The ape on the Empire State Building is only the most famous image from the careers of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Schoedsack, the Brothers Grimm of the movie business (
The Most Dangerous Game,
She,
Dr. Cyclops). With the restoration of some long-censored footage, Kong can be seen in all of his Freudian fairy-tale glory—his rambunctious sexuality (stripping Fay Wray and giving her a curious sniff) and his destructive infantilism (if it looks good, eat it). Willis O'Brien did the stop-action animation for this 1933 feature, which is richer in character than most of the human cast. With Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot. 100 min.
By
Dave Kehr