King Kong

Any fan of King Kong knows that before Peter Jackson's CG monkey, long before Jessica Lange showed her boobs in John Guillermin's 1976 version, there was a 1933 RKO film starring Fay Wray with a 24 inch puppet animated by hand, 24 frames per second.
A stop motion technique that inspired Ray Harryhausen.
This film features a great symphonic score by legendary composer Max Steiner. In the early days of the talkies, although music was very soon used for musicals, it took a few years before non-diegetic music was accepted as a convention (music not heard by the characters on-screen). So any music heard would often be allegedly coming from a radio, an on-screen orchestra, etc. except for title sequences.
Although Max Steiner's score is not the first, its success put an end to that by underscoring the action as it is still done today (and we movie-goers could hardly do without). If you're interested, the original soundtrack is available on CD.
Fay Wray, at the time, starred in many films experimenting with new technology. One of them was color. Mystery of The Wax Museum and Doctor X used the new Technicolor process (later perfected with a more natural looking three-strip system). Yet the big change the following year would not come from technology but from censorship : the Hays code wouldn't allow Fay Wray to ever wear a see-through blouse with a plunging neckline again as she does in King Kong.

For that same reason, when the film was re-released years later, many censorship cuts were made. Violence and sex were toned down. For instance, a shot of Kong chewing on a native was removed.

But one of the most famous outtake in movie history was apparently made before the original release for pacing reasons. The infamous "spider pit scene" took place after Kong dropped the sailors in a pit where they would be eaten by various animals including a giant spider. This scene is discussed all over the internet where fans fantasize about it turning back some day.
One of the most dedicated fan may be Peter Jackson himself. He not only directed an entire remake of the film, but he also created a new spider pit sequence using the original techniques of the time as Willis O'Brien would.

Here is the re-issue trailer of the film:

Now the film is available on Blu-ray. Enjoy !
On a different subject, since my blog apparently made over 1,800 hits yesterday alone (thank you for that by the way), I decided I'd open a Facebook page to keep you guys updated if you'd like. It's just starting so please hit "like". You'll find more pictures on the new Facebook page !

That's all for today folks!