KING KONG - How much of an influence on Welles?

[Le Chiffre]

I can't remember which one, but I seem to remember reading in one of the Welles biographies that the original 1933 KING KONG was one of his favorite movies as a youth. It's influence seems to show, not only in CITIZEN KANE, but in MACBETH as well. I think Welles even used some of the same technical people on Kane that Kong had used. Xanadu seems like some kind of Kong's Lair, with Kane a Kong figure also keeping his pretty blonde a virtual prisoner (also she does walk out on him eventually). Certainly the original KONG was one of the early masterpieces of the sound era, and it's perfect harmony of soundtrack and visuals gives it the same symphonic quality that KANE has.

The new DVD edition of the 1933 KONG, timed to capitalize on the release of Peter Jackson's new remake, is wonderful, with a beautiful transfer, and the long-missing censored footage of Kong stomping, biting and squishing people, as well as undressing Fay Wray, looks better then I've ever seen it. Disc 2 also contains an excellent 154-minute documentary, part of which recreates the legendary "Spider-Pit" sequence, one of the holy grails of lost cinema that ranks right up there with the missing Ambersons footage in terms of being sought after. Jackson and co. do a very nice job of recreating that sequence, and weaving it into that section of the film itself.

All in all, an amazing DVD package. Official Kong DVD site.

[Roger Ryan]

Peter Jackson deserves real credit for promoting the original 1933 version of "Kong" as well as his remake. I remember when the wretched 1976 version was released that the studio publicity bragged about how much better, technically and dramatically, their film was compared to the original (needless to say, it wasn't).

Certainly, the competent level of special effects in the original "Kong" influenced Welles. In fact, one of those effects showed up in Welles' first film. The animated birds shown flying around Skull Island when Denham's ship first arrives were matted in to the Florida everglades picnic scene in "Kane"!

[Le Chiffre]

Yes, you're right. I can't help but think that Welles may have intended that to be some kind of comment on the CFK character. Or Hearst. ???

And I agree the '76 remake was junk. I've no doubt Jackson will do much better, considering how well LORD OF THE RINGS turned out. The '76 version was directed by John Guillerman, who directed Welles in 1968's HOUSE OF CARDS. Here's another little OW/PB snippet that didn't make it into the book:

PB: Didn't you do a picture just recently called HOUSE OF CARDS?

OW: About a year ago, yes.

PB: Is it terrible?

OW: Well, how can I answer that for the book? Yes, it's terrible, unspeakable.

PB: Who was the director on that?

OW: I can't remember his name, he's so bad. Some French name, an Englishman with a French name. Guillame or something like that. And one of the really outstanding incompetents- oh, I can't say all that, it's not worth talking about. He isn't even well-enough known. Why rap him? Rap somebody good. I'm willing to rap, you know.

[tonyw]

Wasn't the Florida background footage used on back projection from SON OF KONG rather than KING KONG?

Could somebody clarify this, please?

[Terry]

I was pretty shocked by all the head-squishing scenes - what a belligerent big ape.

Great copy of the flick - I watched it on TCM a few nights back. I love the moment at the end when the ape becomes the victim and you start feeling for him. Nice manipulation.

I was pretty amazed by that Meriam Cooper documentary. What an amazing life. No wonder Ford looked up to him. And Cooper's track record producing Ford, persuading the use of Technicolor, and introducing Cinerama are impressive too. Wish I'd seen that Cinerama premier with the first stereo soundtrack in film history and that rollercoaster sequence which made the ladies faint. I've got the 3-screen Cinerama How the West Was Won on VHS, and I can only imagine how it looked on the big, wrap-around screen. IMAX offers an immersive experience, though the screen is flat.

[Terry]

I watched Grass as well, and was blown away by it - especially all the floatation balloons made from goat skins. I'd love to see Cooper's other silent films. Ballsy.

[Harvey Chartrand]

Excerpts from Monkey See DVD
Two-disc set of the original ‘King Kong’ – with contributions from remake director Peter Jackson – is worth the wait

~ By ANDY KLEIN ~ from Los Angeles City Beat
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=2906&IssueNum=129

The DVD appears to include everything, even (in a sense) the infamous lost scene in which the sailors Kong shakes off a log are attacked and eaten by giant spiders and other unpleasant creatures.

