Kong: The Eighth Wonder of the World!

The closest comparison to 1933’s “King Kong,” in terms of advanced filmmaking technology of the time, would be 1925’s silent “The Lost World,” based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel of the same name.

The film is in the public domain, and can be seen here:

Notes: There are several versions of 1925’s “The Lost World” in circulation, with several running times. The version above runs two minutes longer than the original release, which was 106 minutes. A 110-minute version, with newly-discovered footage, was released in 2017. In 1998, “The Lost World” was deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress, and, as such, selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry.

Willis O’Brien (Willis Harold O’Brien), was a pioneer in stop-motion animation who plied his trade early on “The Lost World,” perfected it in “King Kong,” and won the Oscar for Visual Effects for 1949’s “Mighty Joe Young.”

His work on “Kong,” though, due in part to the film’s stature, cemented his cinematic legacy.

For those who have not seen the original “King Kong,” the film stars Fay Wray as Ann Darrow, Robert Armstrong as filmmaker Carl Denham, Bruce Cabot as John (“Jack”) Driscoll, and Frank Reicher as Captain Englehorn. The plot follows the adventures of the three as they travel to the uncharted Skull Island on “the adventure of a lifetime,” according to Denham, in reality a secretive quest for his next great picture. Island natives kidnap Ann and tie her to an altar, where she is offered to the monstrous King Kong, a giant gorilla-like creature. Unexpectedly, Kong develops a fascination with Ann to where he will protect her at all costs. Denham and his crew rescue her, and manage to knock Kong unconscious with a gas bomb. They travel back to New York, and present a shackled Kong, in a vile production where he is billed as “The Eighth Wonder of the World,” to a Broadway audience. Kong breaks free, finds Ann and protects her from the real beasts by climbing with her to the top of the Empire State Building, where he is soon killed by four airplanes. He falls to earth. Ann is rescued by Driscoll, who had taken the elevator to retrieve her.

As photographers and onlookers marvel at Kong on the ground, a policeman says to Driscoll: “Well Denham, the airplanes got ‘im.”

To which Denham replies, in one of the most iconic lines in all of film …

“Oh, no, it wasn’t the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast.” — Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong)

If you have not seen the 1933 “King Kong,” though you now know the story, consider the following clip, courtesy of Fandango, a spoiler.

The film stunned audiences, who wanted more.

But how do you bring back a monster who has already died?

“Son of Kong” was also released in 1933 and begins a month after the previous film ended. Many of the original film’s principals were involved, and while “Son of Kong” received fair notices, it was not accepted by the public to the degree of “King Kong.”

For further information on “Son of Kong,” see Wikipedia entry here: