OOOK!
How about:
The Little Covered Wagon
It was the first western with an all-chimpanzee cast, it came out in 1933, and it was produced and directed by Sig Neufeld. The chimps originally came from a vaudeville act called Bud Barsky’s Chimps.
While not specifically about monkeys, gorillas, and what-have-you, Fierce Creatures, starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Kevin Kline, has many people in gorilla costumes in it. Also a character named Hugh Primates, who is not a monkey, but a monkey-keeper. It’s an absolutely hilarious movie.
Trading Places had a real gorilla, too.
Another for King Kong (the 1933 version) But not the 70’s remake “When the Shark died nobody cried, Whena Konk dies everbody gonna cry”
I heard a rumor about a Curious George movie!
Babe: Pig in the City
Being John Malkovich