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King Kong (1933 film)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox film
| name = King Kong
| image = Kingkongposter.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director =
| producer =
| screenplay =
| story =
| starring =
| music = Max Steiner
| cinematography =
| editing = Ted Cheesman
| studio = RKO Radio Pictures
| distributor = RKO Radio Pictures
| released =
| runtime =
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $672,254.75*
*
| gross = $5.3 million
}}
'King Kong' is a 1933 American pre-Code adventure fantasy horror monster film directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. The screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose was developed from an idea conceived by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. It stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot, and tells the story of a giant ape dubbed Kong who attempts to possess a beautiful young woman. It features stop-motion animation by Willis O'Brien and a music score by Max Steiner. It is the first entry in the King Kong franchise.
'King Kong' opened in New York City on March 2, 1933, to rave reviews, and has since been ranked by Rotten Tomatoes as the greatest horror film of all time and the fifty-sixth greatest film of all time. In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.Daniel Eagan, (2010). 'America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry.' The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, New York, NY p.22 A sequel, titled 'Son of Kong', was fast-tracked and released the same year, with several more films made in the following decades, including two remakes which were made in 1976 and 2005 respectively, and a reboot in 2017.
Plot
In New York Harbor, filmmaker Carl Denham, known for wildlife films in remote and exotic locations, charters Captain Englehorn's ship, the 'Venture', for his new project. However, he is unable to secure an actress for a female role he has been reluctant to disclose. Searching in the streets of New York City, he finds Ann Darrow and promises her the adventure of a lifetime. The crew boards the 'Venture' and sets off, during which the ship's first mate, Jack Driscoll, falls in love with Ann. Denham reveals to the crew that their destination is in fact Skull Island, an uncharted territory. He alludes to a mysterious entity named 'Kong', rumored to dwell on the island. The crew arrives and anchor offshore. They encounter a native village, separated from the rest of the island by an enormous stone wall with a large wooden gate. They witness a group of natives preparing to sacrifice a young woman termed the "bride of Kong". The intruders are spotted and the native chief stops the ceremony. When he sees Ann, he offers to trade six of his tribal women for the "golden woman". They refuse him and return to the ship.
That night, the natives kidnap Ann from the ship and take her through the gate and onto an altar, where she is offered to King Kong, a giant gorilla-like beast. Kong carries a terrified Ann away as Denham, Jack and some volunteers enter the jungle in hopes of rescuing her. They encounter a living dinosaur, a charging 'Stegosaurus', which they manage to kill. Soon after, the crew runs into an aggressive 'Brontosaurus' and eventually Kong himself, leaving Jack and Denham as the only survivors. After Kong slays a 'Tyrannosaurus rex' that tried to eat Ann, Jack continues to follow them while Denham returns to the village for more men. Upon arriving in Kong's mountain lair, Ann is menaced by a snake-like 'Elasmosaurus', which Kong also kills. While Kong is distracted killing a 'Pteranodon' that tried to fly away with Ann, Jack reaches her and they climb down a vine dangling from a cliff ledge. When Kong notices and starts pulling them back up, the two drop into the water below. They run through the jungle and back to the village, where Denham, Englehorn, and the surviving crewmen are waiting. Kong, following, breaks open the gate and relentlessly rampages through the village. Onshore, Denham, now determined to bring Kong back alive, renders him unconscious with a gas bomb.
Shackled in chains, Kong is taken to New York City and presented to a Broadway theatre audience as "Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World!". Ann and Jack are brought on stage to join him, surrounded by a group of press photographers. Kong, believing that the ensuing flash photography is an attack, breaks loose as the audience flees in horror. Ann is whisked away to a hotel room on a high floor, but Kong, scaling the building, soon finds her. He rampages through the city as Ann screams in his grasp; wrecking a crowded elevated train and eventually climbing the Empire State Building. At its top, he is attacked by four airplanes. Kong destroys one, but finally succumbs to their gunfire. He gazes at Ann one last time before falling to his death. Jack takes an elevator to the top of the building and reunites with Ann. Denham arrives and pushes through a crowd surrounding Kong's corpse in the street. When a policeman remarks that the planes got him, Denham tells him, "No, it wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast".
