ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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I remembered being highly impressed by the Volkswagen commercial of 1972 and its amazing stop motion by David Allen. It was a brilliant idea, executed flawlessly.

How many other commercials from the 1970s are remembered as fondly as this one?
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__________ Volkswagon King Kong Commercial


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

[Skullislander]

I just watched a youtube item about the FX work on Kong Skull Island, [possibly culled from the extras on the disc version] the new KK update of course — it was interesting, but the digital FX are just too artificial to really stimulate the senses like the behind-the scenes stuff about Kong '33.

[Bud Brewster]

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Please post a link to the YouTube video.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Maurice]

[Bud Brewster]

Enjoy this interesting article from issue #1 of Starlog. The Archive.org scans were almost 700 pixels wide, so I made them slightly larger, increased the contrast, and sharpened them a little to make them easier to read.










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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I am extremely impressed with this article, because I was not aware that prior to Paramount's disastrous version of King Kong in 1976, they engaged in a legal battle with Universal Studios to obtain the rights to produce a big budget remake of this classic film.

The tragic thing about all this is the fact that Universal's plan was to remake the film with stop motion animation and a story set in the 1930s, like the original. Faye Wray agreed to appear in a cameo, and the film would have used Max Steiner's original score!

That is absolutely amazing!

Despite the fact that Ray Harryhausen had wanted to be involved in a Kong remake for years, Universal elected to offer the job to Jim Danforth, who remained on the Universal payroll for a period of time while he developed prehistoric monsters for the film.

Casting for the film was well underway before the project was finally dropped when Paramount won the film rights and Dino De Laurentiss got his greedy paws on the concept.

I was amused (and appalled) to learn that the role of Carl Denham was offered to Peter Falk (Lt. Columbo, for God's sake!) — which would have been even worse that Jack Black's ham-handed portrayal in that gawd-awful Peter Jackson version.

Ann Darrow was slated to be played Susan Blakley (*yawn*).


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I must admit, the one thing about Jackson's King Kong he got right (other than the great FX) was Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow. She was pretty damn good.

Anyway, read the article above and find out how close the world came to a big-budget remake of King Kong that might have been absolutely spectacular.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[orzel-w]

[Krel.]

[Bud Brewster]

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Wow, I'm surprised that we agree about Jack Black, but we differ on the subject of Peter Falk playing Darl Denham!

Maybe I'm type-casting poor Mr. Falk because he played the humble, disheveled detective so well, not to mention the hysterical henchman of Professor Fate in The Great Race.


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I can't seem to picture him as an ambitious, strong-willed filmmaker who treks through jungles to get amazing pictures of wild animals.

Jack Black had that part of the character right, at least.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

In order to convince investors & the studio (RKO) of the feasibility of KK, the producers created a test reel.

Producer Marian C. Cooper used the jungle sets from his movie already being filmed, The Most Dangerous Game, to stage the live-action scenes.

It even included 2 of TMDG stars: Fay Wray & Robert Armstrong.

The test reel also was notable for being the studio's first rear~screen projection shot.

[Bud Brewster]

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Somehow I'd gotten it into my head that The Most Dangerous Game was filmed on King Kong sets, instead of the other way around.

But of course, The Most Dangerous Game was released a year earlier, so I don't know how I got it turned around.

That test real didn't survive, did it? Or is it in celluloid heaven with the spider pit scene.? Oh well . . .
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel.]

I've always read that both movies were filmed at the same time, using some of the same jungles sets as well as the some of the cast. They would finish for the day on one movie, then film some of the second film. Mark 'Nobel' Johnson, a very versatile actor who played the Native Chief in both Kong movies played Ivan, Count Zaroff's Cossack henchman.

"King Kong" was released second, because of all the post filming effects work needed to bring Kong to life.

"The Most Dangerous Game" is an example of the movie being better than the source story. They had to cut Zaroff's museum from the finished film, because it was considered too horrifying for the time.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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I read the story when I was a teenager and remembered liking it. I haven't seen the movie in years. It has wonderful scenes of the Skull Island set, and the action is well done. I should read the story again . . . and watch the film, too.

The ending of the story was especially good.

Here's the full story on the Archive.org.

And by gum, here's the full movie, both black & white and colorized (done fairly well, surprisingly enough). Look at the stellar job they did on the "log crossing" scene!





___________ The Most Dangerous Game (1932)


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_________ The Most Dangerous Game colorized


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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This seems to be the nail in the coffin for the idea that the "lost spider pit scene" was filmed and might someday be found. Here's a 2006 article from Chicago Tribune.
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Did 'Kong' spider-pit scene exist?

by KRT

A Ft. Lauderdale comic-book collector says he has proof the spider-pit scene rumored to be missing from the original 1933 "King Kong" was never shot.

Warren Reece, owner of Chamber of Fantasy, has a leather-bound, 1932 copy of director Merian Cooper's "King Kong" script, given to James Creelman, a co-writer of the original film.

The script has typed production notes indicating which scenes were shot and which weren't. It shows the spider-pit scene was not filmed. "They made sketches of it, but it was never shot," Reece said.

For decades, film lovers and King Kong fans alike have been looking for the spider-pit scene. In his "King Kong" remake, director Peter Jackson recreated the scene in which giant spiders devour scared sailors on Skull Island.
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And to this I say . . . damn.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)