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
- TriviaThe film grossed $90,000 its opening weekend, the biggest opening ever at the time.
- 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
Giant of the Silver Screen...
So much more than a film about a giant ape, you can pretty much conjure him into almost any allegorical theme or representation that takes your fancy, although I'm not sure that was the original intent. The scenes on the Empire State Building are as iconic as any that were ever produced, perhaps the most iconic ever. A timeless classic, a timeless story that will continue to be copied in variation, and remade, but seldom equalled.
Helpful•194
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $670,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $651
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
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