I just watched a screener DVD of the hour-long documentary, I'M KING KONG! The Exploits of Merian C. Cooper, which will air on TCM on Nov. 22.
Written and directed by Kevin Brownlow and narrated by Alec Baldwin, the production, like all good documentaries, focuses on things most people don't know. In this case, the documentary is less about gorillas and more on the wondrous life of Cooper and his associates from his days at Annapolis through his real-life adventures, KING KONG, the John Ford years and ending with his 1952 triumph of THIS IS CINERAMA.
'The genuine Indiana Jones,' the documentary enthuses and, indeed, scenes from GRASS and CHANG (production shot below), where Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack lived among primitive peoples for months, are startling.
Make no mistake, Carl Denham was modeled on Cooper. 'If you want to learn what he was like, watch KING KONG,' says Terry Moore.
There's a good chunk about KONG, most of it familiar to folks like us but likely new to many watching this on TCM. In the most effective bit, Bob Burns demonstrates how the Kong armature was maneuvered.
Among those interviewed are Burns, Moore, the late Fay Wray -- who says Cooper was always 'wound up with excitement' -- Ray Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury, Paul Jensen, Rudy Behlmer, biographer Mark Vaz, Harry Carey Jr., effects specialist Craig Barron, James Karen and numerous others.
There's no real revelations here, and personal details are few, but much about Cooper's life was new to me and it is an enjoyable hour.
I believe this will also be part of the upcoming KONG DVDs. Worth catching for sure.
david
Written and directed by Kevin Brownlow and narrated by Alec Baldwin, the production, like all good documentaries, focuses on things most people don't know. In this case, the documentary is less about gorillas and more on the wondrous life of Cooper and his associates from his days at Annapolis through his real-life adventures, KING KONG, the John Ford years and ending with his 1952 triumph of THIS IS CINERAMA.
'The genuine Indiana Jones,' the documentary enthuses and, indeed, scenes from GRASS and CHANG (production shot below), where Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack lived among primitive peoples for months, are startling.
Make no mistake, Carl Denham was modeled on Cooper. 'If you want to learn what he was like, watch KING KONG,' says Terry Moore.
There's a good chunk about KONG, most of it familiar to folks like us but likely new to many watching this on TCM. In the most effective bit, Bob Burns demonstrates how the Kong armature was maneuvered.
Among those interviewed are Burns, Moore, the late Fay Wray -- who says Cooper was always 'wound up with excitement' -- Ray Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury, Paul Jensen, Rudy Behlmer, biographer Mark Vaz, Harry Carey Jr., effects specialist Craig Barron, James Karen and numerous others.
There's no real revelations here, and personal details are few, but much about Cooper's life was new to me and it is an enjoyable hour.
I believe this will also be part of the upcoming KONG DVDs. Worth catching for sure.
david
