King Kong is a 1933 American pre-Code adventure horror monster film directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, with special effects by Willis H. O'Brien and music by Max Steiner. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, King Kong is the first film in the self-titled franchise, combining live-action sequences with stop-motion animation using rear-screen projection. The idea for the film came when Cooper decided to create a motion picture about a giant gorilla struggling against modern civilization. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot. The story follows said gorilla dubbed Kong who feels affection for a beautiful young woman offered to him as a sacrifice.
King Kong premiered in New York City on March 2, 1933, to many rave reviews, with praise for its stop-motion animation and musical score. During its initial run, the film earned a profit of $650,000, which increased to $2,847,000 by the time of its re-release in 1952. Various scenes were deleted by censors, but they were restored in 1970. Later, in 1991, the film 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 In 2010, the film was ranked by Rotten Tomatoes as the greatest horror film of all time and the fifty-sixth greatest film of all time. Various new editions of the film have also been released. A sequel, entitled Son of Kong, was made the same year as the original film, and several more films have been made, including two remakes in 1976 and 2005.
The film's novelization, published prior to its release, entered the public domain through a failure to include a copyright notice, making the characters and story public domain; the film's copyright is set to expire in 2029 in the US. Analysis of the film has included such topics as racial stereotypes, Ann's relationship with the other characters, and the struggle between nature and civilization.
Plot
In New York Harbor, filmmaker Carl Denham, known for wildlife films in remote, exotic locations, charters Captain Englehorn's ship, the Venture, for his new project. However, he cannot secure an actress for a female role he is reluctant to disclose. In the streets of New York City, he finds struggling actress Ann Darrow and promises her "the thrill of a lifetime". The Venture sets off, during which Denham reveals their destination is an uncharted island with a mountain shaped like a skull. He alludes to a mysterious entity named Kong, rumored to dwell there. The crew arrives and anchors 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 the blonde-haired Ann, he offers to trade for the "golden woman". They refuse him and return to the ship.
That night, after the ship's first mate, Jack Driscoll, admits his love for Ann, the natives kidnap Ann from the ship and take her through the gate and onto an altar. They offer her to Kong, a giant gorilla-like beast. Kong carries a terrified Ann away into the jungle as Denham, Jack, and some crewmen give chase. The men encounter and are attacked by living dinosaurs and eventually Kong himself, leaving Jack and Denham as the only survivors. After Kong slays a Tyrannosaurus to save Ann, Jack keeps following them while Denham returns to the village. Upon arriving in Kong's mountain lair, Jack rescues Ann while Kong mauls a Pteranodon, and they flee back to the village, where Denham, Englehorn, and the surviving crewmen await. Kong pursues, breaks open the gate, and relentlessly rampages through the village. Onshore, Denham, 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 "King Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World!" Ann and Jack join him on stage, surrounded by press photographers. The ensuing flash photography causes Kong to break loose as the audience flees in terror. Ann is whisked away to a high-floor hotel room, but Kong scales the building and reclaims her. He makes his way through the city with Ann in his grasp and begins climbing the Empire State Building. Jack suggests that airplanes shoot Kong off the building without hitting Ann. Four biplanes take off; seeing them arrive, Jack becomes agitated for Ann's safety and rushes inside with Denham. At the top, the planes shoot at Kong as he swats at them. Kong destroys one, but the continual gunfire slowly weakens him until he plummets to the streets below. Jack reunites with Ann. Denham heads back down and is allowed through a crowd surrounding Kong's corpse in the street. When a policeman remarks that the planes got him, Denham sadly states, "Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."
Cast
Production Development
King Kong co-director Ernest B. Schoedsack had earlier experience filming monkeys while 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, 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."