Cast
for 'The Ex-Mrs. Bradford' (1936)
* Fay Wray as Ann Darrow: Canadian-born American actress Fay Wray played bit parts in Hollywood until cast as the lead in Erich von Stroheim's silent film, 'The Wedding March' (1928). She met 'Kong' co-directors Cooper and Schoedsack when cast as Ethne Eustace in 'The Four Feathers' (1929). Cooper cast her as Eve Trowbridge in 'The Most Dangerous Game' (1932).Morton 313 After the RKO board approved the 'Kong' test, Cooper decided a blonde would provide contrast to the gorilla's dark pelt. Dorothy Jordan, Jean Harlow, and Ginger Rogers were considered, but the role finally went to Wray who wore a blonde wig in the film and was inspired more by Cooper's enthusiasm than the script to accept the role. According to her autobiography, 'On the Other Hand', Wray recounts that Cooper had told her he planned to star her opposite the "tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood". She assumed he meant Clark Gable until he showed her a picture of Kong climbing the Empire State Building. On the film's 50th anniversary in 1983, one New York theater held a Fay Wray scream-alike contest in its lobby, and on August 10, 2004, two days after Wray died, the lights of the Empire State Building were dimmed for 15 minutes in her memory.United Press International
* Robert Armstrong as Carl Denham: Michigan native and veteran Broadway and silent film character actor Robert Armstrong played Wray's alcoholic brother in 'The Most Dangerous Game' and, during filming, became a member of the Cooper-Schoedsack inner circle. He was a shoo-in as Denham when 'Kong' was cast. The film's romantic angle (rather than its jungle or animal angle) was played up after animal films fared poorly at the box office in the early months of 1933. One exhibitor displayed a promotional still of Wray swooning in Armstrong's arms with the caption, "Their Hearts Stood Still...For There Stood Kong! A Love Story of Today That Spans the Ages!". Although the film's romantic subplot belongs to Cabot and Wray, established star Armstrong was chosen for the ad rather than the unknown Cabot.Erb 545 Months later, Armstrong again played Carl Denham in 'Kong' sequel, 'Son of Kong' (1933).Morton 312
* Bruce Cabot as John "Jack" Driscoll: New Mexico native Jacques De Bujac was signed by Selznick as a contract player, given the name Bruce Cabot, and met Cooper when auditioning for 'The Most Dangerous Game'. He almost walked out of his 'Kong' audition (mistakenly believing he was trying out as a stunt double for Joel McCrea, who was originally intended for Driscoll) but was convinced otherwise and received the role of Jack Driscoll, his first starring role.Morton 32 He was an inexperienced actor and described his participation in 'Kong' as standing in the right place, doing what he was told, and collecting a paycheck.Morton 49
* Frank Reicher as Captain Englehorn
* Sam Hardy as Charles Weston
* Noble Johnson as the Native Chief
* Steve Clemente as the Witch King
* Victor Wong as Charlie
* Everett Brown as the Native in Ape Costume (uncredited)
James Flavin played Second Mate Briggs, and a host of stuntmen and bit players as the ship's crew. Etta McDaniel played a native mother of a child she rescues from Kong's rampage. Sandra Shaw played the New York woman that looks down at Kong, from her hotel room window, screams and then retreats back into her hotel room. Merian C. Cooper played an airplane pilot and Schoedsack the machine gunner in uncredited roles in the film's final scenes.Morton 33 James Dime played a member of the ship's crew.
Development
Background
's 'Tyrannosaurus' in the American Museum of Natural History, on which the large theropod of the film was basedOrville Goldner, George E Turner (1975). 'Making of King Kong: The Story Behind a Film Classic'. . See also 'Spawn of Skull Island' (2002).Before 'King Kong' entered production, a long tradition of jungle films existed, and, whether drama or documentary, such films (for example 'Stark Mad') generally adhered to a narrative pattern that followed an explorer or scientist into the jungle to test a theory only to discover some monstrous aberration in the undergrowth. In these films, scientific knowledge could be subverted at any time, and it was this that provided the genre with its vitality, appeal, and endurance.Peary
In the early 20th century, few zoos had primate exhibits so there was popular demand to see primates on film. At the turn of the 20th century, the Lumire Brothers sent film documentarians to places westerners had never seen, and Georges Mlis utilized trick photography in film fantasies that prefigured that in 'King Kong'. Jungle films were launched in the United States with 'Beasts in the Jungle' (1913), and the film's popularity spawned similar pictures such as 'Tarzan of the Apes' (1918). 'The Lost World' (1925), made movie history with special effects by Willis O'Brien and a crew that later would work on 'King Kong'.Morton 21 'King Kong' producer Ernest B. Schoedsack had earlier monkey experience directing 'Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness' (1927), also with Merian C. Cooper, and 'Rango' (1931), both of which prominently featured monkeys in authentic jungle settings. Capitalizing on this trend, Congo Pictures released the hoax documentary 'Ingagi' (1930), advertising the film as "an authentic incontestable celluloid document showing the sacrifice of a living woman to mammoth gorillas." 'Ingagi' is now often recognized as a racial exploitation film as it implicitly depicted black women having sex with gorillas, and baby offspring that looked more ape than human.Gerald Peary, [http://www.geraldpeary.com/essays/jkl/kingkong-1.html 'Missing Links: The Jungle Origins of King Kong' (1976)] , repr. 'Gerald Peary: Film Reviews, Interviews, Essays, and Sundry Miscellany', 2004. The film was an immediate hit, and by some estimates, it was one of the highest-grossing films of the 1930s at over $4 million. Although Cooper never listed 'Ingagi' among his influences for 'King Kong,' it has long been held that RKO greenlighted 'Kong' because of the bottom-line example of 'Ingagi' and the formula that "gorillas plus sexy women in peril equals enormous profits".
