The Son of Kong
Encyclopedia
The Son of Kong is a 1933 American adventure film
/monster movie
produced by RKO Pictures
. Directed by Ernest Schoedsack and featuring special effects by Buzz Gibson and Willis O'Brien
, the film starred Robert Armstrong
, Helen Mack
and Frank Reicher
. The film was a sequel to King Kong
which was released just 9 months earlier.
(again played by Robert Armstrong
), now implicated in numerous lawsuits following the destruction wrought by Kong
. Denham leaves New York
with the captain of the "Venture", Captain Englehorn, who is certain it is just a matter of time before he is similarly served. Their efforts to make money shipping cargo around the Orient are less than successful. In the Dutch
port of Dakang, they run into Nils Helstrom, the former Norwegian
skipper who sold Denham the map to Skull Island
, who tells them there is a treasure on the island. Blinded by their financial situation, they believe him and agree to return. In fact, he is lying so they will take him to another jurisdiction, as he has just caused a man's death. Shortly after they put out to sea, a beautiful stowaway girl (Helen Mack
) is found on board. She had been part of a traveling show run by her recently deceased father, Helstrom's victim.
They arrive at Skull Island where they meet, befriend, and are ultimately saved by Kong's easygoing albino son Kiko (a name used in production but never spoken in the film; he is referred to only as "Little Kong" and, by Denham, "Baby"). The son of Kong is portrayed as considerably smaller than his famous father, but is still twice the size of a man. He is much friendlier and saves Denham and the girl from a giant cave bear
. Despite the fact that Helstrom made up his story on the spot out of desperation, a treasure is found. Shortly afterwards, Kiko, Denham and the girl are attacked by a giant nothosaur
which Kiko kills, while Helstrom tries to escape in the lifeboat but is eaten by an elasmosaurus
. Eventually, Kiko dies saving Carl Denham, as does every other creature on Skull Island, when an earthquake strikes the island and it sinks into the ocean.
(1933), and was a modest success. Script writer Ruth Rose
intentionally made no attempt to make a serious film on the logic that it could not surpass the first. She stated "If you can't make it bigger, make it funnier." For his part, Denham's actor, Robert Armstrong
, preferred the second film, saying that the sequel offered more character development for Carl Denham.
The script/screenplay featured scenes of tribal warfare and a climactic dinosaur stampede during the massive cyclone/earthquake that sinks Skull Island at the film's end. The stampede was going to utilize the models that had been built for Creation
(1931) (most being used in the earlier King Kong). However these sequences were never filmed due to the films tight budget and shooting schedule.
Several models which were used for King Kong were also utilized for the production of The Son of Kong. The "long face" Kong armature
, from the log bridge and tyrannosaur
fight sequences, was also used for "Little Kong". It is the only known model of Kong still in existence and is currently owned by film historian and collector Bob Burns. Also, the same Brontosaurus
model used for the raft scene in King Kong can be glimpsed in the sea as the island is sinking. The stop motion animation in the film (done by Willis O'Brien
who also did the effects in King Kong) is not as extensive as in the original, but is notable for a sequence where a Styracosaurus
chases the explorers through the jungle. Today, the original Styracosaurus model is owned by director Peter Jackson
, who remade King Kong in 2005
.
by Nostalgia Merchant in the 1980s and again in 1991 by Turner Home Entertainment
.
In 2005, it received a DVD release and was available both by itself and as part of a collector's set alongside King Kong (1933) and Mighty Joe Young (1949), with commentary by Ray Harryhausen
.
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
/monster movie
Monster movie
Monster movie is a name commonly given to movies, which centre on the struggle between human beings and one or more monsters...
produced by RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
. Directed by Ernest Schoedsack and featuring special effects by Buzz Gibson and Willis O'Brien
Willis O'Brien
Willis Harold O'Brien was an Irish American pioneering motion picture special effects artist who perfected and specialized in stop-motion animation. He was affectionately known to his family and close friends as "Obie"....
, the film starred Robert Armstrong
Robert Armstrong (actor)
Robert Armstrong was an American film actor best remembered for his role as Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong by RKO Pictures. He uttered the famous exit quote, "'Twas beauty killed the beast," at the film's end...
, Helen Mack
Helen Mack
Helen Mack was an American actress. Mack started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving on to Broadway plays, and touring the vaudeville circuit. Her greater success as an actress was as a leading lady in the 1930s...
and Frank Reicher
Frank Reicher
Frank Reicher , was a German-born American stage and film actor, director and producer.-Early life:Frank Reicher was born in Munich, Germany, the son of actor Emanuel Reicher and Hedwig Kindermann, a popular German prima donna who was a daughter of the famous baritone August Kindermann...
. The film was a sequel to King Kong
King Kong (1933 film)
King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
which was released just 9 months earlier.
