Film Review: The Wasted Potential of King Kong (1976)
Before Peter Jackson did the deed, King Kong had been remade by much lesser talents in 1976. This version stars Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski), Charles Grodin (Midnight Run), and a young Jessica Lange (Tootsie) in her big screen debut.
What is the 1976 Remake of King Kong About?
In this version of King Kong, Charles Grodin plays a character named Fred Wilson, who works for an oil company. Fred is leading an expedition to Skull Island in search of a mythical, vast, untapped crude reserve. Jeff Bridges plays a scientist named Jack Prescott, who stows away on Wilson’s ship, spurred on by strange rumors of the island’s plant and animal life. Along the way, they pick up Ann Darrow (Lange), an aspiring actress and the lone survivor of a yacht accident. Once on Skull Island, they discover natives and that the oil reserve’s a bust, but acquire a different kind of black gold in the form of a certain giant gorilla with an even more gigantic crush on Ann. The ape (King Kong [duh!]) is brought back to civilization, but like dairy to the lactose intolerant, it doesn’t agree with him, and, as a result, death and destruction quickly ensue.
