Review: Son of Kong (1933)

[prunesquallor]

Carl Denham is in deep doo-doo as this rather silly little sequel starts - he's immeshed in the legal and financial aftereffects of Kong's Gotham escapades. So he simply and easily escapes New York City and embarks on a career as a shipper in the Indian Ocean.

It takes a surprisingly long time for Denham and the captain of the steamer to gleam onto the idea of returning to Skull Island to replenish their exchequer. (Oddly, Skull Island isn't called that here; it's always referred to as "Kong's Island." And, while we're speaking of odd nomenclature, Kong, Sr. is here referred to occasionally as King Kong - in the original movie no one actually verbalized that royal title.) Instead of the obvious money-making endeavor – getting some of the island’s other exotic creatures for the world’s zoos; perhaps Denham has been burned too badly – they instead go seeking a treasure trove.

Kong, Jr. appears and is easily accepted. "I never knew that ol' Kong had a son!" Denham exclaims, and that’s that. There's a little guilt-talk about how Denham got Kong, oh, all killed and stuff. Yeah, that sort of sucks, man. A few desultory ‘saur chases and betrayals later, the island sinks (apparently contact with the white man is wont to provoke cataclysms in lost civilizations), and Kong Jr. nobly sacrifices his life to save another. There’s a rather by-the-numbers romance for Denham, and all ends well with them sailing away, treasure in hand. Screw all those natives and all that prehistoric fauna and flora, they weren’t white! (Though interestingly, there is a stereotypical Chinese cook who is nevertheless loyal to the heroes, lives to the end, and gets a quarter of the loot.)

At one point Denham says to Kong, Jr., "You're not a patch on your old man." Amen, brother, amen to that.