Mighty Joe Young (1949)

Touches You

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The director of this film was the same who directed king kong (1933), and it kinda shows. there are no dinosaurs but there is an unrealistically large gorilla. It's not a giant but ya know it's...a gorilla. OK it not that great. its basically the whole let wild things be wild, theme. the big ape is forced to perform on stage and suffers for it. human greed comes at the price of natural innocent things. for those who want to see some destruction(like me ) there is a scene later on where joe goes bananas. since it only there to progress the story to the climax, and they could have simply had the ape pick up a child and get the same result, mindless destruction seems to be the best route.

I had already seen the 1998 Disney remake with Charlize Theron and Bill Paxton, so I had a rough idea what to expect with this black and white original version, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack (King Kong). Basically in 1937 Tanganyika Territory, Africa, eight-year- old Jill Young (Lora Lee Michel) lives with her father John Young (Regis Toomey) on his ranch, she and two Africans come across an orphaned baby gorilla, Jill really wants a pet, her father allows her to care for for the gorilla. Twelve years later, talkative and persuasive promoter Max O'Hara (Robert Armstrong) with his sidekick, Oklahoma cowboy Gregg (Ben Johnson), are on a trip to Africa looking for new animal attractions to headline O'Hara's new Hollywood nightclub. They capture several lions and prepare to leave, but then out of the blue they see a huge 12 foot gorilla, they try to capture the creature, but are stopped when now teenage Jill Young (Terry Moore) rescues them from the beast harming them. Jill explains about her connection with the gorilla, named Joseph "Joe" Young , Gregg is smitten with ill, while Max seduces her with the thought of a fancy life, fame and fortune if she signs a contract for her and Joe to come with them and become the star attraction of his nightclub. A short time later, back in Hollywood, the nightclub opens and Joe makes his stage debut, with Jill by his side to keep him calm, the audience reaction is staggering and Joe's popularity grows, but the high life is not quite what Jill pictured. Jill realises that Joe is unhappy and asks Max to arrange her return to Africa, he does persuade to stay a little longer in show business, but three alcoholic customers give booze to Joe, causing him to rage and break out of his holding cage in a violent temper. Joe is sentenced by the justice to be destroyed, Jill, Max and Gregg do everything possible to find him before the authorities, it comes to a point when Joe reaches an orphanage that gets set on fire, he rescues some of the children and appears to be harmed, but in the end he is safe and sound, and returns to Africa with Jane, and Gregg joins them, they send a goodbye message to Max. Also starring Frank McHugh as Windy, Douglas Fowley as Jones, Denis Green as Crawford, Paul Guilfoyle as Smith and Nestor Paiva as Brown. The story is a obviously a variation on the King Kong tale, made much more schmaltzy, but it does have the fantastic work of stop- motion animation genius Ray Harryhausen to create the giant gorilla and his movements, all in all I prefer the remake, but this classic original is an alright fantasy adventure. It won the Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects. Worth watching!

This is the conclusion of what I like to call, "The Great Apes" Trilogy, which consists of King Kong, Son of Kong, and Mighty Joe Young. The three films involve Merian C Cooper, Ernest B Shoedsack, Ruth Rose, Willis O'brien, and Robert Armstrong. For most people, including myself, King Kong is the best of these three films, while Son of Kong is the weakest. Mighty Joe Young is in between. The gorilla effects are well-done, and even eliminated the ruffling of the rabbit fur King Kong had in 1933. Joe is an amalgamation of the King himself, and his son; containing childlike qualities, as well as the fact that Joe could potentially do some damage. There is one sequence which is simply marvelous involving the nightclub that steals the show. The performances are good for a movie of this type, and ends up being a happier film than the previous installments. Also, Willis O'brien's unmatched talents were finally recognized, with an Oscar for his work on this very film. Highly recommended.

Same people as my favorite movie, "King Kong" which I've probably seen about 25 times, both the edited and, later, the unedited version. Same people and a lot of the same situations, but with different - er - feelings.Kong was bigger and meaner. MJY is smaller and, for the most part, much friendlier. Both had their crushes, Kong carting a screaming Fay Wray about, and Joe carting a happy Terry Moore.Quick note - let's dismiss "Son of Kong" which was a Kong bomb.Both apes were better off where they were before folks carted them to what we laughingly refer to as civilization. Joe's encounter with a red-tinged burning orphanage was excellent, and I like the fact that Joe had a sense of humor. Dig those expressions from the back of the truck when the meanie cops were chasing him.Speaking of mean, the three drunks who got Joe drunk were well-known, and very convincing character actors from that era. And, that entire nightclub scene was well done.All in all, "Mighty Joe Young" is exciting and fun family entertainment. By the way, he was nowhere near as mean-looking as the picture on the box but, then again, such things are always exaggerated.Kong will remain my fave, though. Technically, it was excellent when you consider the year it was made and the painstaking one-step-at-a time method.And, trivia buffs, "King Kong" opened at New York City's two biggest theaters at the same time, Radio City Music Hall and the Roxy. I forgot which theater I saw it at, but I will never forget the thrills it bought.As for Joe, see and really enjoy. And, checking out Terry Moore is rather painless.