MERIAN C. COOPER’S KING KONG
By Joe DeVito and Brad Strictland
St.Martin’s Griffin
203 pgs
Our all-time favorite movie is the 1933 RKO production of KING KONG, produced and written by Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace, Jack Creelman, Ruth Rose and directed by Ernest Shoedsack. We saw it as a child in the theater during a 1950s re-release and it imprinted itself on our psyche. Even as a child, we knew somehow intuitively that the giant gorilla, the supposed monster, was actuality the victim of the tale. We left the theater almost in tears at his demise.
As the years rolled past and we matured, so did our affection for this amazing cinema classic. Our admiration and respect for its creators, to include special effects pioneer Willis O’Brien, grew as well. Over the subsequent years, we began picking up book novelizations whenever coming across them. Thus, we found ourselves owning a copy of this one, dated 2005. We were long familiar with the fact that artist Joe DiVito was a fellow Kong fanatic and while assuming co-writing duties on the paperback, he also provided the powerful cover painting and a handful of beautiful pencil illustrations.
Some may ask what is the value in a book that repeats a story we’ve practically memorized scene for scene? The answer is simple; DeVito and Strictland have added character insights and in so doing given us another layer of drama. Their portrayals of showman Carl Denham, seaman Jack Driscoll and actress Ann Darrow are rich with understanding. King Kong is the story of man versus nature, of the civilized versus the savage and these three souls are caught at its center. We will always love the movie and now, thanks to this book, even more so.
