King Kong (1932 novelization)

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King Kong Author(s) Delos W. Lovelace Publisher Pocket Star Publish date 1932 Genre Media Tie-in, Fiction ISBN 0-448-43913-1

King Kong is a novel written by Delos W. Lovelace in 1932 at the request of his friend Merian C. Cooper based on Cooper's then-upcoming film King Kong to serve as part of the film's advertising.

Synopsis

Official Synopsis

"An ancient evil waits in the jungle... Carl Denham is determined to make the greatest movie ever seen, no matter how dangerous it may be to film. Denham and his crew sail to Skull Island in search of Kong, a legend neither man nor beast. But no one is ready for what they discover when they venture deep into the island to rescue Denham's leading actress, Ann Darrow. Kong's world of prehistoric creatures is devastating to the crew, but Denham refuses to stop his pursuit, and instead manages to unleash the horror of Kong into the world."

Plot

On a winter's night in New York City, the Wanderer is boarded by 35-year-old filmmaker Carl Denham's casting agent, who comes with bad news. Weston, the agent, reveals to Denham that no actress in the city wanted to work with him, for his infamous reputation for taking casts and crews into dangerous situations. Weston tries to minimize his shortcoming by pointing out that Denham had never used a woman in a film before, but Denham scoffs him away, telling him that crowds were complaining that his films needed a leading lady to truly enjoy and appreciate his films. On the question of safety for his cast and crew, Denham points out that they have sleeping gas aboard powerful enough to incapacitate an entire herd of elephants. When Denham refuses to disclose the location where such precautions need to be taken, Weston runs off, glad he had not found him a girl. Denham then searches New York from top to bottom to find the perfect girl for his picture, and when he runs out of cigarettes, he discovers Ann Darrow being wrongfully accused of theft at a corner vendor's stand. He pays for the apple she didn't steal, and invites her over dinner to work on his picture and takes her out to buy clothes for the trip. Aboard the Wanderer, Ann makes the acquaintance of a sailor named Lumpy and his pet monkey Ignatz, who takes a particular liking to Ann, as pointed out by Denham after being called to the Deck during the mild commotion that ensued after the bashful-yet-proud Jack Driscoll, first mate of the ship, accidentally struck Ann's face after she got too close behind him as he gave orders, and noticing that in Ann's presence Ignatz was the quietest he'd ever been. This causes Denham to joke about how Ann and Ignatz form a nice "Beauty and the Beast" type pair, a motif he planned to use in his film. After six weeks at sea, Jack and Ann, who had grown quite close, spied fog from the crow's nest and Denham informed the crew they had discovered Skull Island. As they prepare to go ashore, Jack urges Ann to stay behind, admitting that he loves her in the process. Denham put an end to this notion and the crew splits up into two bpats that would go ashore while the others stay behind. The rowers paddle into a narrow strait where they discover a sprawling deserted village and hear ceremonial drums. They also spy an enormous wall which reminds Englehorn of another mysterious wall he had seen in Angkor. Denham then leads the group on foot into the native ceremony. They are quickly discovered by the King, who, upon spying Ann offers to trade six of their women for their "woman of gold" to make Kong's bride. The group is able to politely decline, but promises to negotiate the following day. Back on board they speculate as to what Kong might be, with Ann scoffing at Denham's guess that he could be a giant dinosaur, after her idea that Kong was the native king himself was shot down by the fear pointed out to have been exhibited in the Bride. Out on deck, Ann discusses Kong with Lumpy, who jokes to her that Kong is an idol made of wood or mud, which he notes that most tribes have, and that the girls go to the Shaman Witch-Doctor's harem in the jungle. However, Lumpy's monkey Ignatz begins to run amok, and he must leave Ann unattended. While chasing Ignatz he discovers a native bracelet, and it is deduced that Ann was kidnapped by natives, and Englehorn orders an armed assault on Skull Mountain Island.

Appearances

Characters & Monsters

• King Kong
• Carl Denham
• Ann Darrow
• Captain Englehorn
• Jack Driscoll

Weapons, Vehicles and Races

• The Wanderer

Gallery

• 

  The original edition's dust jacket

• 

  Ace Books Paperback edition (1976)

• 

  Grosset & Dunlap Hardcover edition (2005)

• 

  Modern Library Paperback edition (2005)

Trivia

• A 2005 rewrite of this novelization by Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland, titled Merian C. Cooper's King Kong, served as the basis for the prequel novel Kong: King of Skull Island and other pieces of King Kong media licensed by DeVito Artworks.
• In the film Kong: Skull Island, a shipwreck found on Skull Island bears the name Wanderer, which is the name of the ship the characters take to Skull Island in this novelization.

References

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