Son Of Kong (1933)

“Boy, look at him scrap! Just like his Old Man!”

With a smaller budget and a smaller ape, 1933’s Son of Kong still manages to delight. It was released just a few months after its predecessor. Returning for the sequel are King Kong stars Robert Armstrong, Frank Reicher, and Victor Wong, all reprising their roles from the original film.

Spoilers ahead!!!!!

The film plays out as somewhat of a redemption story for Armstrong’s Carl Denham and, to a lesser degree, Reicher’s Captain Englehorn. Both men are broke and Denham is hated by everyone in New York City. The duo team up with Wong’s Charlie (the cook from the first film) to sail the seas as cargo shippers. In the port of Dakang, Denham, Englehorn, and Cook run into the other primary players in the film, Hilda (Helen Mack) and Nils Helstrom (John Marston). Helstrom kills Hilda’s father in a fight. Attempting to escape the authorities, he has a chance meeting with Denham and Englehorn. Denham immediately recognizes Helstrom as the man who gave him the map to the island where King Kong was first discovered. Helstrom lies to Englehorn and Denham, telling them that there is a treasure on the island and he offers to show them where it is in return for safe passage out of Dakang. Hilda befriends Denham and eventually stows away on Englehorn’s ship, not knowing that Helstrom is also aboard.

By the time the ship has arrived at the island, Helstrom manages to stage a mutiny and the crew throws Englehorn and Denham off of the ship. They also force Hilda to leave as well. Charlie decides to go with his captain because he doesn’t like the rest of the men on the ship. In a surprising turn of events. the crew also toss Helstrom overboard, refusing to allow him to be captain.

The ousted group eventually make their way to the island. There, they are forced to seek shelter on the far side of the island by the natives who blame them for the destruction of their village. Denham and Hilda pair off and Charlie, Englehorn, and Helstrom form another group. Denham and Hilda befriend “Little Kong” after helping him escape quicksand and patching him up when he hurts his hand. Little Kong battles a number of beasts to protect the group and eventually leads Denham and Hilda to a treasure trove on the island. Apparently after taking the treasure from the island, an earthquake and violent storm are triggered. The island begins to crumble, killing all of the natives and dinosaurs. Helstrom is killed by a sea serpent and Little Kong sacrifices himself to save Denham. Luckily for the survivors, Denham manages to save a bit of the treasure.

The movie is okay. Although Denham feels guilty for ruining (and ending) King Kong’s life and tries his best to redeem himself by helping Little Kong, his redemption never really materializes. In fact, Denham, Englehorn, and Charlie come out pretty good thanks to the treasure that Little Kong leads Denham to in the film. Hilda makes out pretty good as well.

Ernest B. Schoedsack, who co-directed King Kong with Merian C. Cooper, does a decent job of giving viewers a solid action flick. What the film lacks in plot and character development is made up for by having a big dose of humor and tons of dinosaur/giant bear/Little Kong fight sequences. Music composed by Max Steiner for the first film was reused in parts of Son of Kong as were some of the models and armatures created by Willis O’Brien, who also handed new effects created for the film.

The cast is excellent. Armstrong carries the bulk of the film on his shoulders and Victor Wong gets to expand the character of Charlie a bit. Reicher injects a decent amount of humor on his own as Captain Englehorn. John Marston is seedily perfect as the evil Helstrom. Helen Mack really shines as Hilda. She’s absolutely gorgeous and stole my heart the minute that she showed up on the screen.

Son of Kong isn’t a stellar film, but it is very fun. The cast does a great job and the action is really amped up despite only being a small part of the film. If you’ve never seen it before, give it a look and let me know what you think about it in the comments section.

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