The Definitive Kong

Everything you ever wanted to know - and more! - about the classic film King Kong and its successors, from back stage to front row.

In this updated, expanded edition, the story of Universal’s 1933 classic film King Kong is fully told, from the biographies of its creators and the challenges in its production, to its derivative cinematic progeny. With over 100 photos, and forewords by Ray Harryhausen and Ray Bradbury.

The tale begins with adventurer-filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, whose exotic films shot on location in such remote areas as Siam and Persia were prelude to their fateful voyage to Skull Island, years later.

Then, with narrative verve, impeccable research, and technical detail, authors Turner and Price give a full account not only of the original Kong’s cast and crew, in particular famed special effects pioneer Willis O’Brien, but also the politics, pitfalls, and ultimate triumph that characterized the production.

Turner and Price also analyze the earlier gorilla, dinosaur, and jungle films that preceded Kong, like the notorious Ingagi, as well as the many that followed it, including Captive Wild Woman, The Lost World, Mighty Joe Young, the Kong remakes, and dozens more.

“Ladies and gentlemen, look at Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World…”