Concept
animated King Kong atop the Empire State Building and battling a Curtiss F8C Helldiver airplane
Merian C. Cooper's fascination with gorillas began with his boyhood reading of Paul Du Chaillu's 'Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa' (1861) and was furthered in 1929 by studying a tribe of baboons in Africa while filming 'The Four Feathers'. After reading W. Douglas Burden's 'The Dragon Lizards of Komodo', he fashioned a scenario depicting African gorillas battling Komodo dragons intercut with artificial stand-ins for joint shots. He then narrowed the 'dramatis personae' to one ferocious, lizard-battling gorilla (rather than a group) and included a lone woman on an expedition to appease those critics who belabored him for neglecting romance in his films. A remote island would be the setting and the gorilla would be dealt a spectacular death in New York City.Morton 178
Cooper took his concept to Paramount Studios in the first years of the Great Depression but executives shied away from a project that sent film crews on costly shoots to Africa and Komodo. In 1931, David O. Selznick brought Cooper to RKO as his executive assistant and promised him he could make his own films. Cooper began immediately developing 'The Most Dangerous Game', and hired Ernest B. Schoedsack to direct. A huge jungle stage set was built, with Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray as the stars. Once the film was under way, Cooper turned his attention to the studio's big-budget-out-of-control fantasy, 'Creation', a project with stop motion animator Willis O'Brien about a group of travelers shipwrecked on an island of dinosaurs.Morton 1820
When Cooper screened O'Brien's stop-motion 'Creation' footage, he was unimpressed but realized he could economically make his gorilla picture by scrapping the Komodo dragons and costly location shoots for O'Brien's animated dinosaurs and the studio's existing jungle set. It was at this time Cooper probably cast his gorilla as a giant named Kong and planned to have him die at the Empire State Building. The RKO board was wary about the project but gave its approval after Cooper organized a presentation with Wray, Armstrong, and Cabot, and O'Brien's model dinosaurs. In his executive capacity, Cooper ordered the 'Creation' production shelved, and put its crew to work on 'Kong'.Morton 225
Script
Cooper assigned a recently hired RKO screenwriter and best-selling British mystery/adventure writer Edgar Wallace the job of writing a screenplay and a novel based on his gorilla fantasy. Cooper understood the commercial appeal of Wallace's work and planned to publicize the film as being "based on the novel by Edgar Wallace". Wallace conferred with Cooper and O'Brien (who contributed, among other things, the "Ann's dress" scene) and began work on January 1, 1932. He completed a rough draft called 'The Beast' on January 5, 1932. Cooper thought the draft needed considerable work, but Wallace died on February 10, 1932, just after beginning revisions.Morton, p. 257 Despite not using any of the drafts in the final product beyond the previously agreed upon plot outline, Cooper gave screen credit to Wallace as he had promised it as a producer.
Cooper recruited James Ashmore Creelman (who was working on the script of 'The Most Dangerous Game' at the time) and the two men worked together on several drafts under the title 'The Eighth Wonder'. Some details from Wallace's rough draft were dropped, such as his boatload of escaped convicts. Wallace's Danby Denham character, a big game hunter, became film director Carl Denham. His Shirley became Ann Darrow, and her lover-convict John became Jack Driscoll. The "beauty and the beast" angle was first developed at this time. Kong's escape was switched from Madison Square Garden to Yankee Stadium and (finally) to a Broadway theater. Cute moments involving the gorilla in Wallace's draft were cut because Cooper wanted Kong to be hard and tough in the belief that his fall would be all the more awesome and tragic.
Time constraints forced Creelman to temporarily drop 'The Eighth Wonder' and devote his time to the 'Game' script. RKO staff writer Horace McCoy was also recruited to work with Cooper, and it was he who introduced the island natives, a giant wall, and the sacrificial maidens into the plot. Leon Gordon also contributed to the screenplay in a minimal capacity; both he and McCoy went uncredited in the completed film.Erb, p. 31 When Creelman returned to the script full-time, he hated McCoy's "mythic elements," believing the script already had too many over-the-top concepts, but Cooper insisted on keeping them in the script. RKO
chief Selznick and his executives wanted Kong introduced earlier in the film (believing the audience would grow bored waiting for his appearance), but Cooper persuaded them that
a suspenseful build-up would make Kong's entrance all the more exciting.Morton, p. 28
Cooper felt Creelman's final draft was slow-paced, too full of flowery dialogue, weighted-down with long scenes of exposition, and written on a scale that would have been prohibitively expensive to film.Goldner (page unknown) Writer Ruth Rose (Schoedsack's wife) was recruited to do rewrites and, although she had never written a screenplay, undertook the task with a complete understanding of Cooper's style, streamlining the script and tightening the action. Rather than explaining how Kong would be transported to New York, for example, she simply cut from the island to the theater. She incorporated autobiographical elements into the script with Cooper mirrored in the Denham character, her husband Schoedsack in the tough but tender Driscoll character, and herself in struggling actress Ann Darrow. Rose also rewrote the dialogue and created the film's opening sequence, showing Denham meeting Ann on the streets of New York. Cooper was delighted with Rose's script, approving the newly re-titled 'Kong' for production.Morton, p. 289 Cooper and Schoedsack decided to co-direct scenes but their styles were different (Cooper was slow and meticulous, Schoedsack brisk) and they finally agreed to work separately, with Cooper overseeing O'Brien's miniature work and directing the special effects sequences, and Schoedsack directing the dialogue scenes.Morton, p. 29
Production
Models
