Son Of Kong (1933) Hadn't laid eyes on this since I watched it as a tyke when it hit TV......funny thing is, my impression of it stays pretty much the same after all these decades gone by....
Simply......by the far the slightest, oddest sequel ever made to an iconic blockbuster that would live forever in cinema history.....
I could only ask myself (since no one's left alive to answer).....what the hell was RKO thinking? Rushing a slapdash, decidedly small scale, hastily conceived follow-up into theaters the same friggin' year as the original film? Huh?
Yes, I'm well aware that the whole concept of concocting mammoth, overproduced sequels to popular movies didn't really take hold until the 1960's.....(particularly with the James Bond series).
Usually, throughout the 30's, 40's and 50's, you could expect sequels to come out as nothing more than quick, cheaply produced cash-grabs, no where near the originals in budget, casting, or artistic quality......
"Son Of Kong", at 70 minutes, barely cleared that low bar already set for it. 50 minutes of its running time is taken up filler before it finally delivers the promised monster mash. And what it delivers turns out......well, the current word in use is..."meh".
But here's a couple pluses I should take note of. During its long long set-up, the film does expand and deepen the character of Carl Denham, the self aggrandizing showbiz huckster played by Robert Armstrong.
As the film opens, the blowhard impresario's hiding out from dozens of legal "You got served!" guys and on the verge of a Federal indictment. He's being sued for the horrendous loss of innocent lives and property destruction wreaked by the escape and rampage of his '8th Wonder Of The World' King Kong'.
Wait a second! Hold the phone! This guy's now held accountable for the collateral damage he brought upon the city of New York?? Holy civil suit! Denham's in far more trouble than any of the Marvel and DC superhero gang ever faced for the death and human misery they left in the wake of their battles on public streets. For this unique twist I heartily applaud the filmmakers. Lock him up....lock him up.....lock him up....
With more consequential trouble ahead of him than Donald Trump's, Denham skips town. He forms a partnership with the first film's Captain Englelhorn (Frank Reicher) Off they go, sailing back to exotic islands on Engelhorn's old freighter 'Venture', in search of cargo shipping opportunities.
Along the way they pick up a frail nightclub singer (Helen Mack) and nefarious, double dealing sea captain Capt. Helstrom (John Marston. The untrustworthy Helstrom, who sold Denham the original map to Skull Island, claims there's still hidden treasure to be found there. Guess where they land next.......
Once back on the island, they run into little Kong, who's as fluffy and gentle as a Teddy Bear, until provoked into bad-assdom by the usual line up of Willis O' Brian's spectacular menagerie of stop motion prehistoric beasts. At long last the fun stuff erupts, with the some startling additions of slapstick comedy normally only seen in paint-and-ink cartoons. (Kong Jr. crosses his eyes, Loony Toon style when he's conked on the head.....)
Robert Armstrong, gifted with more scenes than the original ever afforded him, makes the most of it. He even attempts what looks like tender romantic moments with Helen Mack, though I couldn't tell if he really had the hots for her or just wanted to become her protective Big Brother figure.....
The film tosses in a deus-ex-machina earthquake to wrap things up, leading to a finish that aims to give little Kong a climax as poignant and heart rending as his Daddy's. I leave you to decide amongst yourselves how successful they were........
Sequels don't come any odder than "Son Of Kong" but how on earth could I give anything less than 3 stars (***) to a film that features the glorious, legendary work of stop-motion maestro Willis O' Brian. Even in a flimsy concoction like this one, those dinos are always an amazing sight to feast your eyes on........
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