King Kong (1933)
The movie starts off with a very ambitious movie director named Carl Denham planning a sea voyage to the mysterious Skull Island. Carl Denham was also trying his best to find the perfect woman in order to make his adventurous picture more appealing to the public. When his companions disagreed with this saying it was way to dangerous for a woman, Carl set off to find the actress himself. Eventually, he ran into Ann Darrow. During their conversation, he promised her 'money, adventure, and fame', and she agreed to join the trip.
What Carl had in mind was to make a picture with the lengendary 50 ft giant Ape named Kong that was regarded as a God by the tribe that lived in the island. Along the way, a romance between Ann and the ship's captain, Jack Driscoll began to develop. Jack, in the beginning, was a self-proclaimed women-hater.
When they arrived at the island, they saw the tribe having a cermony in front of the a huge wall that was built in order to divide King Kong's territory from theirs. They were displeased to see the film crew, and later asked to trade Ann for six of their women as a bride for Kong. They were even more infuriated by the crew's refusal and ordered them to get out of the island. The crew, with a promise to return the next day, returned to the ship.
But the tribe members, during that very night, snatched Ann from the ship. She was put outside the wall as a bride for King Kong. Some of the crew, after finding Ann missing, rushed into the jungle in a search for her. But meanwhile, when Kong made his first appearance and discovered his present, it was love at first sight for the ape. Ann Darrow would spend most of the rest of the movie screaming her head off.
The crew encoutered one adventure after another. Dinosours, other weird creatures, and even King Kong. Only Jack and Carl were left alive. King Kong also got into fights with dinosaurs, big snakes, weird bird-like creatures, all of whom seemed to want Ann. But Jack managed to rescue Ann and they ran for their lives, closing the big wall behind them. But Kong was way too stronger than that, and soon the wall was broken down, and he was hot on their trails.
But the crew knocked him out with a few gas bombs. Carl decided to bring him along with them to New York City as the living proof of their adventures. There on stage, a chained King Kong awed the audience, while Carl proudly told their story with Ann and Jack on stage. But in the middle of all that, King Kong broke free and was roaring mad.
The next scenes had King Kong causing turmoil in the city. He overturned a train, snatched people out of their beds, and got an ever-screaming Ann back in his clutches. Soon, he was on top of the Empire State Building. Fighter planes were sent in order to bring him down. And finally, King Kong was shot down by the planes and fell off the building. At the end of the movie, Carl Denham remarked "it was beauty that killed the beast".
CHARACTERISTICS
During the great depression, I think people turned to this kind of horror film. People would like to watch these adventure/fantasy films to escape the worries of their world. I found out somewhere that the great depression was the reason the early 1930s were the cradle of classic horror movies. Yeah, and Hollywood was probably at its best with people looking for some release from their stressful lives.
The movie contained quite a few sexist attitudes. The character Jack Driscoll was annoying for me to watch, especially in the beginning. He made remarks like 'this is the first time I've sailed with a woman' and 'women can't help being nuisances. They're just born that way.' But the thing was that Ann Darrow didn't seem to mind this sort of attitude towards her as a woman. In fact she was trying to be the sweet little thing by saying things like 'Oh, I promise I won't be a bother'. Most of the men in the movie tried to unnecessarily overprotect women. Throughout the movie, I kept hearing comments like 'this ain't no place for a girl', 'it's too dangerous for a woman', and 'I don't think she should come with us until we know what's out there'. The exception from these men was Carl Denham, but then he was just acting out of his own self-interests.
The visual effects were obviously very very new during this period. It must have been quite impressive for the audience to watch at that time. But wow, watching it today, I found it incredibly funny-looking. None of the creatures looked real. Especially the dinosaurs. And they moved in an oddly stiff manner.
What Carl had in mind was to make a picture with the lengendary 50 ft giant Ape named Kong that was regarded as a God by the tribe that lived in the island. Along the way, a romance between Ann and the ship's captain, Jack Driscoll began to develop. Jack, in the beginning, was a self-proclaimed women-hater.
When they arrived at the island, they saw the tribe having a cermony in front of the a huge wall that was built in order to divide King Kong's territory from theirs. They were displeased to see the film crew, and later asked to trade Ann for six of their women as a bride for Kong. They were even more infuriated by the crew's refusal and ordered them to get out of the island. The crew, with a promise to return the next day, returned to the ship.
But the tribe members, during that very night, snatched Ann from the ship. She was put outside the wall as a bride for King Kong. Some of the crew, after finding Ann missing, rushed into the jungle in a search for her. But meanwhile, when Kong made his first appearance and discovered his present, it was love at first sight for the ape. Ann Darrow would spend most of the rest of the movie screaming her head off.
The crew encoutered one adventure after another. Dinosours, other weird creatures, and even King Kong. Only Jack and Carl were left alive. King Kong also got into fights with dinosaurs, big snakes, weird bird-like creatures, all of whom seemed to want Ann. But Jack managed to rescue Ann and they ran for their lives, closing the big wall behind them. But Kong was way too stronger than that, and soon the wall was broken down, and he was hot on their trails.
But the crew knocked him out with a few gas bombs. Carl decided to bring him along with them to New York City as the living proof of their adventures. There on stage, a chained King Kong awed the audience, while Carl proudly told their story with Ann and Jack on stage. But in the middle of all that, King Kong broke free and was roaring mad.
The next scenes had King Kong causing turmoil in the city. He overturned a train, snatched people out of their beds, and got an ever-screaming Ann back in his clutches. Soon, he was on top of the Empire State Building. Fighter planes were sent in order to bring him down. And finally, King Kong was shot down by the planes and fell off the building. At the end of the movie, Carl Denham remarked "it was beauty that killed the beast".
CHARACTERISTICS
During the great depression, I think people turned to this kind of horror film. People would like to watch these adventure/fantasy films to escape the worries of their world. I found out somewhere that the great depression was the reason the early 1930s were the cradle of classic horror movies. Yeah, and Hollywood was probably at its best with people looking for some release from their stressful lives.
The movie contained quite a few sexist attitudes. The character Jack Driscoll was annoying for me to watch, especially in the beginning. He made remarks like 'this is the first time I've sailed with a woman' and 'women can't help being nuisances. They're just born that way.' But the thing was that Ann Darrow didn't seem to mind this sort of attitude towards her as a woman. In fact she was trying to be the sweet little thing by saying things like 'Oh, I promise I won't be a bother'. Most of the men in the movie tried to unnecessarily overprotect women. Throughout the movie, I kept hearing comments like 'this ain't no place for a girl', 'it's too dangerous for a woman', and 'I don't think she should come with us until we know what's out there'. The exception from these men was Carl Denham, but then he was just acting out of his own self-interests.
The visual effects were obviously very very new during this period. It must have been quite impressive for the audience to watch at that time. But wow, watching it today, I found it incredibly funny-looking. None of the creatures looked real. Especially the dinosaurs. And they moved in an oddly stiff manner.
posted by vicky @ 2:45 AM
1 Comments:
At 2:24 PM,
The Ajarn said…
This is what movie blogging is supposed to be? Nice summary, wonderful characterizations and more importantly some insights into the culture that was being presented.
I especially liked your comments about the sexist attitudes! This movie was during the time when the attitudes of men were definitely conservative but women were smacking some men around for their attitudes.
The Great Depression was the Golden Age of the movies because they cost only ten cents to get in and most people had plenty of time to go watch them. You nailed it when you said that people really liked horror and fantasy because these genre too them away from their troubled lives.
Now I need to get you the new version of King Kong so you can compare!
Great blogging.
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