displaying prominent belly and buttocks. 'Kong' modelers would streamline the armature's torso to minimize the comical and awkward aspects of the gorilla's physique.After the RKO board approved the production of a test reel, Marcel Delgado constructed Kong (or the "Giant Terror Gorilla" as he was then known) per designs and directions from Cooper and O'Brien on a one-inch-equals-one-foot scale to simulate a gorilla 18 feet tall. Four models were built: two jointed 18-inch aluminum, foam rubber, latex, and rabbit fur models (to be rotated during filming), one jointed 24-inch model of the same materials for the New York scenes, and a small model of lead and fur for the climactic plummeting-down-the-Empire-State-Building shot. At least two armatures have survived one believed to be the original made for the test footage and are owned by Peter Jackson and Bob Burns.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIbYsYqZxPQ Peter Jackson interviewed about his film memorabilia collection] YouTube. Retrieved February 1, 2017 In 2009, one sold for 121,000 ($200,000) at Christie's in London.[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/original-king-kong-model-sells-for-200k/ Original King Kong model sells for 200k] CBS News. Retrieved February 1, 2017
Kong's torso was streamlined to eliminate the comical appearance of the real-world gorilla's prominent belly and buttocks. His lips, eyebrows, and nose were fashioned of rubber, his eyes of glass, and his facial expressions controlled by thin, bendable wires threaded through holes drilled in his aluminum skull. During filming, Kong's rubber skin dried out quickly under studio lights, making it necessary to replace it often and completely rebuild his facial features.Morton 335
A huge bust of Kong's head, neck, and upper chest was made of wood, cloth, rubber, and bearskin by Delgado, E. B. Gibson, and Fred Reese. Inside the structure, metal levers, hinges, and an air compressor were operated by three men to control the mouth and facial expressions. Its fangs were 10 inches in length and its eyeballs 12 inches in diameter. The bust was moved from set to set on a flatcar. Its scale matched none of the models and, if fully realized, Kong would have stood thirty to forty feet tall.Morton 356
Two versions of Kong's right hand and arm were constructed of steel, sponge rubber, rubber, and bearskin. The first hand was non articulated, mounted on a crane, and operated by grips for the scene in which Kong grabs at Driscoll in the cave. The other hand and arm had articulated fingers, was mounted on a lever to elevate it, and was used in the several scenes in which Kong grasps Ann. A nonarticulated leg was created of materials similar to the hands, mounted on a crane, and used to stomp on Kong's victims.Morton 36
' used in the film.
The dinosaurs were made by Delgado in the same fashion as Kong and based on Charles R. Knight's murals in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. All the armatures were manufactured in the RKO machine shop. Materials used were cotton, foam rubber, latex sheeting, and liquid latex. Football bladders were placed inside some models to simulate breathing. A scale of one-inch-equals-one-foot was employed and models ranged from 18 inches to 3 feet in length. Several of the models were originally built for 'Creation' and sometimes two or three models were built of individual species. Prolonged exposure to studio lights wreaked havoc with the latex skin so John Cerasoli carved wooden duplicates of each model to be used as stand-ins for test shoots and lineups. He carved wooden models of Ann, Driscoll, and other human characters. Models of the 'Venture', railway cars, and warplanes were built.Morton 368
Special effects
'King Kong' is well known for its groundbreaking use of special effects, such as stop-motion animation, matte painting, rear projection and miniatures, all of which were conceived decades before the digital age.Wasko, Janet. (2003). 'How Hollywood Works'. California: SAGE Publications Ltd. p.53.
The numerous prehistoric creatures inhabiting Skull Island were brought to life through the use of stop-motion animation by Willis O'Brien and his assistant animator, Buzz Gibson.Bordwell, David, Thompson, Kristin, Smith, Jeff. (2017). 'Film Art: An Introduction.' New York: McGraw-Hill. p.388. The stop-motion animation scenes were painstaking and difficult to achieve and complete after the special effects crew realized that they could not stop because it would make the movements of the creatures seem inconsistent and the lighting would not have the same intensity over the many days it took to fully animate a finished sequence. A device called the surface gauge was used in order to keep track of the stop-motion animation performance. The iconic fight between Kong and the 'Tyrannosaurus' took seven weeks to be completed. O'Brien's protg, Ray Harryhausen, who later worked with him on several films, stated that O'Brien's second wife noticed that there was so much of her husband in Kong.
The backdrop of the island seen when the Venture crew first arrive was painted on glass by matte painters Henry Hillinck, Mario Larrinaga, and Byron C. Crabb. The scene was then composited with separate bird elements and rear-projected behind the ship and the actors. The background of the scenes in the jungle (a miniature set) was also painted on several layers of glass to convey the illusion of deep and dense jungle foliage.Harryhausen, Ray. (1983). 'Animating the Ape'. In: Lloyd, Ann. (ed.) 'Movies of the Thirties'. UK: Orbis Publishing Ltd. p.173.
The most difficult task for the special effects crew to achieve was to make live-action footage interact with separately filmed stop-motion animation to make the interaction between the humans and the creatures of the island seem believable. The most simple of these effects were accomplished by exposing part of the frame, then running the same piece of the film through the camera again by exposing the other part of the frame with a different image. The most complex shots, where the live-action actors interacted with the stop-motion animation, were achieved via two different techniques, the Dunning process and the Williams process, in order to produce the effect of a traveling matte.Corrigan, Timothy, White, Patricia. (2015). 'The Film Experience'. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. pp.120121. The Dunning process, invented by cinematographer Carroll H. Dunning, employed the use of blue and yellow lights that were filtered and photographed into the black-and-white film. Bi-packing of the camera was used for these types of effects. With it, the special effects crew could combine two strips of different films at the same time, creating the final composite shot in the camera.Harryhausen 172173 It was used in the climactic scene where one of the Curtiss Helldiver planes attacking Kong crashes from the top of the Empire State Building, and in the scene where natives are running through the foreground, while Kong is fighting other natives at the wall.
