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King Kong
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King Kong is a 1976 American motion picture produced by Dino de Laurentiis & directed by John Guillermin. It is a remake of the 1933 classic King Kong, about how a giant ape is captured & imported to New York City for exhibition. It starred Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin & Jessica Lange, in her first movie role, playing the analogous role made famous in the original by Fay Wray. In addition to being in color, the movie differs from original in several major story details. In this version, King Kong is discovered in the South Pacific during a petroleum expedition lead by a greedy executive played by Grodin. Bridges plays a hippie photographer who is also an expert on apes. In the climax, instead of climbing the Empire State Building, King Kong climbs one of the towers of the World Trade Center. The posters of the movie notoriously showed a savage ape with one foot on each of the two Twin Towers, swatting at fighter jets . In the actual movie, the ape was much smaller & could not have stood on both towers at once. Posters Of King KongYou know the story by now Im sure. Film maker Carl Denham needs a leading lady for his new project & finds the perfect girl in Ann Darrow, a struggling movie actress. Soon she's whisked away on a ship heading to the movie's location - the as yet undiscovered Skull Island. Of course the fun starts once they hit the island with any number of horrors awaiting them - unfriendly natives, prehistoric creatures & one giant ape with a thing for blondes....
Made way back in 1933 on a shoestring budget, King Kong emerges as a triumph largely down to the excellent special effects that were groundbreaking for their time. It's certainly not the acting which is hammy at best & although much has been made of the relationship between Ann & Kong we never see any such relationship developing in the original. Fay Wray somehow managed to become the first woman to scream her way through an entire movie (though would later be surpassed by Kate Capshaw in Indy & the Temple of Doom.
However one thing that is genuinely startling about the movie even to this day is how much emotion the animators managed to bring to the character of Kong & his range of expressions & reactions. This is what really makes the movie work & ensured its lasting appeal for years to come. Come the famous ending on top of the Empire State Building don't be surprised to find a small tear in your eye as the big chimp goes head to head with those nasty biplanes. Verdict:
A classic that has stood the test the time - don't expect it to match Jackson's epic but the original Kong is nevertheless a monster movie masterpiece & set the standard for others to follow.
Bruce Cabot was an American film actor. Born Etienne Pelissier Jacques de Bujac in Carlsbad, New Mexico, Cabot made his film debut in 1931 & during the course of his career appeared in almost one hundred feature films. His most widely seen performance was in King Kong opposite Fay Wray. Among his other films are Fury, The Last of the Mohicans, Dodge City, Susan & God, The Quiet American & Cat Ballou. Cabot continued acting into the early 1970s, with many of his later performances being supporting roles in John Wayne films. A lifelong friend of Wayne, they first acted together in Angel & the Badman. The eleven films in which they appeared together include The Comancheros, The Green Berets, The Undefeated & Chisum. Cabots final film appearance was in Diamonds Are Forever. He was married twice, to the actresses Adrienne Ames & Francesca De Scaffa. He died in Woodland Hills, California from lung cancer & throat cancer.
Posters Of King KongEditors Choice: King Kong, View DVDology
Vina Fay Wray was a Canadian-born American actress. Born on a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, her family moved to the United States when she was three. They lived in Arizona & Salt Lake City, Utah before settling in California. Wray gained media attention when she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1926. She is best remembered for her role as the blonde seductress of a gigantic, prehistoric gorilla in the classic horror /adventure film King Kong. Wray also appeared in over a hundred other films, mostly in the 1930s, including The Wedding March, The Four Feathers, Doctor X, The Most Dangerous Game, The Vampire Bat & Mystery of the Wax Museum. She also appeared in Viva Villa, The Texan, The Conquering Horde & One Sunday Afternoon. Later in her career, Wray appeared in Small Town Girl, Tammy & the Bachelor & Summer Love. Wray was married to John Monk Saunders, Robert Riskin & Dr Sanford Rothenberg. She is the mother of Susan Saunders, Victoria Riskin & Robert Riskin Jr. Her autobiography, On the Other Hand, was published in 1988. Wray has a star on Hollywoods Walk of Fame.
Posters Of King KongEditors Choice: King Kong, View DVDology
Bruce Cabot: | Wikipedia Article * |
King Kong: | Wikipedia Article * |