MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949) ****
Filmmakers Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper returned 16 years after their classic King Kong for another great giant ape movie. It doesn’t have the pathos that Kong did, but it’s still a lot of fun. The star of King Kong Robert Armstrong also returns, this time playing a nightclub owner who goes to Africa looking for something to spice up his new jungle themed club. He gets more than he bargained for when he meets Joe Young, a twenty foot gorilla who was raised since infancy by the cute Terry Moore. They take Joe back to Hollywood, but when some pesky drunks rattle his cage, Joe goes on the loose. The cops are after him, but Joe redeems himself when he rescues some children from an orphanage in the awesome orange tinted finale. The impressive effects were once again by Willis O’Brien and Ray Harryhausen and won an Oscar. Co-star Ben Johnson went on to have a long career as a character actor and Moore was later romantically linked to Howard Hughes. 35 years later, she posed for Playboy. Disney later remade this in 1998.