KING KONG: The "Lost" 1933 Radio Serial

The year was 1933. The country was in the height of a Depression and weeks after the Bank Holiday concluded, RKO Radio Pictures promoted a new motion picture as "the picture destined to startle the world." An ambitious statement when many in the country were facing financial hardship.

In the weeks leading up to the theatrical release of KING KONG, executives at RKO purchased an unusual time slot for an eight-week radio serial, adapted from the screenplay. The studio made a daring move by not only giving away the entire plot of the movie before the picture was released nationwide, but by eliminating the advertising agency which most sponsors employ, an executive at NBC hired stage actors in New York City to report to the radio studios at Rockefeller Center, twice a week, to dramatize the epic that took place on an unchartered island and a monster rampage through the streets of New York City. 

The radio serial has a fascinating history. To start, Max Steiner's music score was not featured and music was almost non-evident. The cast replicated the island natives as they chanted "Ani Saba Kong" repeatedly as the series opener, with solo drums. The majority of the serial took place on Skull Island and featuring a harrowing epic of survival, including scenes that never made it to the final cut of the theatrical release -- including the notorious and often talked about spider pit sequence. Nationwide coverage of an earthquake in Los Angeles pre-empted the broadcast of one chapter, causing the script writer to combine the final two episodes into one, effecting the dramatic portion of Kong's rampage through the asphalt jungle known as New York City. The script writers chose to eliminate the unrequited love and the repression of violent sexual desire that was evident in the movie, the stand-off against the voodoo natives, and there was no opening scene that depicted economic oppression.

 

Broadcast "live" over NBC in New York, Nebraska and British Columbia, but not coast-to-coast, recordings from that 1933 radio serial do not exist. Radio historians knew of the serial, but little was known about it beyond reviews in Variety magazine. Until recently, the radio scripts were also considered "lost" -- a Holy Grail among radio researchers and fans of the horror classic. Recently discovered, all 15 radio scripts were scanned into pdf files for digital preservation. The complete run, along with bonus extras such as radio scripts for the April 1933 New York City and Hollywood movie premieres, is now available in book form (both paperback and hardcover). For fans of King Kong, this is a treasure.

 

To ensure top value, the book is being limited to a printing of 100, pre-sale only. This ensures the book will gain value over the years (and for those who plan to resell them years from now, an investment). At the time I am typing this blog entry, more than half of the books are sold. As I am raising money for the construction of a coffee shop throughout the winter (contracts are signed, the contractors break ground in the spring), limited edition projects such as these will be common. But while a few will be eyebrow raisers among fans of old-time radio, this one might be the most impressive. 

If you want to order your copy today before they sell out, visit www.martingrams.biz.

And for deep-analysis and historical information about this 1933 radio serial, click here: http://martingrams.blogspot.com/2015/10/king-kong-lost-1933-radio-serial.html