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King Kong Rare Developmental Script, Titled Kong (The Eighth Wonder) (RKO Pictures, 1932)....
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Description
King Kong Rare Developmental Script, Titled Kong (The Eighth Wonder) (RKO Pictures, 1932). Green covers, measures approximately 9" x 11", front reading "Kong / (The Eighth Wonder) / by / Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper / Dialogue and Adaptation / by / James Ashmore Creelman / June 16, 1932". Front cover stamped "Please Return / to / Story Dept. / RKO Studios, Inc. / West Coast" in purple, and "470" in black. 118 carbon pages typed only on the rectos. Includes black archival clamshell box with the spine gold-embossed "Kong / 1932". Very Good Plus condition. Covers exhibit minor toning due to age, light creasing to the left side from use, and minor handling wear. Inner pages look great, showing just a bit of toning appropriate to the age of the script.Here, the third of three drafts of scripts that would become King Kong begins to take shape as the basis for the iconic adventure film deemed "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress. In this draft, Denham has somewhat morphed further into Fritz Denham, wild and boisterous director of several wild animal films made in exotic locales, while Captain Engelhorn is one of the few characters who's remained the same throughout. This version is a further revision by James Ashmore Creelman, the screenwriter brought on by co-director and co-creator Merian C. Cooper as a replacement for the then-recently deceased Edgar Wallace. Here the Witch King is added to the mix, and Kong's death is written with an even more heart-wrenching tone.
As with the previous lot, The Eighth Wonder, this is the only script of its kind we've ever laid eyes on. Whether it's the only copy in existence we don't know, but the scarcity of this manuscript can't be overstated.
What's incredible about these screenplays is that each is wildly different from the last. The first could be a different, albeit similar movie to Kong, while the latter two are much closer to the beloved creature feature we all know, while still displaying an array of differences from one another. These rare manuscripts truly show the frenzied evolution of the mother of all monster movies, King Kong!
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