# I.D. this (racist?) B&W comedy with a gorilla

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-racist-b-w-comedy-with-a-gorilla/100731>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 29, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-racist-b-w-comedy-with-a-gorilla/100731 "2002-03-29T12:46:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![KXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KXL)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-racist-b-w-comedy-with-a-gorilla/100731/1 "2002-03-29T12:46:47Z")

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A long time ago, on late-night TV, I saw a film that amazed me. It was a comedy. I remember very little except that it took place in a haunted house. Two scenes stick in my mind: 1) a black man is so scared he turns white and 2) a black man in a fur coat is mistaken for a gorilla. I know these are fairly common “jokes” from the 1930s, but I’d like to see this film again.

It’s not _The Gorilla_ (1939) starring The Ritz Brothers (at least, those scenes aren’t in the laserdisc version I watched a few years ago). Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-d-this-racist-b-w-comedy-with-a-gorilla/100731/2 "2002-03-29T18:44:52Z")

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I remember that one. Can’t recall what it was, though. Just wanted to chip in a) to bump the thread and b) reassure you you’re not imagining things. 🙂