Thursday, April 7, 1983

50 years ago: Original King Kong released

King Kong


Released: April 7, 1933


Studio: RKO


Genre: monster/romance


Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 10.0 Worldwide: --


Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack


Screenwriting: James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose


Starring: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher


Review:

This “classic horror-fantasy thriller” FS is “one of the masterpieces of cinema.” FS Willis O’Brien’s ““ground-breaking technical effects (stop-motion animation)” FS “of monster ape Kong [are] still unsurpassed,” LM “an emotional and special-effects marvel.” RS

The movie tells the story of filmmaker Denham (Armstrong) and his plan to shoot a jungle movie starring “a lovely, nubile starlet (Wray)” FS and fortune-hunters “in search of the fabled giant ape, the magnificent, exotic, and dangerous ‘King Kong.’” FS They “travel to remote, fog-shrouded Skull Island…a prehistoric world populated by dinosaurs and giant snakes.” FS

In addition to an adventure story, this is “a beauty-and-the-beast drama.” FS Wray is used to lure and capture the fifty-foot gorilla and then “Denham brings him back to New York City as a sideshow attraction.” FS However, Kong “escapes and goes on a rampage, ransacking the city in search of the young actress.” FS The “final sequence atop Empire State Building is now cinema folklore,” LM “but it wasn’t the airplanes that killed the mighty Kong – ‘It was beauty killed the beast.’” A07

The movie “accomplishes the astounding feat of making a horny male (i.e. Kong) who lusts after a blonde bimbo half his age seem sympathetic, tragic and downright endearing.” ML “Kong is the definitive wronged male of the cinema century.” RS The movie was remade in 1976 and again in 2005.


Sources:

Awards/Honors/Lists:


Dave’s Movie Database Lists:


Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists:


Awards:


Oscars:

Wins: 3 *: Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects

Nominations: 4 *: also nominated for Best Art Direction

* Oscar wins and nominations are for the 2005 version.


Other Lists/Honors:


Critics’ Picks:


First posted 1/8/2020; last updated 6/4/2023.

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