King Kong
Release date 2nd March 1933
Country : USA
Running time : 100 mins
Genre : Sci-Fi/Horror
Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot
 Screenplay by Merian Cooper, Edgar Wallace
Directed by Merian Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
A RKO Picture

A giant gorilla is captured and brought back to New York but escapes and terrorises the streets.

This is the ultimate monster movie. The special effects might look a bit worn now, the acting sometimes ropey but it is a film that still allows us to suspend our disbelief. O'Brien's pioneering use of stop motion animation, mattes and miniatures inspired many future sci-fi and fantasy film-makers including Ray Harryhausen. Another great factor in Kong's success was its superb score by Max Steiner and incredible sound effects by Murray Spivack. Of course there was also the beauty who killed the beast Fay Wray. Sequels and remakes have followed but none have captured the spirit of the original. The latest attempt by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson will have a hard time being accepted as the definitive version.  

 

The mastermind behind the film was the then RKO boss Merian C. Cooper who for years wanted to make a movie about a giant gorilla. He got his chance when he hooked up with special effects wizard Willis O' Brien who had worked on the silent version of The Lost World (1925).