KING KONG (1933) ****
The original is still the best. The prototypical monster on the loose movie still holds up after more than seventy years and two overblown remakes.
Fanatical movie director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) takes ingénue Ann Darrow (Fay Wray, the original scream queen) to the mythical Skull Island to film his latest jungle picture. There they encounter hostile natives who worship Kong, a fifty foot gorilla. The natives want to sacrifice Ann to the giant ape, but Kong keeps her for a companion instead. He also protects Ann from the dinosaurs that also inhabit Skull Island. After gruff boat captain (and romantic interest) Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) rescues her from Kong, Denham gets the great idea to capture Kong and take him back to New York. In the Big Apple, Kong breaks free and all hell breaks loose as Kong runs amok. He kidnaps Ann and takes her atop the Empire State Building before tragically being gunned down by airplanes.
The effect work by Willis O’Brien is still amazing and a lot cooler than either of the remakes. Even though Kong fights dinosaurs and snakes, stomps on natives, derails a train and throws women off of tall buildings, O’Brien still manages to make him sympathetic. Directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack were both documentary filmmakers who patterned the Denham character after themselves. They both returned for the sequel, Son of Kong, later that year.
Fanatical movie director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) takes ingénue Ann Darrow (Fay Wray, the original scream queen) to the mythical Skull Island to film his latest jungle picture. There they encounter hostile natives who worship Kong, a fifty foot gorilla. The natives want to sacrifice Ann to the giant ape, but Kong keeps her for a companion instead. He also protects Ann from the dinosaurs that also inhabit Skull Island. After gruff boat captain (and romantic interest) Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) rescues her from Kong, Denham gets the great idea to capture Kong and take him back to New York. In the Big Apple, Kong breaks free and all hell breaks loose as Kong runs amok. He kidnaps Ann and takes her atop the Empire State Building before tragically being gunned down by airplanes.
The effect work by Willis O’Brien is still amazing and a lot cooler than either of the remakes. Even though Kong fights dinosaurs and snakes, stomps on natives, derails a train and throws women off of tall buildings, O’Brien still manages to make him sympathetic. Directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack were both documentary filmmakers who patterned the Denham character after themselves. They both returned for the sequel, Son of Kong, later that year.