King Kong

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

"How would you like to star opposite the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood?" Enticed by these words, brunette leading lady Fay Wray dyed her hair blonde and accepted the role of Ann Darrow in King Kong -- and stayed with the project even after learning that her "leading man" was a 50-foot ape. The film introduces us to flamboyant, foolhardy documentary filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), who sails off to parts unknown to film his latest epic with leading lady Darrow in tow. Disembarking at Skull Island, they stumble on a ceremony in which the native dancers circle around a terrified-looking young girl, chanting, "Kong! Kong!" The chief (Noble Johnson) and witch doctor (Steve Clemente) spot Denham and company and order them to leave. But upon seeing Ann, the chief offers to buy the "golden woman" to serve as the "bride of Kong." Denham refuses, and he and the others beat a hasty retreat to their ship. Late that night, a party of native warriors sneak on board the ship and kidnap Ann. They strap her to a huge sacrificial altar just outside the gate, then summon Kong, who winds up saving Ann instead of devouring her. Kong is eventually taken back to New York, where he breaks loose on the night of his Broadway premiere, thinking that his beloved Ann is being hurt by the reporters' flash bulbs. Now at large in New York, Kong searches high and low for Ann (in another long-censored scene, he plucks a woman from her high-rise apartment, then drops her to her death when he realizes she isn't the girl he's looking for). After proving his devotion by wrecking an elevated train, Kong winds up at the top of the Empire State Building, facing off against a fleet of World War I fighter planes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Subtitle: Spanish, English, French
• Features:
  • cc Newly restored and digitally mastered for its best presentation in over 70 years
  • Commentary by visual effects veterans Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston, with interpolated interview excerpts of Merian C. Cooper and Fay Wray
  • Merian C. Cooper movies trailer gallery
  • Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)

AWARDS

• American Film Institute

•     Won 100 Greatest American Movies - 1998

• Library of Congress

•     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1990

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2005
•     Film Presented - 1976

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Fay Wray - Ann Darrow
       Robert Armstrong - Carl Denham
       Bruce Cabot - Jack Driscoll
       Frank Reicher - Capt. Englehorn
       Sam Hardy - Charles Weston
       Noble Johnson - Native Chief

• Director:

  Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

• Producer:

  Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

• Screenwriter:

  James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose

• Cinematographer:

  Eddie Linden, J.O. Taylor, Vernon Walker

• Composer (Music Score):

  Max Steiner

• Editor:

  Ted Cheesman

• Production Designer:

  Alfred Herman

• Art Director:

  Carroll Clark, Alfred Herman, Van Nest Polglase

REVIEW:

• Generally thought of as a monster movie (not difficult to understand when your title character is a 50-foot-tall gorilla with a habit of killing people who get in his way), King Kong is actually an old-fashioned adventure story on the grand scale, complete with fearless hunters in search of uncharted islands, angry natives appeasing their god, damsels in distress, and a dashing hero on hand to save said damsel. Much of this story probably seemed a bit cliché even when King Kong was first released in 1933, but directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack tell their tale with two-fisted gusto, leavened with a genuine sense of wonder, and the result captures the imagination from the start and never lets go. It also helps that they had a cast capable of handling the heroics in grand form while knowing how to play the abundant comic relief in appropriate style; Robert Armstrong's Carl Denham is ham at its tastiest, Bruce Cabot's Jack Driscoll is a hero with his feet planted solidly on the ground (and his tongue just entering his cheek), and has any screen heroine ever screamed more eloquently than Fay Wray? Willis H. O'Brien's stop-motion effects animation was legendary in its day, and it retains its magic today; while technology has progressed considerably since King Kong, O'Brien was able to give his great ape a personality, and Kong's moments of fear, curiosity, pain, and occasional goofiness gave him a sympathetic, ultimately tragic dimension that adds immeasurably to the picture's effectiveness. And Max Steiner's bombastic score is always there to cheer the picture along when its energy starts to flag. While the 1976 remake already seems hopelessly dated, the original King Kong remains rousing entertainment with brains, brawn, and a heart. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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