So much negative ink has been spilled over the years regarding Dino DeLaurentiis' 1976 remake of the 1933 RKO classic "King Kong" that many reviewers tend to forget that this is still one of the top-grossing films of the '70s with a lot to offer -- including an Academy Award for special effects. It was also the film that launched the career of a young actress and part-time model named Jessica Lange -- who would go on in the following decades to near-unanimous critical acclaim and two Oscars for her roles in "Frances", "Tootsie", "Country", "Sweet Dreams", "Music Box" and "Blue Sky" -- among others. And, as far as remakes go, this "King Kong" is really more of an update as evidenced by the producer's decision to have his giant ape forgo climbing the historical Empire State Building in favor of the much taller, monolithic World Trade Center. It was also the producer's decision to eliminate nearly all of Kong's monster foes -- with the exception of one poorly executed giant snake -- in order to focus more on the relationship between beauty and her captivated beast. In a decade known for breaking down sexual taboos, King Kong was bound to grow up. Oh, dear!
The simple truth is that, while no one is disputing the original as a tried-and-true breakthrough classic, this remake offers more fully developed characters, more humor and a much more sympathetic and less hammy King Kong. First let's compare the two damsels in distress -- Fay Wray's Ann Darrow and Jessica Lange's Dwan. Ann is an out-of-work actress stealing apples from a Manhattan street vendor at the height of the Great Depression who suddenly finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime. Dwan, too, is an out-of-work actress, but by the time we meet her she has already had too much adventure (an excitement junkie as one character calls her). Discovered adrift in a rubber raft in the south Pacific after narrowly escaping an exploding yacht headed for Singapore, she is rescued by the crew of the Petrox Explorer -- bound not for movie-making reasons, like the Venture in the original, but instead to pillage a mysterious island of it's vast oil supply (and hopefully solve the nation's then-current energy crisis). Both women are somewhat naive, but whereas Ann is first and foremost a lady, Dwan is a loose and free spirit burning for her chance at stardom.
Fast-forward to the ladies' first meetings with their respective Kongs -- where holy sacrifice rites are given more thought in the remake as gentle native handmaidens slip Dwan some kind of liquid 'ludes after dressing her up in their elaborate bridal garb. Not so in the original, when unimaginative natives -- probably pressed for time -- just throw a near-hysterical Fay Wray in her summer dress outside the gates for Kong to seize. Both women have an aversion to Kong at first -- Dwan shouts for help from her drugged stupor as a cold sober Ann just screams and screams and screams. And screams ... After awhile, though, it begins to dawn on the obviously brighter Dwan that Kong likes her: by the time he takes her to a waterfall for a bath followed by the ultimate blowjob -- that is, he literally blows her dry in one of the film's more ridiculous moments -- Dwan has already warmed up to him (even assigning him an astrological sign!). Not so with Ann, who remains in stark, wailing terror of her captor -- even though he goes out of his way to save her from a marauding tyrannosaurus, slimy cave serpent of some kind and a nasty pterodactyl. Talk about ungrateful!
Back in the Big Apple, Dwan's relationship with her Kong continues to grow as she is torn over his obvious exploitation versus her need to be a celebrity. Ann, on the other hand, still grows faint and weak-kneed at the sight of Kong backstage in shackles -- clearly, this is a beauty stuck on one note! As both Kongs make their break and reclaim their peroxide prizes, Ann's worst nightmare comes true while Dwan quickly realizes her presence may afford her oversized friend some kind of protection. While Ann sits numbly on a ledge of the Empire State Building waiting for her Kong to be killed off by bi-planes, Dwan valiantly -- and these are some of Lange's best scenes -- attempts to convince the giant ape to hold onto her (it's a nice touch when you think of her earliest scenes ordering him to put her down). As one watches a bleeding Kong gently push his lady love aside in this supposedly awful remake, it's actually very moving. By the tragic climax, there is no doubt over how this beauty feels about her beast, while one gets the feeling in the original that Ann is relieved to have the whole ordeal over with. But, of course, the original is a classic ...
Secondary characters also fare much better in the latter version with Jeff Bridges in the Bruce Cabot role as Dwan/Ann's love interest. Stiff and mannered sailor Jack Driscoll, as played by stiff and mannered actor Cabot, is a good match for Fay's predictable Ann while Jeff Bridge's Jack Prescott -- a hippie-esque paleontologist with Kong's best interests at heart -- is totally believable and quietly charismatic as Dwan's conflicted boyfriend. In the original film, movie director Carl Denham -- the source of all of Kong's troubles in the first place -- is schizophrenically written and only redeemed by Robert Armstrong's spirited performance: he may exploit Kong as the Eighth Wonder of the World and contribute to his destruction, but he still kind of likes the big guy. But in the update, Charles Grodin devours this part -- completely rewritten as crass and self-centered Petrox company man Fred Wilson -- whose empathy for Kong is at such a nonexistent level he readies the big ape for showtime inside a 50-foot gas pump! More clearly drawn, Wilson is also more clearly punished and eventually -- at least in the version originally seen in theatres and on home video and not the unedited version sometimes played on t.v. -- he is stomped and squashed to death by his angry nemisis.
This leaves, lastly, our remaining character comparison: King Kong himself. The technology employed to bring Kong to life in 1933 amazed audiences of that period due in no small part to the genius of Willis O'Brien -- who imbued his shaky, miniature ape with a lot of towering human characteristics. Some of these, however, border upon outright hamminess -- especially when Kong is atop the Empire State Building and milking every ounce out of his death scene like an over-the-top simian Hamlet. In the later version, Rick Baker's Kong -- and not the huge and very fake mechanical monstrosity seen in only a few brief shots before it was trashed by DiLaurentiis -- runs the gamut of emotion like a born thespian. This Kong is a real creature with real feelings who looks upon Dwan the same way an overbearing adolescent might look upon his first love. And when he is cut down in his prime by a squadron of armed National Guard helicopters, you actually do see him suffer and die -- it's truly heartbreaking -- and not just topple off the side of a skyscraper and bounce his way down 102 stories like a furry rag doll.
Yes, the original "King Kong" is a classic -- but not because of its melodramatic plot or cardboard characters; it was deemed so because of the amazing special effects, truly revolutionary for 1933. In defense of the remake: yes, there are some truly oddball moments stemming from screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr., -- the same man who brought us television's Batman in the 1960s. But there are also some wonderful elements that indeed transcend the monster/horror film genre (including a lush and lilting score). This is due in large part to the talents of Rick Baker and Jessica Lange -- who, like many a talented actress, would suffer an undeserved backlash years afterward for being too good at portraying her part (in this case, a flaky blonde). But the real tragedy of this film's legacy is witnessing over and over again how supposedly respected and schooled historians rewrite film history by erroneously calling this venture a commercial flop or neglecting to mention it took home an Academy Award or labeling it an embarrassment to its criticism-proof predecessor. Therefore, it is this reviewer's opinion that, with Jessica Lange and Rick Baker at work, "King Kong" the second time around is actually an improvement ...
The Big Apple is again besieged by the monstrous King Kong. Jeff Bridges and Jessica Lange star in this ambitious remake of the 1933 original, which a...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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