On the other hand, the Williams process, invented by cinematographer Frank D. Williams, did not require a system of colored lights and could be used for wider shots. It was used in the scene where Kong is shaking the sailors off the log, as well as the scene where Kong pushes the gates open. The Williams process did not use bipacking, but rather an optical printer, the first such device that synchronized a projector with a camera, so that several strips of film could be combined into a single composited image. Through the use of the optical printer, the special effects crew could film the foreground, the stop-motion animation, the live-action footage, and the background, and combine all of those elements into one single shot, eliminating the need to create the effects in the camera.Dyson, Jeremy. (1997). 'Bright Darkness: The Lost Art of the Supernatural Horror Film.' London: Cassell. p.38.
. Another technique that was used in combining live actors and stop-motion animation was rear-screen projection. The actor would have a translucent screen behind him where a projector would project footage onto the back of the translucent screen.Harryhausen 173 The translucent screen was developed by Sidney Saunders and Fred Jackman, who received a Special Achievement Oscar. It was used in the famous scene where Kong and the 'Tyrannosaurus' fight while Ann watches from the branches of a nearby tree. The stop-motion animation was filmed first. Fay Wray then spent a twenty-two-hour period sitting in a fake tree acting out her observation of the battle, which was projected onto the translucent screen while the camera filmed her witnessing the projected stop-motion battle. She was sore for days after the shoot. The same process was also used for the scene where sailors from the Venture kill a Stegosaurus.
O'Brien and his special effects crew also devised a way to use rear projection in miniature sets. A tiny screen was built into the miniature onto which live-action footage would then be projected. A fan was used to prevent the footage that was projected from melting or catching fire. This miniature rear projection was used in the scene where Kong is trying to grab Driscoll, who is hiding in a cave. The scene where Kong puts Ann at the top of a tree switched from a puppet in Kong's hand to projected footage of Ann sitting.
The scene where Kong fights the Tanystropheus in his lair was likely the most significant special effects achievement of the film, due to the way in which all of the elements in the sequence work together at the same time. The scene was accomplished through the use of a miniature set, stop-motion animation for Kong, background matte paintings, real water, foreground rocks with bubbling mud, smoke, and two miniature rear screen projections of Driscoll and Ann.
Over the years, some media reports have alleged that in certain scenes Kong was played by an actor wearing a gorilla suit. However, film historians have generally agreed that all scenes involving Kong were achieved with animated models.
Live-action scenes
'King Kong' was filmed in several stages over an eight-month period. Some actors had so much time between their 'Kong' periods that they were able to fully complete work on other films. Cabot completed 'Road House' and Wray appeared in the horror films 'Dr. X' (1932) and 'Mystery of the Wax Museum' (1933). She estimated she worked for ten weeks on 'Kong' over its eight-month production.In May and June 1932, Cooper directed the first live-action 'Kong' scenes on the jungle set built for 'The Most Dangerous Game'. Some of these scenes were incorporated into the test reel later exhibited for the RKO board. The script was still in revision when the jungle scenes were shot and much of the dialogue was improvised. The jungle set was scheduled to be struck after 'Game' was completed, so Cooper filmed all of the other jungle scenes at this time. The last scene shot was that of Driscoll and Ann racing through the jungle to safety following their escape from Kong's lair.
In July 1932, the native village was readied while Schoedsack and his crew filmed establishing shots in the harbor of New York City. Curtiss F8C-5/O2C-1 Helldiver warplanes taking off and in flight were filmed at a U.S. Naval airfield on Long Island. Views of New York City were filmed from the Empire State Building for backgrounds in the final scenes and architectural plans for the mooring mast were secured from the building's owners for a mock-up to be constructed on the Hollywood sound stage.Goldner 173
In August 1932, the island landing party scene and the gas bomb scene were filmed south of Los Angeles on a beach at San Pedro, California. All of the native village scenes were then filmed on the RKO-Path lot in Culver City with the native huts recycled from 'Bird of Paradise' (1932). The great wall in the island scenes was a hand-me-down from DeMille's 'The King of Kings' (1927) and dressed up with massive gates, a gong, and primitive carvings. The scene of Ann being led through the gates to the sacrificial altar was filmed at night with hundreds of extras and 350 lights for illumination. A camera was mounted on a crane to follow Ann to the altar. The Culver City Fire Department was on hand due to concerns that the set might go up in flames from the many native torches used in the scene. The wall and gate were destroyed in 1939 for 'Gone With the Wind's burning of Atlanta sequence. Hundreds of extras were once again used for Kong's rampage through the native village, and filming was completed with individual vignettes of mayhem and native panic.
Meanwhile, the scene depicting a New York woman being dropped to her death from a hotel window was filmed on the sound stage using the articulated hand. At the same time, a scene depicting poker players surprised by Kong's face peering through a window was filmed using the 'big head', although the scene was eventually dropped.Goldner 165 When filming was completed, a break was scheduled to finish construction of the interior sets and to allow screenwriter Ruth Rose time to finish the script.
