King Kong 1933

     Carl Denham is looking for a leading lady for his current picture.  He wants to finish this film and he has found the perfect location.  He meets Ann Darrow and he knows right away she is the right woman for this role.  They are heading out on a steam ship to Skull Island.  No one knows what will be found on the island?  It’s very mysterious but they will learn about it when they reach the island.  They immediately find many natives and then they find a giant gorilla.  He grabs Ann in his hand and goes into the jungle with her.  The crew sets out to get her back.  They find dinosaur beasts during their search.  Many of the crew members are killed trying to rescue Ann.

     I’m not sure if I’ve seen this film before?  I was surprised about how I felt when the dinosaurs were killed?  I thought they needed to be brought back with Kong or at least they needed to be studied and not killed.  There was a stegosaurus, T-Rex, snake creature and a pterodactyl.  Some of the scenes seem good, some ridiculous and not scary at all now.  I always think about Fay Wray in King Kong's hand when I think of this movie.  3* (This movie is OK)  

100 min, Adventure directed by Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack with Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher, Sam Hardy, Noble Johnson, Steve Clemente, James Flavin, Walter Ackerman, James Adamson, Van Alder.

Note:  Imdb 7.9 out of 10, 98% critic 86% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 4*, TCM Leonard Maltin 4* out of 4* user rating 4.42* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Culver City, California; Hoboken, New Jersey; New York City, New York.  Merian C. Cooper’s first idea for this film was of a giant ape on top of the world’s tallest building.  He worked backwards from his original idea.  The gross was ninety thousand dollars on opening weekend and this was the biggest opening ever at this time period.  RKO Pictures credited the success of this film for saving the company from bankruptcy.  King Kong’s roar is a lion’s roar and a tiger’s roar combined and run slowly backwards.  Stop-motion animation sets were used in the jungle.  They were a combination of metal models and real plants.  During filming, a flower on a miniature set bloomed and it wasn’t noticed.  When the film was developed and shown, a time-lapse effect showed the flower coming into full bloom and the entire day of animation was lost.  There is a scene with a comment made by a man standing in line to see King Kong.  He said the tickets were $20 for two tickets.  This would have been a tremendous cost in the depression of 1933.  It was 35 cents to see the New York Yankees in 1933 with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  There is another film about King Kong from 2005.