The original King Kong was a monumental achievement in filmmaking for its time. Made almost 80 years ago, it still manages to tell an engrossing tale of hubris, humanity, and love. The movie starts with film director Carl Denham (Armstrong), about to set sail into uncharted territory with a film crew and enormous supply of tranquilizing gas bombs. He won't tell any of his compatriots the exact location until they near it, but he plans to shoot his newest adventure film there. He brings on a young Ann Darrow (Wray) as his lead actress to act against Jack Driscoll (Cabot). And so begins the story that inevitably ends in disaster.
The movie is remarkably efficient (especially in comparison to the remake that almost doubles the running time), and serves as an example of impeccable storytelling. We are immediately placed in the mystery of the moment, buffeted along by every twist and turn in the plot. The titular ape does not appear until almost halfway through the film, but our eyes are glued to the screen the entire time. It turns into an epic love story, one of unrequited love and sacrifice. We watch as our antihero protagonist builds up a tribute to himself and to mankind that eventually comes crashing down. Literally. The plot is so thick with multiple thematic meanings that it becomes a joy to analyze.
Unfortunately, the movie has more than its fair share of faults. The performances are rather stilted and bland. The dialogue itself isn't bad--when it's not racist or sexist, that is--but the delivery absolutely kills it. It's not such a bad thing the first time you watch it, but it seems to lose a little of its luster with every repeat viewing. There is also a large amount of obvious green-screening. But the most glaring problem is the stop motion animation. While hailed at the time as being unbelievably, unexpectedly realistic, it just looks comical now. This would have been more bearable if the effects simply stayed in the background, but the director spends exorbitant amounts of time showing off the latest and greatest like he's Michael Bay. It's as if the director forgot the focus should be on the story and the characters, and chooses instead to focus on the novelty of the animation. It doesn't help that the computer-generated effects in the remake easily outperform all the hard work put into the original.
All in all, the film is somewhat of a mixed bag. It was clearly a labor of love, and involves a richness and depth you wouldn't expect in this type of film, but it just doesn't hold its weight against modern cinema. It's hard to watch knowing a better-looking version is available, although I feel a twinge of nostalgia every time I think of this movie. Highly recommended.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/