King Kong -- 1933 -- NR

This film was an array of clever special effects, especially in combining live action with maquette stop motion animals.

The story follows a filmmaker who has a map leading him to a secret island. Once there, his star is kidnapped and given to an overgrown ape. 

Kong, himself, is portrayed as a monster and is hardly playing the "beauty and the beast" storyline they tried to imply. Ann was constantly afraid of him throughout the film. There was really no connection between them as she screamed EVERY SINGLE TIME she saw him. There was a romantic subplot between Ann and Driscoll, but it seemed to move too fast to be very believable. I understand WHY it moved that fast, but it didn't help. 

Other things that were a bit of a bother: Jack Driscoll managed to climb down a vine and just the right time: right before everyone died, saving himself alone...and then Denham reveals he escaped too. How? So it seems the main characters are allowed miraculous, if a bit unfeasable, escapes. Jack and Ann take this leap off a high, high, high cliff and manage to survive their dunk into the river...about 6 inches from the cliff side -- sorry, folks, there'd be rocks there. And of course, Ann Darrow was cool with running through the jungle barefoot.

The final determiation of the film was that "beauty killed the beast." That is really hard to swallow in this version of the film. 

These are more or less nitpicky things in a film that delivers a horrific monster story with cutting edge special effects (for 1933), and it is likely the plot was crafted around delivering these effects. I will grant, however, that the film was fun to watch, easy to follow, and had its share of great moments. Kong on the Empire State Building is a legendary shot. For at least the sake of momumental films in history, I recommend.