March 2, 1933: "King Kong" Premieres

March 2, 1933: King Kong premieres in theaters. The story of the giant ape, taken from his Pacific Island home to New York, where he runs amok, kidnaps a blonde, and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building where he gets shot down, becomes one of the most popular movies of all time.

The film was considered a huge step forward in special effects. It was re-released to success in 1938, 1952, 1956 and 1970; frequently shown on television, as the rights to it were cheap; and remade in 1976 (set in the present day) and 2005 (set in 1933). Kong has been used in many other films, including the 1962 King Kong vs. Godzilla and the 2021 Godzilla vs. Kong; and parodied many other times.

Fay Wray played the blonde, but everybody tends to forget the character's name: Ann Darrow. So whenever anyone mentions "King Kong," they say, "Fay Wray."

Willis O'Brien, who did the pioneering stop-motion photography, died in 1962. Merian Cooper, the director, lived until 1973. So did Robert Armstrong, who played Carl Denham, who kidnapped Kong and brought him to New York. Wray, Hollywood's original "Scream Queen," lived until 2004.

A 2024 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History featured "Nice" Peter Shukoff voicing Godzilla, and "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist voicing King Kong.

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March 2, 1933 was a Thursday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. But there were 3 games played in the NHL that night:

* The New York Americans lost to the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2 at the Ottawa Auditorium.