Vintage Pulp | Dec 18 2018 |
He always wanted to be big in New York City.
In science there are four great apes, also known as hominidae—chimps, orangutans, gorillas, and bonobos. But here the four great apes are all Kong. These Japanese posters were painted by John Berkey for the 1976 remake of King Kong, which starred Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, and a big animatronic puppet. The movie was mostly panned but it made $60 million in profits. It's considered by many of its detractors to be a prime example of how hype and advertising can make the public show up to see a bad movie. Today you have to wonder if this is a standard Hollywood formula, which in retrospect would make King Kong not just a great ape, but a guiding principle. It opened in Japan today in 1976.