King Kong

Director: Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack

1933 / 100min / 35mm

All aboard for Skull Island! The spectacle to end all spectacles featuring special effects that are actually special, it would require the visionary brilliance of stop-motion animation pioneer Willis O’Brien to bring the mighty Kong to life, and top-of-the-line c. 1933 military technology to peel him off the top of the Empire State Building. Featuring Fay Wray as the beauty who calms the beast, King Kong created the kaiju avant la lettre, the original and remaining undefeated champ of giant monsters running amok. Screened at the opening night of The Scala at its new King’s Cross location, Cooper and Schoedsack’s great ape picture set the tone for many a program of creature features to come.

Introduction from Jane Giles, SCALA!!! co-director and former film programmer at The Scala, on Monday, July 22nd