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King
Kong (1933)
In Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's classic
monster film, with tremendous special effects and stop-motion animation:
- in one of the earliest scenes set in a NYC Bowery
restaurant, foolish director/explorer and adventuring film-maker
Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) had just rescued a starving young
girl named Ann Darrow (Fay Wray); he offered the down-and-out,
destitute woman a job with the enticing promise: "It's money
and adventure and fame. It's the thrill of a lifetime and a long
sea voyage that starts at six o'clock tomorrow morning"
- the sequence of Denham's six-week mission to the South
Pacific, to the uncharted Skull Island, and enroute his shipboard
training of blonde starlet Ann Darrow to scream realistically, as
she wore a sexy off-the-shoulder "Beauty and Beast costume";
First Mate crew-member Jack/John Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) ominously
commented: "What's he think she's really gonna see?"
Ann's Training Enroute - To Realistically Scream
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- the first view of Kong as the creature crashed through
the jungle to arrive at the gates - accompanied by native chanting
and music - and Ann's screams as she was made a tied-down bridal
sacrifice as The Bride of Kong
Ann Substituted as "The Bride of Kong"
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- Ann's scenes with Kong bristling with fear, wonder,
and sexual overtones - including when the curious Kong peeled off
her dress (and sniffed at the garment) at his cave
- the long-necked prehistoric Brontosaurus' killing
(biting) of three sailor victims in the foggy swamp as they traversed
it on a raft
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Crew on Raft in Swamp Attacked by Brontosaurus
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Kong's Rampage Against Crew Members on Log
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Kong's Battle with T-Rex
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- the sequence of Kong's lifting of a huge log and
shaking sailors free of it
- and Kong's battles with the Tyrannosaurus-Rex and
other prehistoric creatures, including a pterodactyl outside his
cave
- the monster's display on stage in New York's Broadway
as the 8th Wonder of the World - chained to a giant steel platform
- the sequence of Kong's destructive rampage through
New York City's streets after breaking loose from the platform, stomping
cars and pedestrians, and his climb up the tall Empire State Building
- Kong's iconic memorable death scene on top of the
Empire State Building while wearily swatting at WWI fighter bi-planes
with his beauty Ann in his giant paw (after snatching her from an
apartment)
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Atop the Empire State Building
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One Last Look at Ann in His Paw
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Denham: "It was Beauty killed the Beast"
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- Kong's dramatic fall from the tall building after
being shot down
- Denham's famous last line at the street-level to a
cop, to properly identify the cause of Kong's death: ("It wasn't
the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast")
Honorable Mention: the scene of a topless Ann (Jessica
Lange) held in the giant paw of the Beast in the inferior remake King
Kong (1976), as well as Peter Jackson's incarnation of the giant
Beast in his own remake King Kong (2005)
Two Other Versions
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King Kong (1976)
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King Kong (2005)
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Film-maker Carl Denham: "It's the thrill of a lifetime..."
First View of Kong
Native Chewed Up in Kong's Mouth
Ann in Kong's Grasp
Kong's Struggle with Pterodactyl
On Display as The 8th Wonder of the World
The Empire State Building Finale
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