King
Kong
Released
December 1976
Starring
Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, Jessica Lange (as Dwan), John
Randolph, Rene Auberjonois, Julius Harris
Directed by John Guillermmin
134 min.
Box
Office Gross - 52.6 million
See
complete credits at Internet
Movie Database
After
25 years, King Kong is finally getting some of the
respect that is never received upon its release in late 1976.
The critical lambasting should have been expected. Anytime
a Hollywood classic is remade, the inevitable question of
WHY? reverberates throughout the country. In this case, producer
Dino De Laurentis's announcement that he would spend 24 million
remaking the ape epic was sneered at from the beginning. Inevitably,
most critics blasted the film upon it's release and many were
especially harsh toward Jessica Lange. It never seemed to
occur to them that she was acting - she WAS that dizzy blonde
in real life! It was take five years for her to overcome the
image.
Today,
critics are kinder, and King Kong can be enjoyed for
what it is - an entertaining romantic adventure story. Unlike
the original 1933 film, which set out to impress with state
of the art miniature special effects, this version focuses
mainly on the love story between the beauty and the beast,
ridiculous as it may be. The first half of the film, set on
the mythical Skull Island, effectively sets the tone with
its' moody cinematography by Richard H. Kline and a stirring
score by John Barry. The latter half of the film, in which
Kong is captured and transported to a dark and foreboding
New York City, relies more on special effects and manages
to provide excitement and spectacle, well before the days
of computer generated monsters and dinosaurs.
Jessica
Lange endured a lengthy publicity tour for King Kong which,
for the most part, was humiliating and the critical snubs
were painful. Eventually, Lange would stop talking about King
Kong altogether. However, she would have the last laugh.
Critical
Sampling:
"The
movie is sparked...by Jessica Lange's fast yet dreamy comic
style. Her Dwan has the high, wide forehead and clear eyed
transparency of Carole Lombard in "My Man Godfrey"...
She has one liners so dumb that the audience laughs and moans
at the same time, yet they're in character, and when Lange
says them she holds the eye and you like her, the way people
liked Lombard." - Pauline Kael, The New Yorker
"Speaking
in a baby doll voice that turns every syllable into a come
hither, Lange does a very smart caricature of cuddly seductiveness,
a knowing take on Marilyn Monroe's embarrassing irresistibility
- and a little less innocent." - Charles
Taylor, Salon
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