In SeptemberOctober 1932, Schoedsack returned to the sound stage after completing the native village shoots in Culver City. The decks and cabins of the 'Venture' were constructed and all the live-action shipboard scenes were then filmed. The New York scenes were filmed, including the scene of Ann being plucked from the streets by Denham, and the diner scene. Following completion of the interior scenes, Schoedsack returned to San Pedro and spent a day on a tramp steamer to film the scene of Driscoll punching Ann and various atmospheric harbor scenes. The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles was rented for one day to film the scenes where Kong is displayed in chains and the backstage theater scenes following his escape.Goldner 159 Principal photography wrapped at the end of October 1932 with the filming of the climax wherein Driscoll and Ann reunite at the top of the Empire State Building. Schoedsack's work was completed and he headed to Syria to film outdoor scenes for 'Arabia', a project that was never completed.Goldner 185
In December 1932 January 1933, the actors were called back to film a number of optical effects shots which were mostly rear-screen projections. Technical problems inherent in the process made filming difficult and time-consuming. Many of the scenes featuring Wray in the articulated hand were filmed at this time. In December, Cooper re-shot the scene of the female New Yorker falling to her death. Stunt doubles were filmed for the water scenes depicting Driscoll and Ann escaping from Kong. A portion of the jungle set was reconstructed to film Denham snagging his sleeve on a branch during the pursuit scene. Originally, Denham ducked behind a bush to escape danger, but this was later considered cowardly and the scene was re-shot. The final scene was originally staged on the top of the Empire State Building, but Cooper was dissatisfied and reshot the scene with Kong lying dead in the street with the crowd gathered about him. The final negative cost of King Kong was $672,254.75, $270,000 more than the original projected budget.
Post-production
Murray Spivack provided the sound effects for the film. Kong's roar was created by mixing the recorded vocals of captive lions and tigers, subsequently played backward slowly. Spivak himself provided Kong's "love grunts" by grunting into a megaphone and playing it at a slow speed. For the huge ape's footsteps, Spivak stomped across a gravel-filled box with plungers wrapped in foam attached to his own feet, while the sounds of his chest beats were recorded by Spivak hitting his assistant (who had a microphone held to his back) on the chest with a drumstick. Spivak created the hisses and croaks of the dinosaurs with an air compressor for the former and his own vocals for the latter. The vocalizations of the Tyrannosaurus were additionally mixed in with puma screams while bird squawks were used for the Pteranodon. Spivak also provided the numerous screams of the various sailors; Fay Wray herself provided all of her character's screams in a single recording session.Morton 756For budgetary reasons, RKO decided not to have an original film score composed, instead instructing composer Max Steiner to simply reuse music from other films. Cooper thought the film deserved an original score and paid Steiner $50,000 to compose it. Steiner completed the score in six weeks and recorded it with a 46-piece orchestra. The studio later reimbursed Cooper.Morton 767 The score was unlike any that came before and marked a significant change in the history of film music. 'King Kong's score was the first feature-length musical score written for an American "talkie" film, the first major Hollywood film to have a thematic score rather than background music, the first to mark the use of a 46-piece orchestra and the first to be recorded on three separate tracks (sound effects, dialogue, and music). Steiner used a number of new film scoring techniques, such as drawing upon opera conventions for his use of leitmotifs. Over the years, Steiner's score was recorded by multiple record labels and the original motion picture soundtrack has been issued on a compact disc.
Release
, where 'King Kong' held its world premiere
Theatrical
'King Kong' opened at the 6,200-seat Radio City Music Hall in New York City and the 3,700-seat RKO Roxy across the street on Thursday, March 2, 1933. The film was preceded by a stage show called 'Jungle Rhythms'. Crowds lined up around the block on opening day, tickets were priced at $.35 to $.75, and, in its first four days, every one of its ten-shows-a-day was sold out setting an all-time attendance record for an indoor event. Over the four-day period, the film grossed $89,931.Morton 78The film had its official world premiere on March 23, 1933, at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The 'big head bust' was placed in the theater's forecourt and a seventeen-act show preceded the film with 'The Dance of the Sacred Ape' performed by a troupe of African American dancers. The 'Kong' cast and crew attended, though Wray thought her on-screen screams were distracting and excessive. The film opened nationwide on April 10, 1933, and worldwide on Easter Day in London, England. It was re-released in 1938, 1942, 1946, 1952 and 1956, the latter following a successful telecast on WOR-TV.
Censorship and restorations
The Production Code's stricter decency rules had been put into effect in Hollywood after its 1933 premiere and it was progressively censored further, with several scenes being either trimmed or excised altogether. These scenes were as follows:* The Brontosaurus mauling crewmen in the water, chasing one up a tree and killing him.
* Kong undressing Ann Darrow and sniffing his fingers.
* Kong biting and stepping on natives when he attacks the village.
* Kong biting a man in New York.
* Kong mistaking a sleeping woman for Ann and dropping her to her death, after realizing his mistake.
* An additional scene portraying giant insects, spiders, a reptile-like predator and a tentacled creature devouring the crew members shaken off the log by Kong into the floor of the canyon below was deemed too gruesome by RKO even by pre-Code standards, and thus the scene was studio self-censored prior to the original release. Though searched for, the footage is now considered "lost forever" with only a few stills and pre-production drawings.Morton 834 After the 1956 re-release, the film was sold to television (first being broadcast March 5, 1956).
