Son of Kong
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Year:
1933
Rating: 5.5
Well, I guess
it is no wonder that I had no idea that King Kong had an almost immediate
sequel in an effort to cash in. It is a modest affair, especially if compared
to the magnificence of King Kong. Much of the talent of that film returns
for this one with Ernest B. Schoedsack directing, Merian Cooper producing,
Ruth Rose scripting and special effects by Willis H. O'Brien. And on screen
Robert Armstrong, Frank Reicher and Victor Wong return in the same roles.
Rose said she intentionally wrote a less ambitious film with chunks of comedy
and pathos because it could never be King Kong. It almost feels like it was
written for children in mind; ones who were not allowed to see King Kong
- till the ending that is. It only runs 69 minutes compared to 100 minutes
for Kong.
It is rather amusing to see what happened
to Carl Denham (Armstrong) after he uttered that famous line, "Oh, no. It
wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast". Nothing good! He is
holed up in a one room apartment trying to avoid processors wanting to sue
him for the damage that Kong did. Damn, reality! When the captain of his
old ship (Reicher) offers him passage, he jumps at the opportunity. They
ship around the South Pacific with a motley crew, pick up a girl (Helen Mack)
who trains monkeys and the crew mutinies and leaves them stranded on . .
. Skull Island!
That isn't until the 45 minute mark. From
there on it gets pretty decent with lots of stop-motion effects from O'Brien
of various giant animals fighting each other. And a terrific earthquake sequence.
But Son of Kong is a sweetheart and they all become buddies. The film even
makes Son a bit of a goof. Cute but is that really what we want? King Kong
would be a little disappointed with his boy. And where is mom?