No, they didn’t find the footage. Instead, Jackson – who contributed substantially to the DVD – decided, in the midst of working on his own Kong, to have his crew try to re-create it as closely as possible, using (for most of the process) the same technology that special-effects innovator Willis O’Brien and directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack used 70 years ago.

This “new” Kong footage wisely isn’t incorporated into the body of the film on the first disc, which would have been a travesty, no matter how well executed. It can be found among the extras, which are gathered on disc two.

Jackson had a hand in producing the DVD documentary "RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong, Eighth Wonder of the World." Divided into seven sections that total more than 2½ hours.

The longest section involves the re-creation of the spider sequence, in which we see an approximation of O’Brien’s labor-intensive techniques. The result is shown, intercut with shots from the film itself, as detailed in the script and other documents. It’s 90 percent on the mark. It was unavoidable that Jackson had to use members of his crew to replace actors who have been dead for years. But, in addition to that obvious problem, there’s still something subtly off in the lighting of the actors relative to the backgrounds.

It’s a charmingly insane idea, and one gets the impression that Jackson did it because he was at a moment in his life when, thanks to The Lord of the Rings, he could do absolutely anything he wanted – a total freedom that he may or may not experience again.

[Harvey Chartrand]

Peter Jackson now enjoys the same kind of creative "carte blanche" Welles had on CITIZEN KANE. Of course, Jackson earned this artistic freedom to do whatever he pleases with the phenomenal international success of his THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy.

As Jackson wants to hang onto this total creative control, he has wisely followed up THE LORD OF THE RINGS with another crowd-pleaser, instead of a heavy drama/downer. (Of course, by remaking KING KONG, the man is taking a huge risk.)

At least Jackson is smart enough to set the film in the 1930s. I saw the trailer for the new KING KONG and it seems that Jackson has really nailed it. The absolutely convincing recreation of a busy New York City street scene circa 1933 was astonishing.

I've never been able to sit through John Guillermin's KING KONG (1976). It is very strange to see it now, as the climax takes place on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center! Perhaps for this reason the film is rarely shown on TV.

Lured by the top billing of Orson Welles, I saw Guillermin's HOUSE OF CARDS when it came out in 1968. It was a programmer starring George Peppard, whose career was flatlining after his big hit movie THE BLUE MAX (1966), also directed by Guillermin.

As I recall, Peppard played an American adventurer on the loose in Rome, who stumbles upon a fascist plot of some kind. Welles was the mastermind behind the conspiracy, but he really only deserved sixth or seventh billing behind Eurovillains Keith Michell, Peter Bayliss and others...

Welles's makeup and costuming (beard, putty hook nose, cape, snapbrim fedora) bring to mind Gregory Arkadin. Photos of Welles in HOUSE OF CARDS are sometimes used to illustrate articles on CONFIDENTIAL REPORT/MR. ARKADIN by authors who should know better.

Welles' corpulent conspirator pops up early on and then disappears for most of the picture's running time. Welles is then trotted out at the end for a shootout at the Coliseum.

[Roger Ryan]

Wasn't the Florida background footage used on back projection from SON OF KONG rather than KING KONG?

Could somebody clarify this, please?

TonyW - The picnic background could very well have come from "Son Of Kong", but I only saw that film once years ago (quite inferior to both "Kong" and the later "Mighty Joe Young"). Someone will need to check the special edition DVD that contains "Son Of Kong" to see for sure. Obviously, Willis O'Brien did effects for both "Kong" and "Son" and I imagine he used the same bird animation in both. To me, the birds flying around Skull Mountain look identical to the ones in the "Kane" everglades scene.

[Terry]

I saw a trailer for Jackson's King Kong - it kicked my ass all the way back to the snack bar. Risk or no, it looks phenomenal.

Is this 2-Disc set available? All the extras sound pretty tempting.

[Le Chiffre]

Yes, the KING KONG DVD set is available in several different packages, including a tin box that includes lobby card reproductions and a 20-page reproduction of the original 1933 program for the film's run in New York.