RKO did not preserve copies of the film's negative or release prints with the excised footage, and the cut scenes were considered lost for many years. In 1969, a 16mm print, including the censored footage, was found in Philadelphia. The cut scenes were added to the film, restoring it to its original theatrical running time of 100 minutes. This version was re-released to art houses by Janus Films in 1970. Over the next two decades, Universal Studios undertook further photochemical restoration of 'King Kong'. This was based on a 1942 release print with missing censor cuts taken from a 1937 print, which "contained heavy vertical scratches from projection."[http://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/dcp/news/king-kong/43148 Millimeter Magazine article, 1 January 2006] Retrieved: March 15, 2012 An original release print located in the UK in the 1980s was found to contain the cut scenes in better quality. After a 6-year worldwide search for the best surviving materials, a further, fully digital restoration utilizing 4K resolution was completed by Warner Bros. in 2005.[http://www.thedigitalbits.com/site_archive/articles/robertharris/harris102505.html "Robert A. Harris On King Kong"] Retrieved: March 15, 2012, This restoration also had a 4-minute overture added, bringing the overall running time to 104 minutes.
Somewhat controversially, 'King Kong' was colorized for a 1989 Turner Home Entertainment video release. The following year, this colorized version was shown on Turner's TNT channel.[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/2690/King-Kong/misc-notes.html "King Kong: Miscellaneous Notes" at TCM] Retrieved: March 15, 2012
Home media
In 1984, 'King Kong' was one of the first films to be released on LaserDisc by the Criterion Collection, and was the first movie to have an audio commentary track included. Criterion's audio commentary was by film historian Ron Haver; in 1985 released another LaserDisc, this time with a commentary by film historian and soundtrack producer Paul Mandell. The Haver commentary was preserved in full on the FilmStruck streaming service. 'King Kong' had numerous VHS and LaserDisc releases of varying quality prior to receiving an official studio release on DVD. Those included a Turner 60th-anniversary edition in 1993 featuring a front cover that had the sound effect of Kong roaring when his chest was pressed. It also included a 25-minute documentary, 'It Was Beauty Killed the Beast' (1992). The documentary is also available on two different UK 'King Kong' DVDs, while the colorized version is available on DVD in the UK and Italy.[http://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=2930 DVDCompare.com: 'King Kong' (1933)] Retrieved: April 8, 2012 Warner Home Video re-released the black and white version on VHS in 1998 and again in 1999 under the 'Warner Bros. Classics' label, with this release including the 25-minute 1992 documentary.In 2005, Warner Bros released their digital restoration of 'King Kong' in a US 2-disc Special Edition DVD, coinciding with the theatrical release of Peter Jackson's remake. It had numerous extra features, including a new, third audio commentary by visual effects artists Ray Harryhausen and Ken Ralston, with archival excerpts from actress Fay Wray and producer/director Merian C. Cooper. Warners issued identical DVDs in 2006 in Australia and New Zealand, followed by a US digibook-packaged Blu-ray in 2010.[http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/kingkong.htm DVDBeaver.com 'King Kong' comparison] Retrieved: June 14, 2015 In 2014, the Blu-ray was repackaged with three unrelated films in a '4 Film Favorites: Colossal Monster Collection'. At present, Universal holds worldwide rights to 'Kong's home video releases outside of North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. All Universal's releases only contain their earlier, 100 minutes, pre-2005 restoration.
Reception
Box office
The film was a box-office success, earning about $5 million in worldwide rentals on its initial release, and an opening weekend estimated at $90,000. Receipts fell by up to 50% during the second week of the film's release because of the national "bank holiday" declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's during his first days in office. During the film's first run it made a profit of $650,000. Prior to the 1952 re-release, the film is reported to have worldwide rentals of $2,847,000 including $1,070,000 from the United States and Canada and profits of $1,310,000. After the 1952 re-release, 'Variety' estimated the film had earned an additional $1.6 million in the United States and Canada, bringing its total to $3.9 million in cumulative domestic (United States and Canada) rentals. Profits from the 1952 re-release were estimated by the studio at $2.5 million.Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 98% based on , with an average rating of 9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "'King Kong' explores the soul of a monster making audiences scream and cry throughout the film in large part due to Kong's breakthrough special effects." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".'Variety' thought the film was a powerful adventure.Bigelow 'The New York Times' gave readers an enthusiastic account of the plot and thought the film a fascinating adventure.Hall John Mosher of 'The New Yorker' called it "ridiculous", but wrote that there were "many scenes in this picture that are certainly diverting". The 'New York World-Telegram' said it was "one of the very best of all the screen thrillers, done with all the cinema's slickest camera tricks". The 'Chicago Tribune' called it "one of the most original, thrilling and mammoth novelties to emerge from a movie studio."
On February 3, 2002, Roger Ebert included 'King Kong' in his "Great Movies" list, writing that "In modern times the movie has aged, as critic James Berardinelli observes, and 'advances in technology and acting have dated aspects of the production.' Yes, but in the very artificiality of some of the special effects, there is a creepiness that isn't there in today's slick, flawless, computer-aided images... Even allowing for its slow start, wooden acting, and wall-to-wall screaming, there is something ageless and primeval about 'King Kong' that still somehow works."
