Jack Driscoll
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Jack Driscoll is a fictional character that appears in both the 1933 and 2005 versions of King Kong. In the 1933 version, Driscoll is the first mate on the Venture, while in the 2005 version he is a playwright.
History
King Kong (1933)
In King Kong Jack is the first mate aboard the S.S. Venture. He is first seen when a film producer comes aboard to speak with Carl Denham about the film he is shooting. Jack questions Denham and his methods, but does not complain about them. Driscoll is fearful of Kong's Island but does not attempt to run away. When Ann Darrow is kidnapped by King Kong, Jack follows him into the jungle, even after most of the rescue party is killed. Driscoll managed to rescue Ann and escape from Kong's mountain lair. Driscoll is present to witness Kong's capture. Months later in New York, Jack and Ann Darrow are engaged to be married. The couple is present at Kong's unveiling. Kong escapes and chases Ann down and takes her away. Jack and Carl Denham alert the police, who believe that nothing can be done, until Jack suggests they use airplanes. Jack is seen again entering the Empire State Building to rescue Ann.
The Mighty Kong (1998)
Driscoll learned from his grandfather that women did not belong on ships, a lesson he would carry with him the rest of his life, as the moment Ann Darrow steps aboard the Java Queen, a ship he had signed onto as first mate, and is nearly crushed by falling cargo, he screams for her to go below decks. Later at dinner, Jack continues to slander her as a jinx and a woman with no place on a ship, and she, who had brought their dinner in as the cabin boy Ricky was ill, dumped clam chowder on his head. They eventually went ashore on Skull Island, where they were run off by natives. Ann and Jack then decided they were in love, and Ann was kidnapped. Jack then mounted an armed assault on the island and found a cave to follow Ann into the island. He then rescued her from Kong, the monster she had been sacrificed to, and ran back to the shore. Ricky then led Jack to C.B. Denham, who was injured in the jungle. He then incapacitates Kong with gas bombs and he is taken back to New York where Denham puts him in a show. This made Ann fall ill, and Jack got her a doctor, and then Kong kidnapped her and took her to the top of the Empire State Building. Due to the elevators being broken, Jack had to climb the stairs to the observation deck and save Ann.
King Kong (2005)
Jack Driscoll is commissioned to write a screenplay for Carl Denham's newest film. He comes aboard the S.S. Venture to give the script to Denham, but it is incomplete, so Denham stalls Driscoll until the boat has already cast off. Shortly after becoming a member of the voyage to Skull Island, He is introduced to Ann Darrow, with whom he builds a romance. After arriving on Skull Island, he is rendered unconscious by an Islander's club. When he awakens on the Venture, he notices an islander's necklace on the deck. He tries to warn the crew of the threat, but his words are indecipherable due to the head trauma. He eventually tells the captain to turn back for Ann, whom he has discovered to be missing, a request which is granted. Driscoll is part of the party sent to look for Ann. After the loss of most of the party members, and a rescue by those who stayed with the ship, Driscoll alone goes back into the jungle to search for Ann. He finds her in Kong's hand, and he tries to save her, but the sleeping Kong awakens when he feels Ms. Darrow slip from his grasp. Driscoll tries to escape with Darrow by climbing down a vine, but Kong sees and begins to pull them up. They finally escape by simply running to the gated entrance to the jungles of Skull Island, Where the crew of the Venture, and Carl Denham await them. When he returns to New York, he launches a stage comedy that he had written for Darrow to star in, but upon returning Darrow chose to do small time Vaudeville, leaving Driscoll's play to star another woman. Driscoll is present when Kong escapes the theater where he is being held captive, but Kong recognizes Driscoll as the man who took Darrow from him. Driscoll then gets into a car to lure Kong away from the city, but Kong breaks Driscoll's car, and returns to his rampage. Driscoll is seen again breaking past blockades to get into the Empire State Building to get Darrow to safety.
