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Of all the major monster films of the 1930s and '40s, King Kong stands alone as one of the most awe-inspiring ever made. Combining terror with the popular jungle themes sweeping movie palaces of the day, directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack used groundbreaking stop-motion animation and mechanics to create cinema's first leading primate. The story swings into gear when movie director extraordinaire Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) finds the perfect blonde bombshell actress in Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). Upon reaching ominous Skull Island, the perfect place to shoot a picture, the tribal inhabitants choose Darrow as a sacrifice to their all-powerful Kong. Rugged sea captain Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) helps rescue our heroine, and Kong is brought to New York where he becomes a star attraction for the city's elite. The startling effects of King Kong left Depression-era audiences gasping in terror as, in one of the most famous images ever to grace the screen, the two-story ape climbs atop the Empire State Building, pining for an impossible love, as most tragic heroes do. Echoing the themes of tragic outcast found in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, King Kong shows itself to be not only a classic monster thriller, but a film that beats its own chest with emotion. Jason Bergenfeld

All Movie Guide

"How would you like to star opposite the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood?" Enticed by these words, brunette leading lady Fay Wray dyed her hair blonde and accepted the role of Ann Darrow in King Kong -- and stayed with the project even after learning that her "leading man" was a 50-foot ape. The film introduces us to flamboyant, foolhardy documentary filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), who sails off to parts unknown to film his latest epic with leading lady Darrow in tow. Disembarking at Skull Island, they stumble on a ceremony in which the native dancers circle around a terrified-looking young girl, chanting, "Kong! Kong!" The chief (Noble Johnson) and witch doctor (Steve Clemente) spot Denham and company and order them to leave. But upon seeing Ann, the chief offers to buy the "golden woman" to serve as the "bride of Kong." Denham refuses, and he and the others beat a hasty retreat to their ship. Late that night, a party of native warriors sneak on board the ship and kidnap Ann. They strap her to a huge sacrificial altar just outside the gate, then summon Kong, who winds up saving Ann instead of devouring her. Kong is eventually taken back to New York, where he breaks loose on the night of his Broadway premiere, thinking that his beloved Ann is being hurt by the reporters' flash bulbs. Now at large in New York, Kong searches high and low for Ann (in another long-censored scene, he plucks a woman from her high-rise apartment, then drops her to her death when he realizes she isn't the girl he's looking for). After proving his devotion by wrecking an elevated train, Kong winds up at the top of the Empire State Building, facing off against a fleet of World War I fighter planes. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 053939601022
• Source: TURNER HOME ENT
• Region Code: 1
• Time: 1:44:00
• Sales Rank: 6,637

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• King Kong Collection

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