The creators of KING KONG had one more go at his legacy in the 1949 RKO production of MIGHTY JOE YOUNG. KONG was re-released three more times after its original run (1938, 1942, and 1946), and studio execs thought audiences were ready for another "giant gorilla" film. The old crew was brought back: Merian C. Cooper produced with Ruth Rose scripting Cooper's story; Ernest B. Shoedsack directed with Robert Armstrong starring.
The story takes place in Africa where 7-year-old Jill Young (Lora Lee Michel, then Terry Moore as a grown-up Jill) lives with her widowed father (Ben Johnson in his first credited role) on his ranch. She raises a young gorilla, and when it is 10-years-old (and considerably larger) she is convinced to have "Joe Young" transported to Hollywood by entrepreneurs looking for an act for their nightclub after promising Jill enough money to bail out her father's struggling ranch. As one would expect, lots of drama and animated mayhem ensues.
Willis "Obie" O'Brien was originally set to do the stop-motion animation, but he soon got tangled in various production problems and handed over the work to a young Ray Harryhausen, Pete Peterson and Marcel Delgado. As in KONG, Delgado sculpted the various models (Harry Cunningham is credited for building the armatures as he did in KING KONG).
Unfortunately, the film did not do well at the box office and aside from the effects, was met with a tepid response from critics. Plans for a remake were shelved.
Ironically, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for 1949. Perhaps it was fitting, as the Academy Awards had not yet been active in 1933. For his acceptance speech, Obie politely and succinctly said, "Thank you, very, very much."
This photo set shows rare shots from Willis O'Brien's personal collection of work that took place behind the scenes during the making of MIGHTY JOE YOUNG.
 |
| Portrait of Ray Harryhausen by RKO studio photographer Bert Six. |
This film has some major nostalgia for me, in that I first watched it on "the late movie" with my Dad, who had seen it back in first run and wanted me to see it. We also saw JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS together in the theater not long after that!
ReplyDeleteA couple of corrections of typos, though: While the KONG team was reassembled, special effects supervisor Willis O'Brien didn't produce this one-- it was Merian C. Cooper who again produced and who wrote the story premise that Ruth Rose scripted from.
Also, while it's true that there was no Oscar category for special effects in 1933, at the very first Academy Awards dinner in 1929 the inaugural Best Picture WINGS was also presented with a special plaque honoring "Best Engineering Effects," for its depiction of airplane scenes.
David O. Selnick tried to get KING KONG a similar recognition four years later, but was rebuffed because there was no category-- yet in 1938, SPAWN OF THE NORTH, a drama about rival salmon fishermen in Alaska, was again given a non-category "Special Achievement Award for Special Photographic and Sound Effects."
The following year, "Best Special Effects" became an official category, originally honoring both Special Photographic and Sound Effects, but this changed in 1964 to "Best Special Visual Effects" without a recognition for sound effects.
And while a proposed sequel teaming Joe with RKO's other jungle star Tarzan never materialized, the film was remade in 1998, with cameos by Ray Harryhausen and Terry Moore. Despite being "updated" with slicker CGI effects, the film tanked at the box office.
I really enjoyed this look back at MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, particularly those behind-the-scenes shots from O'Bie's collection! Thanks for posting this, John!
-- hsc
Thanks for the heads up -- corrections made. And thanks for the additional info as it gives more context to the story.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Obie got appreciated by the Academy because of this movie, but I've always found it a bit sleepy. All the parts are there, but it doesn't cohere.
ReplyDeleteYou're right -- the film didn't hit on all cylinders for me, even with the improvements in the animation. It foreshadowed Valley of the Gwangi somewhat in plot and setting.
ReplyDelete