I saw a documentary 2 months ago on Merian Cooper in which he makes a quip, which I can't quite remember about O'brien suggesting that he was a drunk. Was O'brien an alcoholic? Did that effect his career? I'm still puzzled by the fact that his career did not take off after King Kong which was a monster hit. You'd think that the main person responsible for bringing such a successful story to life would have had more opportunities then he had.
