The Ivory Ape

The Ivory Ape
Official release poster
Genre
  • Action
  • Adventure
  • Drama
  • Romance
Written by
Directed by Tsugunobu Kotani
Starring
Theme music composer
Country of origin United States
Japan
Original language English
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • Arthur Rankin Jr.
  • Benni Korzen (associate producer)
  • Masaki Îzuka (associate producer)
Production location Bermuda
Cinematography Yuzo Inagaki
Editor Wendy Wank
Running time 100 minutes (theatrical version)
96 minutes (TV version)
Production companies
Original release
Network ABC
Release April 18, 1980

The Ivory Ape is a 1980 Japanese-American action film co-produced by Rankin/Bass and Tsuburaya Productions. It was filmed in Bermuda, with a Japanese effects crew, and at Tsuburaya Studios in Tokyo.

It was first broadcast on ABC on April 18, 1980, and later released theatrically in Japan (the theatrical version running four additional minutes).

Synopsis

Set in Bermuda, this movie focuses on a hunt for a rare albino gorilla, recently captured in Africa by ruthless big-game hunter Marc Kazarian (Jack Palance). Dedicated government agent Baxter Mapes (Steven Keats) and his ex-girlfriend, Lil Tyler (Cindy Pickett), conduct a humanitarian search for the ape, which has escaped from the greedy Kazarian. But hero and heroine are fighting against time as the villain has convinced the locals that the ape is a killer, and must be brought in dead or alive.

Cast