Don’t be alarmed, ladies and gentlemen, those chains are made of chrome steel ✵ King Kong - A GOLDEN AGE IN BLACK AND WHITE ✵ 1931–1949 - The Movie Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained) (2016)

The Movie Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained) (2016)

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IN CONTEXT

GENRE

Monster movie

DIRECTORS

Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

WRITERS

James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose, Edgar Wallace

STARS

Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot

BEFORE

1925 An adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel, The Lost World features humans battling with dinosaurs.

AFTER

1949 Cooper and Schoedsack team up for another adventure featuring a giant ape with Mighty Joe Young.

1963 Inspired by King Kong, animator Ray Harryhausen works on stop-motion classic Jason and the Argonauts.

King Kong was probably the first true special-effects blockbuster. It is the simple story of a huge ape discovered on an uncharted island, which he shares with other giant creatures, including dinosaurs. The ape Kong is captured and brought to New York for people to stare at, only for him to break free from his chains and go on a rampage.

The stop-motion effects look creaky today. Yet such is the power of the storytelling that it can move the viewer in a way that is beyond many slicker modern movies. The movie is full of iconic scenes, including a memorable climax in which Kong bats away a biplane as he clings to the top of the Empire State Building.

The movie’s secret was to portray the ape sympathetically. Kong is protective of his female captive, and only attacks when provoked. Kong’s tormentor, Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), who exhibits Kong as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” is the movie’s villain. And when Kong finally tumbles from the skyscraper, it is a moment of tragedy—the audience is on his side.

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Ann (Fay Wray) is terrified of Kong at first, but later tries to save him. In New York, he escapes to look for her, leading his captor Denham to say, “It was beauty killed the beast.”

What else to watch: The Lost World (1925) ✵ Mighty Joe Young (1949) ✵ Clash of the Titans (1981) ✵ Jurassic Park (1993) ✵ King Kong (2005)