King Kong

“King Kong” is a film like no other. It’s profoundly influential, a technical marvel, an icon, a story that has aged remarkably well. I have vivid memories of watching it when I was young. Even without that experience, it’s a surprisingly sophisticated picture.

Filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) is determined to revolutionize pictures by photographing desperate actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) among the natives of Skull Island, unaware that the god these forgotten people worship, Kong, is all too real.

Imagine living in 1933, a time where people didn’t travel or have television. The wilderness was seen as a savage place filled with exotic dangers. The only way to see what was outside of your hometown was, for many, to travel to the movie theatre. Today everyone knows that Kong is a giant gorilla, but nothing in the film hints at this, not until the great ape shows up on-screen in a marvelous first appearance courtesy of special effects wizard Willis O’Brien. What follows is an adventure filled with danger. We don’t just get one creature, we get 7, each of which is unique, may of which interact with each other and, most impressive of all, come into contact with the human actors. You would’ve had no idea how they pulled it all off… because no one had ever done it before. There wouldn’t be modern special effects-heavy films if it weren’t for “King Kong”.

From a contemporary viewpoint, the beginning may be a tad slow, the special effects are nowhere near as slick as what we're accustomed to today and the performances can be wooden. It'll sound crazy, but I think they all give the film a timeless quality. This story, frequently compared to “Beauty and the Beast” is much more intelligent than the sci-fi," lost world" or jungle tales we got at the time. The characterization of Kong, of Skull Island and of the human characters likely flew over the head of many people involved in the making of the picture. Labeled as a horror film by many, I think of it as a tragedy, of two world coming together, with disastrous results. I know it’s fiction, but to me, it feels more like a historical tale, one that fills you with sadness. Like the Europeans eradicating the great herds of bison, and not even realizing that their actions would be recorded and studied for all time.

“King Kong” is pure, unbridled fun. It’s been remade twice, Kong has appeared in numerous other pictures and today, some of the surprises contained within it have been spoiled for you and it has an immortal charm. Every time I see it, I discover something new. Only now did I realize it was the first feature-length musical score written for an American “talkie”! “King Kong” is the magic of the movies, it’s a voyage to a place of pure fantasy. (Restored version on DVD, March 9, 2017)