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| KING KONG (1933) |
I first saw the original 1931 film KING KONG when it was re-released in 1950 and it is hard to explain the impact it had on me. I was four years old going on five and it is fair to say that KONG along with two other films I saw about the same time influenced me beyond all measure. The other films were Disney's SNOW WHITE and Robert Siodmak's THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE. These films, and you can add THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, set me as a life long fan of Monsters, fantasy and horror in the cinema. My next encounter with the gigantic ape came in the early 1960's when the film was revived at London's National Film Theatre and fans of fantastic cinema came from all over England to see it. I met several people on that day who became close friends and I was introduced to the world of "fandom". So KONG means a lot to me. Of course their were imitators, some good like MIGHTY JOE YOUNG and some not so good (but fun) like KONG (1961). Inevitably there were unnecessary remakes - an awul one in 1976 and a brilliant one in 2005 but none could supplant the magic and revelation of that first 1950 viewing of the original. Here are the giant apes in my collection : KING KONG (1933) SON OF KONG (1933) MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949) KONGA (1961) KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (1962) KING KONG ESCAPES (1967) KING KONG (1976) KING KONG LIVES (1986)' MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1998) KING KONG (2005) KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)
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| KONGA (1961) |
1 comment:
A film that rises above the others, until Beauty kills it. So glad you also had room in your heart for the 2005 remake. But there will never be another Robert Armstrong, miles more fun than his replacement--and part of the reason Mighty Joe Young is also part of the three Big Ape films in my pantheon. (Another is Primo Carnera and the motley crew of beefy wrestlers. That was my introduction to ring sports in the 50s.)
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