A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal ape who takes a shine to their female blonde star. He is then captured and brought back to New Yor... Read allA film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal ape who takes a shine to their female blonde star. He is then captured and brought back to New York City for public exhibition.A film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal ape who takes a shine to their female blonde star. He is then captured and brought back to New York City for public exhibition.
- Directors
- Merian C. Cooper(uncredited)
- Ernest B. Schoedsack(uncredited)
- Writers
- James Ashmore Creelman(screen play)
- Ruth Rose(screen play)
- Merian C. Cooper(from an idea conceived by)
- Stars
- Directors
- Merian C. Cooper(uncredited)
- Ernest B. Schoedsack(uncredited)
- Writers
- James Ashmore Creelman(screen play)
- Ruth Rose(screen play)
- Merian C. Cooper(from an idea conceived by)
- Stars
- Awards
- 3 wins & 7 nominations
Videos1
- Witch Kingas Witch King
- (as Steve Clemento)
- Reporteras Reporter
- (uncredited)
- Native Childas Native Child
- (uncredited)
- Nativeas Native
- (uncredited)
- Nativeas Native
- (uncredited)
- Reporteras Reporter
- (uncredited)
- Ship's Engineeras Ship's Engineer
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- Merian C. Cooper(uncredited)
- Ernest B. Schoedsack(uncredited)
- Writers
- James Ashmore Creelman(screen play)
- Ruth Rose(screen play)
- Merian C. Cooper(from an idea conceived by) (story)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
- Taglines
- A Monster of Creation's Dawn Breaks Loose in Our World Today!
- Genres
- Certificate
- PG
- Parents guide
Did you know
- TriviaMerian C. Cooper's first vision for the film was of a giant ape on top of the world's tallest building, fighting airplanes. He worked backward from there to develop the rest of the story.
- Goofs(at around 1h 14 mins) A Skull Island resident jumps from a hut and falls beside a domed chicken cage, which then hinges backwards and catches the actor's wig, taking it off his head, and remaining on top of the cage.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Police Lieutenant: Well, Denham, the airplanes got him.
Carl Denham: Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast.
- Crazy creditsOpening Card: And the prophet said: "And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day, it was as one dead." Old Arabian Proverb
- Alternate versionsOn November 22, 2005, Turner Classic Movies premiered a version with a four minute overture added. This increased the run time to slightly over 104 minutes. This is also the U.S. two-disc DVD collector's edition version. Note, however, that the overture was not part of the film's original exhibition. According to John Morgan's notes on the score's re-construction, the overture was not written by Max Steiner. Morgan writes, "Another rumour has recently surfaced that Steiner composed an Overture for the film's world premiere opening in 1933 - there was even a recent recording claiming to be this long-lost Overture. Hearing the recorded "proof" of this Overture confirmed our suspicions: it was merely those same few acetates that have been floating around for years, professionally edited into a short Suite and called an Overture. In conversations I had with people who attended and remembered this opening, there was no music from the film used in any of these shows." Source: John Morgan, "Reconstruction Notes by John Morgan," Steiner: King Kong. Marco Polo (8.223763), 1997, pg. 21 (near bottom).
- ConnectionsEdited into The Ghost Ship (1943)
Hollywood film-makers of today could certainly learn a few things from watching it with its well-written characters, fast-paced and dynamic script which contains barely a dull moment, excellent dialogue and hauntingly memorable music. Willis O'Brien's animation is at its best and Kong himself comes across as a genuine character and not an unsympathetic one. Scenery is also imaginative, with marvellous attention paid to detail, and the monsters are well-designed.
Still the best monster film ever made, if not the best film.
- G.Spider
- Jun 14, 1999
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $670,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $651
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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