March 2, 1933—King Kong, Hollywood’s horror flick about the "Eighth Wonder of the World" running amok, became the first film to premiere simultaneously at both the New Roxy and Radio City Music Hall. Within four days, the movie with then-innovative special effects coupled with an irresistible beauty-and-the-beast theme, had smashed all prior box-office records at the two theaters.
By the time it was done, King Kong had saved studio RKO, at least temporarily, from bankruptcy.
The original used only a puppet made from rabbit fur, a rubber ball, and socket joints, along with frame-by-frame animation, stop-motion photography, rear projection and miniature projection to create its magic.
Just typing all of this exhausts me, but supposedly advances in film technology left the 1976 and 2005 remakes (starring Jessica Lange and Naomi Watts in the Fay Wray role of the screaming blonde beauty) light years ahead of the original in this regard.
Nevertheless, it’s significant that it’s the 1933 original, not the more expensive and ballyhooed sequels, that was designated by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as one of the 100 greatest films, and chosen by that body for permanent preservation as a national treasure.
Here are some pieces of trivia I did not know about this storied film before researching this post:
*Co-creators Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack played—unbilled—the pilots that finally took down the rampaging beast atop the recently built Empire State Building.
*Perhaps America’s finest athlete, Jim Thorpe, appeared as an extra as one of the native in the Skull Island sequence.
*The Skull Island gate was later re-used for the “Burning of Atlanta” scene in Gone With the Wind.
Faithful reader, I have a confession to make: I have watched no more than a few scenes from this film that has captivated nearly four generations of filmgoers and TV viewers.
At some point, I’ll probably watch the film, safe in the knowledge, as Alfred Hitchcock put it about one of his own thrillers, that “It’s only a movie.” After all, the idea of a beast at the top of the world’s tallest building is a lot less terrifying to me than the actual fact that a group of terrorists blew up a similar New York structures on 9/11.
In the meantime, for those who wish to upbraid me for missing the original, I can only offer two excuses for my dilatory conduct:
a) If I wanna see a big, hairy baboon, I can watch dozens of them on any given Sunday from September to the Super Bowl; or,
b) Not watching it gives me something to live for, i.e., a reason to arise from my deathbed and beat it down to Blockbuster to rent this.
Actually, you'll be surprised to know just how many films offer me this "reason to live"—if you want to call it that. Here are some other famous films that, believe it or not, I have not yet gotten around to seeing:
1) The Sound of Music (or, as co-star Christopher Plummer termed it, "The Sound of Mucus")
2) Saturday Night Fever (even the presence of fellow longtime Englewood, NJ resident John Travolta hasn't sufficiently immunized me against that wall-to-wall disco soundtrack—not to mention his damn suit)
3) Flashdance (again, it's gotta have something to do with that soundtrack)
4) Sounder
5) The Blair Witch Project
6) Easy Rider
7) Help!
8) Once
9) Lolita
10) Brokeback Mountain
By the time it was done, King Kong had saved studio RKO, at least temporarily, from bankruptcy.
The original used only a puppet made from rabbit fur, a rubber ball, and socket joints, along with frame-by-frame animation, stop-motion photography, rear projection and miniature projection to create its magic.
Just typing all of this exhausts me, but supposedly advances in film technology left the 1976 and 2005 remakes (starring Jessica Lange and Naomi Watts in the Fay Wray role of the screaming blonde beauty) light years ahead of the original in this regard.
Nevertheless, it’s significant that it’s the 1933 original, not the more expensive and ballyhooed sequels, that was designated by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as one of the 100 greatest films, and chosen by that body for permanent preservation as a national treasure.
Here are some pieces of trivia I did not know about this storied film before researching this post:
*Co-creators Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack played—unbilled—the pilots that finally took down the rampaging beast atop the recently built Empire State Building.
*Perhaps America’s finest athlete, Jim Thorpe, appeared as an extra as one of the native in the Skull Island sequence.
*The Skull Island gate was later re-used for the “Burning of Atlanta” scene in Gone With the Wind.
Faithful reader, I have a confession to make: I have watched no more than a few scenes from this film that has captivated nearly four generations of filmgoers and TV viewers.
At some point, I’ll probably watch the film, safe in the knowledge, as Alfred Hitchcock put it about one of his own thrillers, that “It’s only a movie.” After all, the idea of a beast at the top of the world’s tallest building is a lot less terrifying to me than the actual fact that a group of terrorists blew up a similar New York structures on 9/11.
In the meantime, for those who wish to upbraid me for missing the original, I can only offer two excuses for my dilatory conduct:
a) If I wanna see a big, hairy baboon, I can watch dozens of them on any given Sunday from September to the Super Bowl; or,
b) Not watching it gives me something to live for, i.e., a reason to arise from my deathbed and beat it down to Blockbuster to rent this.
Actually, you'll be surprised to know just how many films offer me this "reason to live"—if you want to call it that. Here are some other famous films that, believe it or not, I have not yet gotten around to seeing:
1) The Sound of Music (or, as co-star Christopher Plummer termed it, "The Sound of Mucus")
2) Saturday Night Fever (even the presence of fellow longtime Englewood, NJ resident John Travolta hasn't sufficiently immunized me against that wall-to-wall disco soundtrack—not to mention his damn suit)
3) Flashdance (again, it's gotta have something to do with that soundtrack)
4) Sounder
5) The Blair Witch Project
6) Easy Rider
7) Help!
8) Once
9) Lolita
10) Brokeback Mountain
3 comments:
Shame on you
I can understand some slight errors of omission, but that list is far too big. For someone who did not really see the movie, you certainly have some strong opinions. (Sorry, I forgot we are Irish, and that comes with the territory.)
Do yourself a favor and rent "Help".
Dear B,
I'll readily admit that this list of unseen films is "far too big." However, I urge you to re-read the original post and see if I really have "some strong opinions" about "King Kong." Not having seen the film, how could I offer any opinion about it?
The answer is, of course, that I did not. I summarized the facts about the making of the film and the general critical and popular consensus about it. Nowhere did I offer my own commentary about it.
I can't believe you haven't seen the original "King Kong." You owe it to your blog readers to view it and react. It's really quite a touching film--if you ignore the sorry depiction of native Islanders.
'Enjoyed the link to Bob Hope's jokes
EV
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