Since 1929, Cooper had wanted to create a film about gorillas. Inspired by the travels of his friend W. Douglas Burden, Cooper considered filming in the jungles of Komodo. He had read Burden's The Dragon Lizards of Komodo and as a result conceived the idea to film a gorilla fighting giant lizards.; ; ; Cooper later remarked that this was "the most important influence" on the final film. By the time he joined RKO in 1931, Cooper decided to incorporate a "beauty and the beast" theme into the plot.; The "Arabian proverb" at the beginning of the film was created by Cooper: "And lo! The Beast looked upon the face of Beauty, and it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day, it was as one dead."; Initially Cooper planned to film in Africa and Komodo Island, but the idea was abandoned when RKO executives decided it would be too expensive. RKO was at risk for bankruptcy because of the Great Depression. Stop-motion animator Willis O'Brien, hearing that Cooper wanted to make a gorilla film, painted a picture depicting a large gorilla carrying a woman and gave it to Cooper. Afterward Cooper requested a test reel, which was approved by Selznick.; ; O'Brien experimented with different scenes in the test reel. These two scenes, which were incorporated into the final film, portray a fight between King Kong and a Tyrannosaurus Rex as well as Kong shaking men off a log. The test reel was created concurrently with the production of The Most Dangerous Game. Meanwhile, Cooper hired actors and had sets built for King Kong. For live-action sequences in the jungle, Cooper utilized the set of The Most Dangerous Game. Cooper directed the live-action sequences until Schoedsack completed work on The Most Dangerous Game. Afterward Shoedsack directed the live action scenes while Cooper focused on the live action scenes that were to be combined with the already-filmed animated sequences. Marcel Delgado developed sample models of King Kong, the dinosaurs, and the people; the models did not have armatures. After about three months the test reel was complete.; After studio executives approved the film for production, Cooper developed the story further.; ; O'Brien's ideas also helped with story development. He suggested that King Kong be seen by the characters as a sort of deity.
Filming commenced without a complete screenplay.; Cooper hired Edgar Wallace to write the screenplay,; which he started in December 1931. Cooper told Wallace what he wanted included in the script. Wallace's draft included several instances of attempted sexual assault, which were later removed by Ruth Rose. His draft also included racial tensions between characters. While drafting he wrote, "I am hoping still to get a good horror picture without corpses, and I am certain that Kong is going to be a wow." Wallace had a rough draft ready in January 1932 and died a month later.; Some of his ideas ended up in the final film, such as Kong removing Ann's clothes from her body. He also roughly outlined the New York scenes, which were similar to how they appeared in the completed film, as well as a jungle chase scene. James A. Creelman picked up work on the screenplay. In his draft he changed character roles, making Denham Ann's cruel uncle. Cooper disliked it, remarking that "The heavy is far too heavy." Creelman adapted Wallace's jungle chase scene to appear as it does in the finished film. Creelman found it difficult to meet Cooper's plot requests, feeling that there were too many fantastical elements for the film to be believable. He objected, "[T]here is certainly such a thing as reaching a limit to the number of elements a story can contain and make sense." Though he incorporated Cooper's requests, the dialogue proved to be too extensive.; Cooper was unsatisfied with Creelman's work, and in June Creelman decided to quit. After some difficulty finding a replacement for Creelman, in July Cooper hired Ruth Rose, who had never written a screenplay before.; She rewrote the majority of Creelman's dialogue. Though Creelman initially wrote the film's New York prologue, Rose polished it while writing most of the city scenes. Rose was able to incorporate the love story between Ann and Jack, something the other screenwriters had struggled with. Rose also added more "fairy tale-like" aspects. Upon the film's release Wallace was credited with the screenplay, as Cooper had promised to give him the credit. The studio also saw it as an opportunity to gain positive publicity because Wallace was a well-established writer.;
Copyright concerns The creators of King Kong took inspiration from other films such as Dracula and Frankenstein. The influence was heavy enough that RKO executives were worried about copyright violation. Executives discussed the potential issue with RKO's lawyers. Also among their concerns were the film's connections to Ingagi, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Lost World. The other works being ruled out, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World posed the most concern. Both The Lost World and King Kong concerned primitive creatures being taken to modern society. Even though Cooper argued against the similarities, the studio purchased the novel's copyright. Afterward Cooper feared that if the studio were to connect Doyle's name to the film for promotional purposes, consumers might not think the film was fresh. Eventually the Doyle estate granted the studio permission to not associate the film with Doyle's name.
Special effects