I agree that the Cooper docu was great. The guy had an amazing life and career. GRASS reminds me quite a bit of FOUR MEN ON A RAFT, but then there are several films that remind me of RAFT. I also had the pleasure of seeing CHANG on a big screen some years ago, and THIS IS CINERAMA back when it was rereleased in the early 70's. I never forgot that rollercoaster. I believe Welles did the narration for a Cinerama film in the late 50's, something about the South Seas, I think. Can't remember the name of it, though.

[Roger Ryan]

If I remember correctly, the South Seas Cinerama movie was entitled "Cinerama Holiday". I saw "This Is Cinerama" during its early 70s reissue as well. As I recall, there was a brief introduction concerning the history of film presented in standard academy ratio, then as the coaster began its incline (front seat, first person perspective), the curtains parted and the image expanded to fill the huge Cinerama screen.

Very impressive in its day, but soon outdone in the mid-70s by IMAX. I just saw "The Polar Express" in IMAX 3D last Friday which I imagine is the only way to watch that particular trifle. Watching it, I got the impression I was peeking into little toy houses and traincars, similar to the experience of seeing the minature tableaux in the Thorne Room, Welles' beloved section of the Chicago Institute of Arts.

[Le Chiffre]

I saw "This Is Cinerama" during its early 70s reissue as well. As I recall, there was a brief introduction concerning the history of film presented in standard academy ratio, then as the coaster began its incline (front seat, first person perspective), the curtains parted and the image expanded to fill the huge Cinerama screen.

Yes, I remember that. That transition was what made it so overwhelming. I agree that IMAX is the best way to see those Pixar things like POLAR EXPRESS (I saw it in a regular theatre and was moderately impressed, but would like to see it in the IMAX 3D- apparently it may be brought back that way as a regular Christmas-time event), and other films with lots of visual effects. Someone mentioned to me recently that, after seeing the latest Harry Potter film in IMAX, seeing it again in a regular theatre didn't measure up at all. It appears that IMAX is becoming not only the replacement to Cinerama, but also to 70mm as well. That's why it's too bad that the new KING KONG will only be available to see in regular theatres. Another thing that's interesting about IMAX is that it's dimensions are roughly the same academy ratio (1.33) of the old classics. They did include the old SORCERER'S APPRENTICE segment when FANTASIA 2000 played in IMAX a few years ago. Is it possible we'll see Welles movies converted into the format someday?

BTW, did anyone see the KONG clip on the Tonight show last night, in which he battles several dinasaurs at once while holding Naomi Watts? Leno remarked after the clip that they've turned Kong into Bruce Lee. The CGI effects are much more fluid and detailed then the old stop-motion animation, but not necessarily less artificial looking in their own way. Of course, that was on TV rather then the theatre, so that may have had a lot to do with it.

[Terry]

Sorcerer's Apprentice didn't hack it when blown up to IMAX dimensions (grainy and muddy - the orginal film didn't have high enough resolution) - though the rest of Fantasia 2000 looked fantistic. For that reason alone, I wish never to see any Welles blown up that large.

[Roger Ryan]

Another thing that's interesting about IMAX is that it's dimensions are roughly the same academy ratio (1.33) of the old classics. They did include the old SORCERER'S APPRENTICE segment when FANTASIA 2000 played in IMAX a few years ago. Is it possible we'll see Welles movies converted into the format someday?

While the IMAX format is technically similar to the academy ratio, "Potter", "Polar" and others are shown in the same ratio as in normal theatres (2:35 to 1 for both, I think), just a whole lot bigger. Sadly, the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment from "Fantasia 2000" looked horrible blown up to IMAX proportions; Mickey's coloring was blotchy and the animation appeared choppy (the size actually diminished the illusion of movement). Fortunately, all of the new animation looked wonderful. In other words, a studio/producer really needs to plan for a project to be shown in the IMAX format (before "The Lion King" was shown in IMAX, animators were brought in to add detail to many of the cells so the enlarged image would be impressive). Given the relatively low quality of surviving Welles' prints, I would say his work would not benefit from being enlarged to IMAX proportions. Bigger isn't always better, but in the case of mediocre films like "Polar" and "Potter", it helps.

Update - I see Store Hadji beat me to the punch with his post; as you can see, we agree.