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THE SON OF KONG – Max Steiner
GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Original Review by Craig Lysy
Given the tremendous commercial success of King Kong in 1933, RKO executives decided to milk the cash cow and make an immediate sequel. Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, the producers and directors of the first film were asked to again manage production, however Cooper’s enthusiasm was dampened when he was provided with a budget of only $269,000, which was half the budget of original, with the caveat that they had to have it in theaters within six months, for a Christmas 1933 release. Ruth Rose was tasked with writing the screenplay. She decided that the sequel could not duplicate the success of the first film, and so she made a creative decision; “If you can’t make it bigger, make it funnier”. The cast would include Robert Armstrong, who would reprise his role as Carl Denham. Joining him would be Helen Mack as Hilda Petersen, Frank Reicher as Captain Englehorn, John Marston as Nils Helstrom, Victor Wong as Charlie, and Ed Brady as Red. Read more…