Plot
The story picks up about a month after the dramatic finale of the previous film and follows the further adventures of filmmaker Carl DenhamCarl Denham
Carl Denham is a fictional film director in the films King Kong and Son of Kong , as well as in the 2005 remake of King Kong, and a 2004 illustrated-novel titled Kong: King of Skull Island. The role was played by Robert Armstrong in the 1933 films and by Jack Black in the 2005 remake...
(again played by Robert Armstrong
Robert Armstrong (actor)
Robert Armstrong was an American film actor best remembered for his role as Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong by RKO Pictures. He uttered the famous exit quote, "'Twas beauty killed the beast," at the film's end...
), now implicated in numerous lawsuits following the destruction wrought by Kong
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
. Denham leaves New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
with the captain of the "Venture", Captain Englehorn, who is certain it is just a matter of time before he is similarly served. Their efforts to make money shipping cargo around the Orient are less than successful. In the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
port of Dakang, they run into Nils Helstrom, the former Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
skipper who sold Denham the map to Skull Island
Skull Island
Skull Island is a fictional island first appearing in the 1933 film King Kong and later appearing in its sequels and in the two remakes. It is the home of the eponymous King Kong and several other species of creatures, mostly prehistoric and in some cases species that should have been extinct long...
, who tells them there is a treasure on the island. Blinded by their financial situation, they believe him and agree to return. In fact, he is lying so they will take him to another jurisdiction, as he has just caused a man's death. Shortly after they put out to sea, a beautiful stowaway girl (Helen Mack
Helen Mack
Helen Mack was an American actress. Mack started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving on to Broadway plays, and touring the vaudeville circuit. Her greater success as an actress was as a leading lady in the 1930s...
) is found on board. She had been part of a traveling show run by her recently deceased father, Helstrom's victim.
They arrive at Skull Island where they meet, befriend, and are ultimately saved by Kong's easygoing albino son Kiko (a name used in production but never spoken in the film; he is referred to only as "Little Kong" and, by Denham, "Baby"). The son of Kong is portrayed as considerably smaller than his famous father, but is still twice the size of a man. He is much friendlier and saves Denham and the girl from a giant cave bear
Cave Bear
The cave bear was a species of bear that lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
. Despite the fact that Helstrom made up his story on the spot out of desperation, a treasure is found. Shortly afterwards, Kiko, Denham and the girl are attacked by a giant nothosaur
Nothosaur
Nothosaurs were Triassic marine sauropterygian reptiles that may have lived like seals of today, catching food in water but coming ashore on rocks and beaches. They averaged about in length, with a long body and tail. The feet were paddle-like, and are known to have been webbed in life, to help...
which Kiko kills, while Helstrom tries to escape in the lifeboat but is eaten by an elasmosaurus
Elasmosaurus
Elasmosaurus + σαυρος sauros 'lizard') is a genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the Late Cretaceous period , 80.5 million years ago.-Description:...
. Eventually, Kiko dies saving Carl Denham, as does every other creature on Skull Island, when an earthquake strikes the island and it sinks into the ocean.
Production
The film was produced and released in 1933, immediately following the success of King KongKing Kong (1933 film)
King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
(1933), and was a modest success. Script writer Ruth Rose
Ruth Rose
Ruth Rose was a writer who worked on several films in the 1930s and the 1940s, most famously the original 1933 classic King Kong.-Early life:...
intentionally made no attempt to make a serious film on the logic that it could not surpass the first. She stated "If you can't make it bigger, make it funnier." For his part, Denham's actor, Robert Armstrong
Robert Armstrong (actor)
Robert Armstrong was an American film actor best remembered for his role as Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong by RKO Pictures. He uttered the famous exit quote, "'Twas beauty killed the beast," at the film's end...
, preferred the second film, saying that the sequel offered more character development for Carl Denham.
The script/screenplay featured scenes of tribal warfare and a climactic dinosaur stampede during the massive cyclone/earthquake that sinks Skull Island at the film's end. The stampede was going to utilize the models that had been built for Creation
Creation (1931 film)
Creation is an unfinished 1931 feature film, and a project of stop motion animator Willis O'Brien. It was about modern men encountering dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals on an island. The picture was scrapped by RKO studio head David O. Selznick on the grounds of expense, and Merian C...
(1931) (most being used in the earlier King Kong). However these sequences were never filmed due to the films tight budget and shooting schedule.
Several models which were used for King Kong were also utilized for the production of The Son of Kong. The "long face" Kong armature
Armature (sculpture)
In sculpture, an armature is a framework around which the sculpture is built. This framework provides structure and stability, especially when a plastic material such as wax or clay is being used as the medium...
