King Kong (1933)

If not the best film adventure fantasy, then certainly way up there and worthy to be included in anyone’s ‘best of’ list.

The legend sez the film makers wanted to see a gorilla fighting a Komodo dragon and that is the reason the movie was made.

Not necessarily a geographically logical choice, but an emotional one with coolness factor that is still being used (Godzilla vs. Kong (2021).)

They ended up using The Lost World template, but with the added zing of a giant ape creature.

The film laid the groundwork not only for (all shapes and sizes of) monsters lusting after women but also for assigning human characteristics to movie apes and ape-like creatures.

Despite having been remade multiple times, it’s never been equaled, much less improved upon.

It is in fact helped much by its period setting, in 1933 we might still believe there were unexplored areas of the world teeming with crypto-zoological possibilities.

The film is also extremely elegant and efficient. It moves at a clip.

Adding running time and length to it hasn’t proved to be particularly useful (the new take on the spider pit scene, as cool a modern artifact as it is, doesn’t really add to the movie, in fact, it’s a showstopper in the worst sense of the term.)

The stop motion animation effects, still somewhat clumsy (the worst offenders are the miniature humans,) would obtain improved smoothness in subsequent O'Brien and Harryhausen projects, but it’s difficult to see how doing this would add to either the charm or improve on the dream-like quality with which the Skull Island scenes are imbued.

Many of the jungle shots remain quite impressive, even when audiences have become more deft in identifying matte paintings and rear projection. …All the more impressive for that.

Willis O’Brien carefully studied and somewhat recreated Gustave Dore engravings to achieve his effects which add to the dreamlike atmosphere.

This being a rip-roaring adventure there is hardly any need to look for subtext, but I feel Danny Peary in his Cult Movies has done a wonderful job of it.

According to this reading Skull Island is Denham’s subconscious (get it?) Kong is a projection of Denham’s Id.

Even this aspect would prove to be influential in subsequent monster and science fiction movies (Forbidden Planet, The Birds.)

The male characters behavior towards females (‘Girls, phooey!’) is still corny, but Peary’s reading accounts for it, in addition to the fact that it explains much of the film's appeal among adolescent males.

Don't try to make day-time logical sense out of any of it (if Kong frequents the twin pillars, why all the growth he needs to remove?) It all makes sense only in nightmare/dream logic.

Seeing how Denham initially treats Ann, respectfully, but he also exposes her to deadly danger, it’s only fair that Beauty kill the Beast (also, observe that just as Ann was tied up as an offering to be his Bride, Kong is tied up as an offering to the New York masses.)

The vintage dialogue is handled deftly by some (Denham, Ann,) not so deftly by others (Driscoll) and embarrassingly by others (Charlie’s pidgin English… Ouch!)

It’s difficult to add anything to all that has been written by others of a film widely acknowledged as an absolute classic. I’m surprised I’ve even made it this far.

Many old-time TV stations had this film as mandatory Thanksgiving Day watching material.

No reason not to do so on your own this year.