Twenty-six years after the movie debuted and I can still remember the title tune.Flawed but ambitious, there’s a lot to admire about the 1976 version of King Kong. I'll close by noting that John Barry's score of 'King Kong' was terrific. The fact that her costumes were chosen for their ability to showcase her body and that her breasts are briefly visible when Kong undresses her has got to make the actress cringe nowadays when she thinks about this movie. Not because of her performance, which is fine, but because her character is an airhead who is only there to be protected (and rescued when that doesn't work) from Kong. Jessica Lange comes off worse than any other actor in the film. Jeff has a way with a sarcastic line that few actors can equal.
His long hair is a nice touch, although it probably turned off some of the older people in the theater. Jeff Bridges is perfect in the role of Jack Prescott. For years after, I watched in vain for Grodin to play a similar character, but everything else he has done is nothing like his work in 'King Kong.' (Nothing as good either, I might add.) Speaking of singular performances, you won't recognize René Auberjonois if your frame of reference is his work on 'Benson' and 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.' The voice he uses in 'King Kong' is nothing like the gravely voice we're used to hearing. Charles Grodin's portrayal of the greedy, desperate oil company executive is scenery-chewing at its best. But 'King Kong' had it's good points, too. Give me a break! Yet there's something about movies one enjoyed as a youth that makes them special for the rest of one's life, no matter how bad they really are.
Or Jack's theory that the fog was produced not by a huge supply of crude oil near the surface, but by 'animal respiration.' As if King Kong's breathing caused the fog bank. Or the SUNNY aerial shot of the people walking on the allegedly fog-shrouded island. Like the ship's radar being able to pick up Kong when he was walking around the island. Other aspects of the film struck me as just dumb. The romance between Dwan and Jack seemed contrived once I got older. I very much enjoyed 'King Kong' as a 17-year-old high school senior, but not so much later as an adult. And you could find posters, T-shirts and a 'Making Of King Kong' book. A fast-food joint offered King Kong collectible glasses (I still have a set). Promotional material offered for sale dwarfed anything that had been done in that area before. With a production cost of $24 million it was the most expensive movie ever made at that time. It might have been the first movie to get that treatment.
It was the big 'event' movie of 1976 and showed on two screens in most multiplexes. "King Kong" was one of my all-time favorite movies when I was a teenager.
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