, from the log bridge and tyrannosaur
Tyrannosauridae
Tyrannosauridae is a family of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs which comprises two subfamilies containing up to six genera, including the eponymous Tyrannosaurus. The exact number of genera is controversial, with some experts recognizing as few as three...
fight sequences, was also used for "Little Kong". It is the only known model of Kong still in existence and is currently owned by film historian and collector Bob Burns. Also, the same Brontosaurus
Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus , also known by the popular but scientifically deprecated synonym Brontosaurus, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived from about 154 to 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period . It was one of the largest land animals that ever existed, with an average length of and a...
model used for the raft scene in King Kong can be glimpsed in the sea as the island is sinking. The stop motion animation in the film (done by Willis O'Brien
Willis O'Brien
Willis Harold O'Brien was an Irish American pioneering motion picture special effects artist who perfected and specialized in stop-motion animation. He was affectionately known to his family and close friends as "Obie"....
who also did the effects in King Kong) is not as extensive as in the original, but is notable for a sequence where a Styracosaurus
Styracosaurus
Styracosaurus was a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period , about 76.5 to 75.0 million years ago...
chases the explorers through the jungle. Today, the original Styracosaurus model is owned by director Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
, who remade King Kong in 2005
King Kong (2005 film)
King Kong is a 2005 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a remake of the 1933 film of the same name and stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody. Andy Serkis, through performance capture, portrays Kong....
.
Cast
- Robert ArmstrongRobert Armstrong (actor)Robert Armstrong was an American film actor best remembered for his role as Carl Denham in the 1933 version of King Kong by RKO Pictures. He uttered the famous exit quote, "'Twas beauty killed the beast," at the film's end...
as Carl DenhamCarl DenhamCarl Denham is a fictional film director in the films King Kong and Son of Kong , as well as in the 2005 remake of King Kong, and a 2004 illustrated-novel titled Kong: King of Skull Island. The role was played by Robert Armstrong in the 1933 films and by Jack Black in the 2005 remake... - Helen MackHelen MackHelen Mack was an American actress. Mack started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving on to Broadway plays, and touring the vaudeville circuit. Her greater success as an actress was as a leading lady in the 1930s...
as Hilda (name given only in opening credits; she is referred to as Helene in the film) - Frank ReicherFrank ReicherFrank Reicher , was a German-born American stage and film actor, director and producer.-Early life:Frank Reicher was born in Munich, Germany, the son of actor Emanuel Reicher and Hedwig Kindermann, a popular German prima donna who was a daughter of the famous baritone August Kindermann...
as Captain Englehorn - John Marston as Nils Helstrom
- Victor WongVictor Wong (actor)Victor Wong was an American actor. While Wong appeared in numerous roles films through the 1930s and 1940s, they were largely small uncredited parts. His biggest role was as Charlie the Cook in the movie King Kong and Son of Kong .-External links:...
as Charlie - Edward Brady as Red
- Noble JohnsonNoble JohnsonNoble Johnson was an African American actor and film producer.-Biography:Standing 6'2" at 215 pounds, his impressive physique and handsome features made him in demand as a character actor and bit player...
as Native Chief (uncredited) - Steve ClementeSteve ClementeSteve Clemente was a Mexican actor known for his many villainous roles. He began acting in his teens, signing up for his first movie, The Secret Man, in 1917. His later, numerous roles were usually bit parts...
as Witch Doctor (uncredited) - Clarence Wilson as Hilda's father (uncredited)
- Kathrin Clare Ward as Mrs. Hudson (uncredited)
Creatures
Kiko: Kong's albino son who is half his size and much friendlier that ends up being drowned when the island is destroyed but saves Denham first. He is named only by fans.- StyracosaurusStyracosaurusStyracosaurus was a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period , about 76.5 to 75.0 million years ago...
: chases Charlie, Englehorn, and Helstrom into a cave and destroys their gun. Same model used in the original film. - Cave BearCave BearThe cave bear was a species of bear that lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
: chases Denham and Hilda before being driven off by Kiko. - NothosaurusNothosaurusNothosaurus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile from the Triassic period, approximately 240-210 million years ago, with fossils being distributed from North Africa and Europe to China...
: weird reptilian creature that attacks Denham, Hilda and Kiko after they uncover the treasure, only to be killed by Kiko. It seems to resemble a large ProtorosaurusProtorosaurusProtorosaurus , a lizard-like reptile of the order Prolacertiformes, is the earliest known archosauromorph. It lived during the Late Permian period in Germany. In 1914, a new ceratopsian dinosaur found by Lawrence Lambe was again given the name Protorosaurus...
. - ElasmosaurusElasmosaurusElasmosaurus + σαυρος sauros 'lizard') is a genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the Late Cretaceous period , 80.5 million years ago.-Description:...
: devours Helstrom when he attempts to escape in the lifeboat.
Home video
The Son of Kong was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
by Nostalgia Merchant in the 1980s and again in 1991 by Turner Home Entertainment
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution Turner Entertainment Company, Inc. (commonly known as Turner Entertainment Co.) is an American...
.
In 2005, it received a DVD release and was available both by itself and as part of a collector's set alongside King Kong (1933) and Mighty Joe Young (1949), with commentary by Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...
.