Trying to remember a very old movie about a giant ape who went bloop bloop then rescued orphans in a fire? And it's not King Kong! The monkey was beautiful, but poorly understood because these Keystone cops chasing him. It was a film in black and white.
Mighty Joe Young (1949)
Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong (from "King Kong" (1933)), Frank McHugh, Douglas Fowley, Paul Guilfoyle (father of Paul Guilfoyle, who plays brass on "CSI: Las Vegas"), Nestor Paiva Regis Toomey
IMDb synopsis:
Jill Young has brought up her pet gorilla since she was a child. Twelve years later, when the gorilla is fully grown, Hollywood promoter Max O'Hara travels to Tanzania, Africa and convinces Jill to bring her extraordinarily large gorilla, Joe, back in America. While in Hollywood, Joe is used in a stage production and is exploited to no end. It does not take long until Joe is sick of being mistreated and he escapes to wander in civilization.
Trivia:
Although Willis H. O'Brien ("King Kong", "Son of Kong", etc.) to Top billing for special effects, Ray Harryhausen did indeed 85-90% of the animation stop-motion even if it is based on O ' Brien drawings and storyboards. This was the first feature film for which Harryhausen used his technique newly created stop-motion.
Here is the trailer and film clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS4yswi5I ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo2373az4 ...
The 1998 remake has actually done a good job of capturing the spirit of the original ~ one time I did not mind a story revisited. Joe The CGI is impressive, and Charlize Theron is excellent as Jill.
The film aired frequently in the fifties, during the early years of television. My sister and I saw it, "King Kong" (1933) and "Son of Kong" a mindboggling amount of time. I still love all three movies and watch at least once (probably more) each year.
I looked in IMBD and the only movie I could find was Mighty Joe Young (1949). I hope that helps answer your question
Posted on April 15, 2010.
