King Kong (1933)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Writers:

James Ashmore Creelman (screenplay) and
Ruth Rose (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 April 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Horror

Tagline:

A Monster of Creation's Dawn Breaks Loose in Our World Today!

Plot:

A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal giant gorilla who takes a shine to their female blonde star.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Gorilla | Love | New York | Blonde

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Fay Wray	...	Ann Darrow
Robert Armstrong	...	Carl Denham
Bruce Cabot	...	John Driscoll
Frank Reicher	...	Captain Englehorn
Sam Hardy	...	Charles Weston
Noble Johnson	...	Native Chief
Steve Clemente	...	Witch King (as Steve Clemento)
James Flavin	...	Second Mate Briggs
King Kong	...	The Eighth Wonder of the World

Also Known As:

King Ape (USA) (working title)
Kong (USA) (working title)
The Ape (USA) (working title)
The Beast (USA) (working title)
The Eighth Wonder
The Eighth Wonder of the World

Runtime:

100 min | 104 min (restored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (video rating) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (cut) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Denmark:15 | USA:Approved (certificate not issued at release) | USA:Not Rated (video release) | Brazil:Livre | Finland:(Banned) (1933) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (1933) (cut) | South Korea:12 (2003) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | France:U | Germany:6 | Norway:11 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The character of Carl Denham was inspired by the film's director, Merian C. Cooper. They both died on the same day.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Kong puts Ann on the tree throne (just before the T-Rex encounter), she moves a meter or so to the left as stop-motion gives way to live-action. Also, because of the full-size tree and actress matted over a portion of the miniature jungle set, part of Kong's paw disappears, seemingly behind the tree but, in fact, behind the matted-in live-action at this moment.

Quotes:

Carl Denham: Listen, there are dozens of girls in this town tonight that are in more danger than they'll ever see with me.
Jack Driscoll: Yeah, but they know that kind of danger.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Something to Scream About (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

St. Louis Blues

He's A Big Boy.

This movie was awesome. After recently watching it for the first time since I was five years old I was amazed. The production and editing were brilliant, and the effects left me stunned. The small attention to detail throughout the movie complete this 1933 masterpiece.

8.5 out of 10