The Creation Of Dino De Laurentiis' King Kong

by Bruce Bahrenburg

mass market paperback

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[Mark]

Thorough and informative, if very dry, this is a good resource and harks back to the days when making ofs were paperback affairs, rather than full of glossy pictures of anonymous people sitting in front of computers.

[Dave]

I thought this was awesome. It was obviously just someone’s idea of a tie-in crash grab. It’s not brilliantly written (although wryly droll at times). But it’s from that narrow window of time when a few big genre movies got quickie ‘making of’ books (see also: The Jaws Log) without much editorial oversight - before there was a complete studio-mandated control of every single word and image and even implication that was officially released. So, this ISN’T a mere promotional puff-piece. It isn’t polished and controlled. It’s a genuine warts-and-all look at the phenomenal production required for this colossal movie – very revealing about the technical troubles of the production (like the HUGE waste of money of that life sized Kong), the vagaries of location work, and the conflicting personalities, egos – and even conflicts of the key players of the film. It’s a little leery about Jessica Lange at times, but otherwise I can’t fault it. The film is flawed but means a lot to me. This book means a bit now, too.

10/10

[Andrew]

Really great exploration and behind the scenes view at a true cinema oddity.

I love King Kong 1976 and getting more info on the making of was extremely entertaining.