King Kong (1933 film)

King Kong
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Screenplay by
Story by
Produced by
  • Merian C. Cooper
  • Ernest B. Schoedsack
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byTed Cheesman
Music byMax Steiner
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release dates
  • March 2, 1933 (1933-03-02) (New York City)
  • April 7, 1933 (1933-04-07) (United States)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$672,254.75[2]
Box office$5.3 million[2]
(equivalent to $124.75 million in 2023)[3]

King Kong is a 1933 American pre-Code adventure romance monster film[4] directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, with special effects by Willis H. O'Brien and music by Max Steiner. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it is the first film in the King Kong franchise. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot. The film follows a giant ape dubbed Kong who is offered a beautiful young woman as a sacrifice.

King Kong opened in New York City on March 2, 1933, to rave reviews, with praise for its stop-motion animation and score. In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.[5][6] It is ranked by Rotten Tomatoes as the greatest horror film of all time[7] and the fifty-sixth greatest film of all time.[8] A sequel, Son of Kong, was made the same year as the original film, and several more films have been made, including two remakes in 1976 and 2005.

  1. ^ King Kong at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^ a b * Jewel, Richard (1994). "RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 14 (1): 39. 1933 release: $1,856,000; 1938 release: $306,000; 1944 release: $685,000
  3. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  4. ^ Sprague, Mike (April 7, 2021). "Horror History: KING KONG (1933) Is Now 88 Years Old". Dread Central. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  5. ^ Daniel Eagan, (2010). America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry. The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, New York, NY p.22
  6. ^ Kehr, Dave (September 26, 1991). "U.S. FILM REGISTRY ADDS 25 SIGNIFICANT MOVIES". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  7. ^ "Best Horror Movies – King Kong (1933)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  8. ^ "Top 100 Movies of All Time – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2016.