When a Different Monster Got the Cover of TIME
A few words in anticipation of the 46th Anniversary of Dino De Laurentiis's remake of KING KONG
A bit of KONG nostalgia the day before the 46th(!) anniversary of the release of Dino de Laurentiis’s remake of KING KONG.1
The October 25th, 1976 issue of TIME Magazine — in stark contrast to NEW YORK MAGAZINE’S scathing profile earlier that year — delivered a killing blow in what was at the time a sprint between Universal and Paramount studios, both hoping to do a KONG remake.
Jessica Lange is held by a giant gorilla’s hand on the cover and, somewhat uncharacteristically for TIME, a bared nipple appeared in a photo series inside. The story carried no byline, and, in hindsight, may have gone uncredited because of the gaslighting to which the writer succumbed. There is an editor’s note, for instance, noting the difficulty in getting an interview with “gorilla-mime Rick Baker, who stood in for the 40-ft. ‘audioanimatronic’ Kong in scenes that were shot in miniature.”
On Stage 17 at Metro there rests a creature 40 ft. tall when fully assembled, supported by a 31⁄2-ton aluminum frame, his flesh made of latex and covered by 1,012 Ibs. of horsetail hair purchased from an Argentine supplier, every hank of which was sewn into place individually. His innards consist of 3,100 ft. of hydraulic hose and 4,500 ft. of electrical wiring. He is animated by a team of 20 operators each working a lever that controls a single movement. The cost: $1.7 million. Though this mighty construct was used extensively in only one sequence, he was worth every penny. “He’s Dino’s Fort Knox gold,” says a production associate, since he served as an earnest of the producer’s realistic intentions.
And then TIME goes into press release mode:
And it is impossible to tell in the finished product where his work ends and that of more mobile and manageable representations of Kong take over.
It should be pointed out that there’s a macabre bit of foreshadowing in a passage describing Kong’s assault on the World Trade Center:
That final destructive binge could be seen—and lines in the script lightly suggest it—as a projection of Western fears of what might happen if the Third World should develop its potential power and strike back.
Other not-so-detail-oriented (or subtle) publications picked up the “robot” thread: “But what’s most extraordinary is that he’s fully functional,” Saga magazine reported breathlessly.
“Kong’s arms move in 16 different positions. He walks and turns at the waist. His eyes and mouth move. And all it took to build and operate the little fellah was $1.7 million and a team of 20 crack technicians simultaneously operating hair-trigger levers.”
Back to the TIME article. It ends with the now fully-developed quote we all remember:
“No one cry when Jaws die,” Dino says, his voice rising in passion as he develops his theme. “But when the monkey die, people gonna cry. Intellectuals gonna love Kong; even film buffs who love the first Kong gonna love ours. Why? Because I no give them crap. I no spend two, three million to do quick business. I spend 24 million on my Kong. I give them quality. I got here a great love story, a great adventure. And she rated PG. For everybody.”
Universal knew it didn’t stand a chance.
More to come …
This is eerie math to persons my age, as the 1933 original version of KING KONG preceded the remake by 43 years.
When Jessica Lange appeared on Jimmy Kimmel, he brought out the issue. During the commercial break, it's fairly obvious he showed and/or asked about the nipple-slip and alludes to it.