Son of Kong (1933)

The men who captured the giant ape King Kong return to Skull Island and find his likewise gigantic but far more friendly son.

Director:

Ernest B. Schoedsack

Writer:

Ruth Rose (story)

Stars:

Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher

3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Armstrong	...	Carl Denham
Helen Mack	...	Hilda
Frank Reicher	...	Capt. Englehorn
John Marston	...	Captain Nils Helstrom
Victor Wong	...	Charlie - Chinese Cook
Ed Brady	...	Red

Storyline

After the disastrous results of his last expedition, Carl Denham leaves New York aboard a ship to escape all the trouble. After a mutiny, he and a few companions are left behind on Skull island, where they meet a smaller relative of King Kong and make friends with him.

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Plot Keywords:

drunken argument | process server | ship | stop motion animation | giant ape | 

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Taglines:

What does he look like? Can he love? How does he feel toward the men who captured his father, Mighty King Kong? (Print Ad- Greensburg Daily Tribune, ((Greensburg, Penna.)) 5 April 1934)

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

The artwork of the DVD issued by Warner Bros. erroneously mistitles this film as "Son of Kong," omitting "The" at the beginning.

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Goofs

When Little Kong fights the Nothosaurus in the cavern following the discovery of the treasure they are both reflected in the glass used in the process shot superimposed on Denham and the girl in the background.

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Quotes

Carl Denham: Stick with me and you'll be wearing diamonds.

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Crazy Credits

The cast credits in the opening titles identify the character played by Helen Mack as "Hilda", but nowhere in the story itself is she given a name other than her stage billing of "La Belle Helene".

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Connections

Referenced in Hewy's Animated Movie Reviews: The Mighty Kong (2014)

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Soundtracks

Dill Pickles
(uncredited)
Written by Charles L. Johnson and Al Bryan
Played on piano

User Reviews

Lightly comic, quickly-made sequel that can best be described as charming

After the huge success of King Kong, RKO produced a quick cash in that was so quickly made it was released the same year as the original! With this speed in mind it's perhaps not too surprising to learn that Son of Kong is nowhere close to the standard of its predecessor. In it, the adventuring entrepreneur Carl Denham flees New York after the King Kong debacle that he was responsible for and ends up back at Skull Island. Needless to say he soon encounters the son of Kong.

It's quite strange for a sequel to even acknowledge the financial lawsuits that follow the mayhem caused by the monster in the previous film. But oddly and charmingly, this one not only does but even goes as far as to make it a narrative springboard for the subsequent adventure. Unfortunately the film-makers decided to replace the horror aspects of the first film with comedy. So the tone of the movie is more playful than threatening, which is to its detriment ultimately. It seems pretty obvious that this film must have been squarely aimed primarily at kids. Unlike his dad, the giant ape in this one seems to really like humans which kind of takes away some of the plot dynamics; although in truth once we meet Kong the action doesn't really move far from the one location. This probably ties in with the quickness of the production; once we finally get to Skull Island we find Kong easily and don't move once we do. It's a shame as it dilutes the adventure aspect somewhat. Nevertheless, Kong does get to fight a dinosaur and a giant bear and the stop-motion animation from Willis O'Brien is still more than decent. It ends on a big scale but kind of stupid climax.

Son of Kong can best be described as a charming movie. It's got a fair few shortfalls, particularly in its very basic screenplay. But it is very short so plot weaknesses aren't too painful to bear and it never gets boring. It's certainly no classic but its good fun overall.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Son of Kong

Filming Locations:

Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1