A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.A film crew goes to a tropical island for a location shoot, where they capture a colossal ape who takes a shine to their blonde starlet, and bring him back to New York City.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 8 nominations
Steve Clemente
- Witch King
- (as Steve Clemento)
Walter Ackerman
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
James Adamson
- Native Child
- (uncredited)
Van Alder
- Member of Ship's Crew
- (uncredited)
Etta Mae Allen
- Native
- (uncredited)
Frank Angel
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
Roscoe Ates
- Press Photographer
- (uncredited)
Ralph Bard
- Member of Ship's Crew
- (uncredited)
Reginald Barlow
- Ship's Engineer
- (uncredited)
Leo Beard
- Member of Ship's Crew
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- Merian C. Cooper(uncredited)
- Ernest B. Schoedsack(uncredited)
- Writers
- James Ashmore Creelman
- Ruth Rose
- Merian C. Cooper(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMerian C. Cooper's first vision for the film was of a giant ape on top of the world's tallest building, fighting airplanes. He worked backward from there to develop the rest of the story.
- Goofs(at around 1h 14 mins) A Skull Island resident jumps from a hut and falls beside a domed chicken cage, which then hinges backwards and catches the actor's wig, taking it off his head, and remaining on top of the cage.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Police Lieutenant: Well, Denham, the airplanes got him.
Carl Denham: Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast.
- Crazy creditsOpening Card: And the prophet said: "And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day, it was as one dead." Old Arabian Proverb
- Alternate versionsOn November 22, 2005, Turner Classic Movies premiered a version with a four minute overture added. This increased the run time to slightly over 104 minutes. This is also the U.S. two-disc DVD collector's edition version. Note, however, that the overture was not part of the film's original exhibition. According to John Morgan's notes on the score's re-construction, the overture was not written by Max Steiner. Morgan writes, "Another rumour has recently surfaced that Steiner composed an Overture for the film's world premiere opening in 1933 - there was even a recent recording claiming to be this long-lost Overture. Hearing the recorded "proof" of this Overture confirmed our suspicions: it was merely those same few acetates that have been floating around for years, professionally edited into a short Suite and called an Overture. In conversations I had with people who attended and remembered this opening, there was no music from the film used in any of these shows." Source: John Morgan, "Reconstruction Notes by John Morgan," Steiner: King Kong. Marco Polo (8.223763), 1997, pg. 21 (near bottom).
- ConnectionsEdited into The Ghost Ship (1943)
Featured review
King Kong - One small step for man. One giant leap for film making!
It's a shame that young people these days, don't know how to enjoy a black & white movie! I'm 14, and I love black & white movies. We saw this movie at school, and everyone hated it. They said it sucked, because it was in black & white, and the effects were hilariously bad!
I disagreed!
This movie is nearly 80 years old, and it's still a hit!
The cinematography is incredibly beautiful. One of the greatest shots of all time is when Kong is on the top of the building!
The acting is fine.
The story is great, but my friends found it stupid. They thought it was unrealistic because there were dinosaurs and a giant gorilla on the island etc.
This movie is entertaining throughout the whole movie! Most black & whites movies got a lot of dialog and long scenes with no editing, but not in this one! There are plenty of scenes in this movie where there are no dialog, but great editing and entertainment!
The effects are so fantastic! Young people may find Kong hilarious when they see a close-up picture of him. But I was absolutely blown away! Imagine that you're in 1933. You go to the movies and you've never seen something like this before!
King Kong is a one small step for man. One giant leap for film making!
10/10
I disagreed!
This movie is nearly 80 years old, and it's still a hit!
The cinematography is incredibly beautiful. One of the greatest shots of all time is when Kong is on the top of the building!
The acting is fine.
The story is great, but my friends found it stupid. They thought it was unrealistic because there were dinosaurs and a giant gorilla on the island etc.
This movie is entertaining throughout the whole movie! Most black & whites movies got a lot of dialog and long scenes with no editing, but not in this one! There are plenty of scenes in this movie where there are no dialog, but great editing and entertainment!
The effects are so fantastic! Young people may find Kong hilarious when they see a close-up picture of him. But I was absolutely blown away! Imagine that you're in 1933. You go to the movies and you've never seen something like this before!
King Kong is a one small step for man. One giant leap for film making!
10/10
Helpful•837
- jon-larsen
- Apr 24, 2010
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $670,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $651
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
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