Criticism of racism
In the 19th and early 20th century, people of African descent were commonly represented visually as ape-like, a metaphor that fit racist stereotypes further bolstered by the emergence of scientific racism.Grant, Elizabeth. (1996). 'Here Comes the Bride.' In: Grant, Barry Keith (ed.). The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film. Austin: University of Texas Press. P.373 Early films frequently mirrored racial tensions. While 'King Kong' is often compared to the story of 'Beauty and the Beast', many film scholars have argued that the film was a cautionary tale about interracial romance, in which the film's "carrier of blackness is not a human being, but an ape".Kuhn, Annette. (2007). 'King Kong'. In: Cook, Pam. (ed.) The Cinema Book. London: British Film Institute. P,41. and Robinson, D. (1983). 'King Kong'. In: Lloyd, A. (ed.) Movies of the Thirties. Orbis Publishing Ltd. p.58.Cooper and Schoedsack rejected any allegorical interpretations, insisting in interviews that the film's story contained no hidden meanings. In an interview, which was published posthumously, Cooper actually explained the deeper meaning of the film. The inspiration for the climactic scene came when, "as he was leaving his office in Manhattan, he heard the sound of an airplane motor. He reflexively looked up as the sun glinted off the wings of a plane flying extremely close to the tallest building in the city... he realized if he placed the giant gorilla on top of the tallest building in the world and had him shot down by the most modern of weapons, the armed airplane, he would have a story of the primitive doomed by modern civilization."
The film was initially banned in Nazi Germany, with the censors describing it as an "attack against the nerves of the German people" and a "violation of German race feeling". However, according to confidant Ernst Hanfstaengl, Adolf Hitler was "fascinated" by the film and saw it several times.
Accolades
'Kong' did not receive any Academy Awards nominations. Selznick wanted to nominate O'Brien and his crew for a special award in visual effects but the Academy declined. Such a category did not exist at the time and would not exist until 1938. Sidney Saunders and Fred Jackman received a special achievement award for the development of the translucent acetate/cellulose rear screen the only 'Kong'-related award.Morton 81Legacy
The film has since received some significant honors. In 1975, 'Kong' was named one of the 50 best American films by the American Film Institute. In 1981, a video game titled 'Donkey Kong', starring a character with similarities to Kong, was released. In 1991, the film was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.Eagan 22 In 1998, the AFI ranked the film #43 on its list of the 100 greatest movies of all time.Morton 85After a successful re-release in 1952, the film also paved the way for many films centered around Giant Monsters, and is one of the biggest inspirations for films such as 'The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms' and 'Godzilla', with Tomoyuki Tanaka (the creator of Godzilla) stating, "I felt like doing something big. That was my motivation. I thought of different ideas. I like monster movies, and I was influenced by 'King Kong'."
'American Film Institute Lists'
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies #43
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills #12
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions #24
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
** Kong Nominated Villain
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
** "Oh, no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast." #84
* AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores #13
* AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) #41
* AFI's 10 Top 10 #4 Fantasy film
Sequel and franchise
The 1933 'King Kong' film and characters inspired imitations and installments. 'The Son of Kong', a direct sequel to the 1933 film was released nine months after the first film's release. In the early 1960s, RKO had licensed the King Kong character to Japanese studio Toho and produced two King Kong films, 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' which was also the third film in Toho's long-running ' Godzilla' series, and 'King Kong Escapes', both directed by Ishir Honda. These films are mostly unrelated to the original and follow a very different style.
In 1976, Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis released his version of 'King Kong', a modern remake of the 1933 film, following the same basic plot, but moving the setting to the present day and changing many details. The remake was followed by a sequel in 1986 titled 'King Kong Lives'.
In 1998, the film also saw a loosely-adapted direct-to-video animated remake, 'The Mighty Kong', directed by Art Scott, scored by the Sherman Brothers and distributed by Warner Bros.
In 2005, Universal Pictures released another remake of 'King Kong', co-written and directed by Peter Jackson, which is set in 1933, as in the original film.
Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. released a Kong reboot film titled 'Kong: Skull Island' in 2017 which was directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts and is the second installment of Legendary's 'MonsterVerse', with a sequel 'Godzilla vs. Kong' directed by Adam Wingard released in 2021, marking the second time Kong fights Godzilla.
See also
* List of films featuring giant monsters
* List of stop motion films
* 1933 in film
* List of highest-grossing films
* Skull Island
* 'Mighty Joe Young' (1949)
* 'The Lost World' (1925)
* 'Ingagi' (1930)
* 'Stark Mad' (1929)
References
Bibliography
** Annette, Kuhn. (2007). 'King Kong'. In: Cook, Pam. (ed.) The Cinema Book. London: British Film Institute. P,41. and Robinson, D. (1983). 'King Kong'. In: Lloyd, A. (ed.) Movies of the Thirties. Orbis Publishing Ltd.
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* Eagan, Daniel (2010). America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, New York, NY p. 22.
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* Grant, Elizabeth. (1996). "Here Comes the Bride." In Grant, Barry Keith (ed.), 'The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film'. Austin: University of Texas Press.
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* Ollier, Claude. (MayJune 1965). "Un roi New York (A King in New York)" (Milne, Tom, trans.), in Hillier, Jim (ed.), 'Cahiers du Cinma: The 1960s: New Wave, New Cinema, Reevaluating Hollywood', Harvard University Press, 1986.
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