It is notable for being one of the early movies distributed by 20th Century Fox to be filmed in 3-D. (The first was Inferno, released a year before Gorilla at Large.)

The difference is this time Laverne will fall from the trapeze and into the arms of a disguised Joey, who will make people believe she is performing with the actual gorilla.

Joey takes the job nonetheless, as it would mean a higher pay, postponing his plans of leaving the carnival, marrying Audrey and studying law.

Despite the attempts to frame Joey, the police believe he is innocent, and as the investigation is close to finding the culprit, Cyrus voluntarily takes the blame for the crimes.

Cameron Mitchell had appeared in the 1951 screen version of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, then was signed as a contract star with 20th Century Fox.

For Anne Bancroft, Gorilla was her fifth film under contract to Fox, and in 1962 her performance in The Miracle Worker won her an Academy Award.

Lee J. Cobb had a prolific screen career and received two Oscar nominations, the first for On the Waterfront, made the same year as Gorilla at Large.

Lee Marvin began his film career in Hollywood in the early 1950s, playing mainly crooks or cops, and later became a leading man.

The only other 3-D productions released or produced by Fox were the previous year's Inferno, with Robert Ryan and Rhonda Fleming, and 1960's September Storm, with Joanne Dru and Mark Stevens.

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called Gorilla at Large a "straight scoop of melodramatic muck about murder and other odd distractions at an outdoor amusement park.

"[2] TV Guide wrote "This often hilarious 3-D thriller stars Bancroft as a trapeze artist at an amusement park, where the top attraction is a ferocious gorilla".