Mighty Joe Young (1949)

A young woman who has raised a giant gorilla from an infant brings him to Hollywood years later seeking her fortune in order to save her family's ranch.

Director:

Ernest B. Schoedsack

Writers:

Ruth Rose (screenplay), Merian C. Cooper (from an original story by)

Stars:

Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Terry Moore	...	Jill Young
Ben Johnson	...	Gregg
Robert Armstrong	...	Max O'Hara
Mr. Joseph Young	...	Himself
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)

Storyline

In Africa, the girl Jill Young trades a baby gorilla with two natives and raises the animal. Twelve years later, the talkative and persuasive promoter Max O'Hara organizes a safari to Africa with the Oklahoma cowboy Gregg to bring attractions to his new night-club in Hollywood. They capture several lions and out of blue, they see a huge gorilla nearby their camping and they try to capture the animal. However, the teenager Jill Young stops the men that intended to kill her gorilla. Max seduces Jill with a fancy life in Hollywood and she signs a contract with him where the gorilla Joseph "Joe" Young would be the lead attraction. Soon she realizes that her dream is a nightmare to Joe and she asks Max to return to Africa. However he persuades her to stay a little longer in the show business. But when three alcoholic costumers give booze to Joe, the gorilla destroys the spot and is sentenced by the justice to be sacrificed. Will Jill, Gregg and Max succeed in saving Joe?

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Plot Keywords:

animal cruelty | manager | animal character name as title | mighty joe young character | three word title | 

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Taglines:

Ten Terrific Thrills !

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Swahili

Release Date:

29 August 1949 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Mr. Joesph Young of Africa

Filming Locations:

Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Argosy Pictures, ARKO

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The stock footage shot of New York's Times Square is actually from the mid-'20s. A marquee for Ernest B. Schoedsack's and Merian C. Cooper's "Grass, the Epic of a Lost Tribe", aka Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925) can be seen in the lower right corner.

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Goofs

Joe's size varies immensely throughout film.

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Quotes

Max O'Hara: [to Windy] Who's the greatest press agant in the world, you or me; don't answer that.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits cast list: "AND Mr. Joseph Young As Himself"

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Alternate Versions

Although current prints include the restored sepia-tone in some of the later scenes (as presented in the original theatrical release) older television prints are shown in black-and-white only.

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Connections

Referenced in Movie Magic: Stop Motion Animation: One Step at a Time (1994)

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Soundtracks

Beautiful Dreamer
(uncredited)
Written by Stephen Foster

User Reviews

"Am I dreamin' or did I just see a gorilla?"

An African girl (Terry Moore) is best friends with a twelve-foot tall ape named Joe she grew up with. American promoter Max O'Hara (Robert Armstrong) persuades the girl to bring her ape to America to take part in his show. You can pretty much guess how this will go wrong even if you haven't seen King Kong.

First big role for Ben Johnson as a cowboy who falls for Moore. He's pretty wooden here but then again he was a fairly wooden actor throughout his career. He does his usual John Wayne, Jr. routine. Lots of "Yassir" and "Ah reckon" type stuff. Robert Armstrong plays a role very much like Carl Denham from King Kong, although a little more comedic. Terry Moore is more Helen Mack than Fay Wray. That is to say she's cute but not much screen presence.

Re-teaming of many of the King Kong team for a story that is very similar to that film, although different enough to keep this from being considered a remake. The story is mostly kid stuff and fluff but cute nonetheless. The Willis O'Brien/Ray Harryhausen special effects alone are worth checking this movie out.