Books
King Kong (1932)
Driscoll worked on the S.S. Wanderer as first mate to Captain Englehorn, and on one night was there to welcome their frequent client Carl Denham's casting agent aboard. They later set sail with Ann Darrow, whose presence perturbed Driscoll, who believed she would be a hindrance during the journey. The next day, while giving orders and throwing his hand back unexpectedly, Driscoll accidentally struck Darrow on her face, much to his immediate regret and embarrassment. Driscoll continued his charade of disliking Ann's presence while harboring a secret fondness of her. They quickly grew closer, and Driscoll admitted to her that he had ran off to the sea to escape going to college. After weeks of travel, and on reaching Skull Mountain Island, Jack admitted to Ann that he loved her, as he begged her not to accompany the crew on their first expedition onto the coast, but Denham insisted he have his leading lady with him. The party eventually came across a native ceremony to a god called Kong, and the villagers offered to trade six of their women for Ann. The sailors refused, and back on the ship Jack, Denham, Englehorn, and Ann discussed what Kong might be. That night, Ann was kidnapped and as soon as this was discovered, Jack and Denham lead a rescue party into the village and past their gigantic wall into Kong's jungle. They followed the trail of debris left from Kong's trek before them until a Stegosaurus came out of the mist and attacked them. They knocked it out with a gas bomb before Denham put two bullets in its heart. They attempted to build a raft to cross a lagoon, but a Brontosaurus attacked them and they lost two crewmen along with all of their guns. Jack lead the party from there, and they watched as Kong fought some Triceratopses on an asphalt flat before the maddened dinosaurs chased them into the jungle after their defeat. As they crossed a ravine on a log to escape the Triceratops, Jack saw Kong approaching from the other side and ducked into a cave on the ravine's cliff face as Kong shook the crew to their deaths in the ravine. Kong then began to grab for Driscoll in his cave, and Jack stabbed his hand multiple times to no avail. He was eventually drawn away by Ann screaming. The only other survivor of the log was Denham on the other side, who went back to gather more men and supplies while Jack pushed on to follow Kong. He tracked them up Skull Mountain, where he waited for an opportunity to rescue Ann. He got his chance when a Pterodactyl descended to grab her away from Kong. The two narrowly escape, with Kong on their tail by jumping into a spring and floating back toward the wall, sustaining minor injuries along the way. After returning to the village, where Denham and the sailors were just preparing to go looking for them, Kong caught up and began to tear the village apart in search of Ann, but Jack was able to get her safely to the ship, while Denham used gas bombs to knock Kong out. Back in New York City, Jack and Ann were to make an appearance onstage when Denham revealed Kong to the world, but on seeing Ann Kong grew restless. Ann nervously stood onstage with Jack, but the photo shoot made Kong think Ann was in danger, and he broke free of his bonds. At this time, Jack and Ann were safely in Jack's hotel room across the street, but when Jack's back was turned, the anxious Ann was grabbed from the room by the ape's gargantuan hand. Jack joined Denham and the police in their pursuit of the monster, but eventually lost him. Jack them theorized that because of his hermitage in Skull Mountain, Kong would feel safest and thus instinctively go toward the highest point he could find, which would be the Empire State Building. Fortunately, just as they arrive they see Kong beginning to scale the skyscraper with Ann in hand. Denham called in the army planes from an airfield upstate, and the party entered the tower and reached the top, where Jack waited to get onto the roof as soon as he could. Kong jumped off the building to grab a plane, and fell to his death after sustaining heavy injuries. Jack ran to Ann, and the two embraced as Ann cried after her traumatizing experience.
King Kong: The Island of the Skull
One year before the events of the the 2005 film, Driscoll introduced his friend Carl Denham to a famous playwright at a speakeasy. Denham then commissioned Jack to write a screenplay, which he later started.
Comics
King Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World
While in pre-production for a play he had written entitled Isolation, Jack was also commissioned by his friend Carl Denham to write a screenplay for his upcoming adventure film. Jack however, left Denham's script unfinished and tried to leave the director with his notes before leaving to get to a rehearsal of Isolation. However, while they were talking, Carl's ship, the Venture cast off as per the director's orders: effectively trapping him on board. Despite his having to sleep in an animal cage below decks, over the course of the voyage he grew quite close to the lead actress Ann Darrow over their shared enthusiasm for good storytelling, and this eventually lead to a kiss. When they finally reached Denham's filming location, the mythical Skull Island, Jack went ashore with the rest of the film crew, but they were almost immediately attacked by the natives, and Jack suffered a blow to the back of the head with a club. Captain Englehorn and some sailors came to their rescue, and that night, Englehorn ordered all extraneous weight to go overboard in order to hasten their departure. While doing this, Jack came across a native necklace and went looking for Ann, only to find her cabin empty and two dead men with spears in them. He promptly informed the rest of the crew that Ann had been kidnapped. When they stormed the village, they discovered that Ann had been sent over a massive wall and given to a monster Denham described as an ape. Jack prepared to go in after her, and Englehorn gave the party supplies and 24 hours to return with her before they set sail. While in the jungle, they found one of Kong, the monster's, footprints. Jack went to find Denham for an estimate on its size, but Denham's attempts at filming a herd of Brontosaurus got the group caught in a stampede, brought on by a pack of hunting Venatosaurus. Jack and the others began to run away, but leading actor Bruce Baxter shot at one of the Brontosaurus, causing those behind it to trip on its form, and making themselves earier targets for the carnivores. Jack was sprung upon by one of the dinosaurs, but First Mate Hayes shot it away, saving his life.
Gallery
King Kong (1933)
Jack Driscoll in King Kong (1933)
Driscoll in The Mighty Kong
Driscoll in King Kong (2005)
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Template:King Kong: The Island of the Skull
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