King Kong (1933)

 King Kong (1933)

If you are someone who loves movies, you can easily answer this question. Do you like horrifying and adventurous creature movies like Alien or Jurassic Park? Are you in awe when mind-blowing special effects take over the screen and make these creatures realistic and horrifying as possible? If you (most likely) answered yes to any of these questions, then you have 1933’s spectacle King Kong to watch. Despite my lifelong passion for cinema, this is the first time I have ever seen the film. I am familiar with the story because I saw Peter Jackson’s remake, but it was about time that I became familiar with this movie. I felt like a kid again. I watched the battle scenes with such intensity. I became invested, once more, into the Kong character. He is more than just the big, bad monster. I sympathized with his plight. I felt these array of emotions even after thinking how outdated the special effects are. Sometimes, I could not help but giggle watching Kong. But in 1933, it was a completely different story.

 

The film is the brainchild of Merian C. Cooper and his partner, Ernest B. Schoedsack. They were adventurous people going through the wilderness of continents like Asia and Africa to glimpse exotic wildlife. Cooper always had a fascination for gorillas and eventually that fascination extended to Komodo Dragons. At one point, he wanted Kong to face these exotic species. He produced a varying number of adventure productions so why not produce the biggest one of them all. The character of Carl Denham was actually modeled after him. Cooper teamed up with a Willis O’Brien, one of Hollywood’s greatest special effects architect. He was producing his own dinosaur adventure called Creation which he scrapped to focus on this project. We should be incredibly thankful for O’Brien’s talents because the special effects industry was radically revolutionized. The film inhibited techniques such as stop-motion animation, matte painting, and miniature models to bring the film to life, the one that would create nonstop shocks and screams. Lots of time and effort was put in place to make the film work. Reading stores of firsthand accounts of audience members watching Kong for the very first time made me, once again, become impressed with the power of film. Especially when seen for the very first time. I was not in love with the special effects, but I cannot deny how impressive they were nearly ninety years ago. Still, I was enamored with what I was watching. I could watch Kong fight the dinosaurs all day, and Cooper nearly made that happen.

 

Despite the special effects taking over everything, the story itself does not take the backseat. It is a very interesting, fascinating, and well-developed plot. Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) is a film director whose specializes in adventure films shot in exotic locations. Sound familiar? For his next project, he wants to go to Skull Island where its rumored that a giant gorilla lives. He finds his leading lady, Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). Along with screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot), they venture to the island. The barbaric natives kidnap Ann as a tribute for Kong, which sets forth a rescue mission. Kong falls in love with Ann and means her no harm. The beast is unleashed when he is captured and sent to New York City where Kong faces modern civilization for the very first time.

 

I was not impressed with the acting. The acting was hammy most times, but I think that was point of this kind of film. Fay Wray was a B-list actress before this film, so she has some experience. I did think she did a good job working opposite Kong, which I know was really hard considering how Kong is not real. Bruce Cabot did not have any prior acting experience and that shows. He later said that all he had to do is listen to the director and grab an easy paycheck. I am  benevolent towards Robert Armstrong. His performance failed to impress but he was not exactly awful either. Despite the performances not being winners, it really does not matter. It’s all about Kong.

 

The film made bonkers business. It became a gigantic hit and spawned tons of sequels and reboots. It even single-handedly saved RKO from bankruptcy as it was going through some tough times like most of the country was. It was one of the few successes during the Great Depression Era. Everyone needed a sympathetic monster that could scare the living daylights out of them. In addition to modernizing special effects, the film also receives the honor of the first orchestral musical score. Max Steiner definitely rose to the occasion.

 

Overall, King Kong is your quintessential monster movie despite not being perfect by today’s standard. The effects are outdated (again, not in 1933), the acting not being the best, and some tough racial allegories in terms of Skull Island’s natives. Yet, you fail to take your eyes off Kong when he is onscreen. When he falls in love with Ann, or fighting prehistoric animals, or climbing the Empire State Building. These are scenes that allow you to display a wide range of emotions from happiness to awe to fear. And Carl Denham gets the best line of the film spoken towards the end. You probably know that line.

 

My Grade: B+