King Kong
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King Kong

Year:
Duration:
134 min | USA:180 min (2 part television premiere version)
Genres:
Adventure | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller
IMDB rate:
5.8
Director:
John Guillermin
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 1 nomination
Details
Country: USA
Release Date: 1976-12-17
Filming Locations: Stage 32, Paramount Pictures - 5555 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, California, USA
Earnings
Budget: $24,000,000
Opening Weekend: $7,023,921 (USA) (19 December 1976)
Gross: $7,023,921 (USA) (19 December 1976)
Cast
Actor
Character
Jeff Bridges
Jack Prescott
Charles Grodin
Fred Wilson
Jessica Lange
Dwan
John Randolph
Capt. Ross
Rene Auberjonois
Roy Bagley
Julius Harris
Boan
Jack O'Halloran
Joe Perko
Dennis Fimple
Sunfish
Ed Lauter
Carnahan
Jorge Moreno
Garcia
Mario Gallo
Timmons
Garry Walberg
Army General
John Agar
City Official
Sid Conrad
Petrox Chairman
George Whiteman
Army Helicopter Pilot
Wayne Heffley
Air Force General
Forrest J Ackerman
Fleeing Extra in Crowd (uncredited)
Rick Baker
King Kong
Todd Baker
Shea Stadium Spectator (uncredited)
Corbin Bernsen
Reporter (uncredited)
Ray Buktenica
Naval Officer (uncredited)
Larry M. Byrd
Excited Fan (uncredited)
Peter Cullen
King Kong
S.C. Dacy
Newspaper Photographer (uncredited)
James Dunaway
Man in Audience (uncredited)
Ned Gill
Crushed Spectator (uncredited)
Donald F. Glut
Guy in Amphitheater (uncredited)
Walt Gorney
Subway Driver (uncredited)
Brent Huff
Extra (uncredited)
Shawn McAllister
Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Eve McVeagh
Reporter (uncredited)
James F. Murray Jr.
Extra (uncredited)
Joe Piscopo
Bit Part (uncredited)
Ron Roccia
Extra (uncredited)
Ira S. Rosenstein
Logan (uncredited)
David Roya
Ship's Radio Operator (uncredited)
Will Shephard
King Kong
David Ulmer
Man Running in Terror (uncredited)
Kristephan Warren-Stevens
Kid with Afro on Bleachers (uncredited)
Booker James Winter
BG Crowd (uncredited)
Billy Zoom
Man Running from Monkey (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
From August 11th, 1976 to August 20th, 1976, the main unit filmed the last big sequence of the production - the presentation scene where Kong makes his NYC debut.
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The mechanical hands used each weighed 1,650 pounds. During filming of the scene where Kong caresses Dwan, the hand left Jessica Lange with a painfully pinched nerve in her neck.
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In a 2008 interview with David Letterman Meryl Streep revealed that she auditioned for the role of Dwan but was turned down by Dino De Laurentiis as being 'ugly'. He did this in Italian not knowing that Meryl Streep understood Italian.
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Goofs
Getting construction equipment through the hole from the beach to the island's interior would be impossible without disturbing much of the island's natural look.
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When Kong falls from the Twin Towers, the blood and wounds on his body disappear while he's falling. They reappear when he hits the ground.
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When the shore party arrives at the ancient wall on the island, Jack changes the lens on his camera twice.
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Quotes
Dwan: You know we're going to be great friends. I'm a Libra. What sign are you? I bet you're an Aries. Aren't you? Of course you are." I knew it. That's just wonderful.
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Fred Wilson: If that island doesn't produce huge, I'll be wiping windshields.
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Dwan: You're just going to America to be a star.
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Faq
Q
Why did the natives build such a huge door in the wall?
A
The film doesn't answer that question (neither does the 1933 original), but most likely the door was designed as a sacred gateway into an "other world" rather than as a simple, utilitarian opening in the wall. Medieval cathedrals in Europe have similar "large" doors, pillars, artwork and high vaulted ceilings, which serve as a psychological device for the worshipers, as if to connect them to something much larger and greater than themselves.
Q
How did they get Kong into the supertanker?
A
Helicopters, most likely. Near the end of the film Jack Prescott makes a deal with the Mayor to send in helicopters with nets to capture Kong atop the World Trade Center. This suggests he was familiar with this mode of transport as a means of safely moving Kong. As heavy helicopters are capable of lifting 20 tons, 2 or 3 working together would have been sufficient to carry Kong's sedated bulk from the island to the supertanker.
Q
Where is Kong's island located?
A
The film suggests two contradictory locations - either in the Indian Ocean, where the island was located in the original 1933 version, or in the Pacific Ocean in French Polynesia. The case for the Indian Ocean locale is as follows: 1) the map that Fred Wilson shows his crew in the briefing room aboard the ship shows a "magic circle" south of Java, 2) the Petrox Explorer leaves from Surabaya rather than a location closer to French Polynesia, and 3) Fred Wilson radios in an air drop of chloroform from Surabaya - indicating close proximity to that Indonesian port.The case for the Pacific Ocean locale is: 1) Jack Prescott mentions the diary of Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernando de Queiros who, in 1605, found the island just south of Tematangi - which is in French Polynesia, 2) Roy Bagley refers to the island as a "typical Pacific formation", 3) Dwan specifically says they are in the Pacific Ocean, and 4) screenwriter Lorenzo Semple wrote in the foreword to the script which was released as a novelization that Dwan was found "drifting in the South Pacific Ocean".There are many possible ways to rectify the contradiction, but an answer is left up to the viewer as the film itself does not specifically address the issue. It's even very possible that the contradiction was intentional by the filmmakers.
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Photos from cast
John Lone Keny Long
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