In December I watched the 1976 King Kong because that was the one I remember watching as a child. As I watched I realized I remembered little of the story and simply had images of Jessica Lange tied up as an offering locked in my brain. I recalled too, the final scene... on th
e Empire State Building.... only in '76 the final scene was on the Twin Towers.... that's when I realized that final scene was from a different version. One that had escaped my attention for most of my life. After borrowing the special edition DVD of the 1933 version I was completely won over and seriously looking forward to the 2005 version. Not only did I watch the '33 version of King Kong but I watched all the extras and was completely impressed by the biographical info on directors, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack. It was a spendid intro to Peter Jackson's 2005 efforts.
One might ask which version I liked best and I would have to say "parts from all of them." I loved the way the Depression era was captured in the 1933 version and I thought that one also had the best Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot). Not only was he very good looking but I loved the part on the ship when he and Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) fall in love.
Kong was increasingly impressive in each version. Still even that first one had such personality. In 1933, there seemed to be a number of prehistoric beasts and after watching the documentary it made a lot of sense since they used creatures from a different film that was tabled (Creation). I thought that the 2005 version had almost too many other creatures, though in some ways they explained the rationale behind Ann's connection to Kong. He saved her life again and again. So that at one point she actually ran to Kong and climbed up into the safety of his arms.
I liked the performance of Jessica Lange quite a bit and I have to say the scene when Kong bathes her in the waterfall will likely stick with me. I thought that the Naomi Watts portrayal of Ann was a little TOO chummy with Kong and while I appreciated her little vaudeville schtick, I wasn't sure that it was all that necessary. I was rather surprised by Jackson's complete disregard for the way Cooper and Schoedsack portrayed the relationship between Darrow and the "Beast." It seemed that Fay Wray was terrified of Kong right up to the end. In the 1976 version Lange's Ann seems to have the best balance of awe and terror and sorrow. She is empathetic to his plight. She knows he's saved her and she realizes they are doing a terrible thing by bringing him to America. In the scene in which she falls in the hold on the ship it is very clear that she is pretty sure he is not going to hurt her, but not certain and so it is with fear and trembling she approaches and departs. Naomi Watts appears so cozy with Kong that she cuddles up and goes to sleep in his hand, watches romantic sunsets, and frolics with him on the ice in New York. Some of that is nice, but it doesn't seem to capture the sentiment present in the original and in other respects it seems that Jackson is very precise in his efforts to honor the original.
There is so much more I could say but I fear I've already written more than anyone wants to read. See the films. Soak up some film history. I loved each film and every one of them had me crying by the end.
