Mighty Joe Young (1949)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Ernest B. Schoedsack

Writers:

Merian C. Cooper (story)
Ruth Rose (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 August 1949 (Sweden)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Drama

Tagline:

Ten Terrific Thrills !

Plot:

Jill Young has brought up her pet gorilla since she was a child. Twelve years later, when the gorilla is fully grown...

Plot Keywords:

Gorilla | Hollywood | Africa | Wrestler | Heroism

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Terry Moore	...	Jill Young
Ben Johnson	...	Gregg
Robert Armstrong	...	Max O'Hara
Frank McHugh	...	Windy
Douglas Fowley	...	Jones
Denis Green	...	Crawford
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Smith
Nestor Paiva	...	Brown
Regis Toomey	...	John Young
Lora Lee Michel	...	Jill Young, as a Girl
James Flavin	...	Schultz
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mary Gordon	...	Old Woman (unconfirmed)

Also Known As:

Mr. Joseph Young of Africa

Runtime:

94 min | USA:84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Swahili

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone) (some sequences) | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15

Company:

Argosy Pictures

Trivia:

A sequel called "Joe Meets Tarzan" was planned in 1950 and would have had Mighty Joe Young team up with Tarzan, played by Lex Barker, who had just filmed "Tarzan And The Slave Girl" that same year. The film was canceled due to the disappointing box office of "Mighty Joe Young".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Joe pushes the truck free, his shadow is cast against the "distant" landscape, revealing it to be a backdrop.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hollywood Stuntmakers: King Kong und andere Kuscheltiere" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Beautiful Dreamer

Worthy successor to KING KONG

From many of the same folks who gave us the classic KING KONG, we have Joseph Young of Africa.

The FX are great, especially considering that this film was done long before razzle-dazzle computer work. The movie is an interesting, amusing, and touching variation on KING KONG but stands up as a strong, entertaining film in its own right. Robert Armstrong is once again the big showman who has to knock the public dead. In this case, nobody dies, but the public is still impressed.

It's interesting to note the different reactions of the theater audiences when Kong was first displayed and when Joe is first seen on stage. Perhaps the audiences were actually getting more sophisticated in 1949, and the difference could be an interesting comment by the movie makers on how jaded people were getting by 1949.

In any event, Joe Young is definitely worth seeing.