King Kong

Dir: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

1933

*****

Steven Spielberg's Jaws is infamous for being the cinema's first Blockbuster but it really isn't. Conceived by Edgar Wallace, King Kong could be considered the first most successful blockbuster and first most successful horror of its kind. Edgar Wallace was influenced by the 'Jungle films' of the 1910s, film makers such as the Lumiere Brothers would venture into the jungle with cameras and actors and make faux-documentaries, Beasts in the Jungle being the first in 1913, soon to be followed by the likes of Tarzan and The Lost World. After the initial amazement of seeing places that most westerners had not and would never visit, the idea was somewhat exploited and the thrill and horror of the 'ape-man' took over. Directors and producers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's influences were clear, although both denied having ever seeing 1930's notorious faux-documentaries Ingagi. Ingagi tells the tale of jungle women mating with apes to create half ape, half human babies that would grow into savage beasts. Many took it seriously and the film grossed quite a bit of money. It’s quite a shocking film, with plenty of scenes that wouldn't make the cut these days. It's an interesting idea, and is indeed notable as being the first pre-code exploitation film but with very little to be really proud of. Its success was mainly down to sensationalism, the film eventually being accepted by the studios thanks to Ingagi proving that "Gorillas plus sexy women in peril equals enormous profits". Jean-Luc Godard once said "All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl." but this clearly isn't the case because when he was only three years old one of the most successful films of all time was being made and all they had was a girl and massive gorilla. It's a classic story that pretty much every adventure story has tried to emulate ever since. Aliens, Predator, Jaws...none of them would exist without old Kong. For me, and many others, the best thing about the classic is the fantastic special effects. Willis H. O'Brien developed stop-motion animation to new and exciting levels with Kong, his work on The Lost World was greatly celebrated but Kong did so much more for special effects development. He also worked on the inferior sequel and would get up to more monkey business in 1949's Mighty Joe Young, a film he would make with his protégé Ray Harryhausen. Indeed, when you watch King Kong grab a person, stick them in his mouth and chew, I can't help but think that was where Harryhausen got his sense of humour from (I once met him at a dinner and when asked what his greatest achievement was he answered 'I destroyed many great places with big horrible creatures'. I was a huge production and it still looks impressive today. Watching Kong grabbing a sleeping woman from her bed and then discarding her from off the side of a building is as horrific now as it was in 1933. The now iconic final scene of Kong fighting off fighter planes from the top of the then newly built Empire State Building is still heart-pumpingly exciting and still very much edge of your seat cinema. The remakes have been a mix of good, bad and ugly but there shall always only be one Kong. It's long been regarded as a classic and probably always will be, and quite rightfully so.