El gran gorila

Of all the great ape films, this one made by the same folks that brought us King Kong and Son of Kong has to be the most charming. The story is simple enough about a young girl that raises a gorilla from infancy in the wilds of Africa to be wooed and wowed by an American showman looking for acts in Africa. The showman sees her gorilla and the way she can make it listen and do tricks...and soon both beast and beauty are off to the US to star in a night club act of all things. Terry Moore is a real cutie portraying the girl. The showman is played by...well who else but the same man responsible for bringing King Kong to New York City 16 years earlier...Robert Armstrong. The rest of the cast is adequate with Nestor Paiva in a small but crucial role standing out. The real star, however, is the ape itself and the special effects centered around it. This gorilla is brutish yet humane. He is playful and yet serious and somber at times. Willis O'Brien has done it again with the effects and his stop motion animation, with a great deal of improvement since Kong. The best thing about this movie is its heart, and the heart shown between the young girl and her pet/child. Some scenes are very striking in the film. One that stands out the most is the introduction of Mighty Joe Young in the night club with Terry Moore playing the piano. It looks like Busby Berkley choreographed it. Another very powerful scene involves Joe with an orphanage on fire. The scene is tremendous and even tinted red. Very impressive for its release. A True Classic!

In Africa, the girl Jill Young trades a baby gorilla with two natives and raises the animal. Twelve years later, the talkative and persuasive promoter Max O'Hara (Robert Armstrong) organizes a safari to Africa with the Oklahoma cowboy Gregg (Ben Johnson) to bring attractions to his new night-club in Hollywood. They capture several lions and out of blue, they see a huge gorilla nearby their camping and they try to capture the animal. However, the teenager Jill Young (Terry Moore) stops the men that intended to kill her gorilla. Max seduces Jill with a fancy life in Hollywood and she signs a contract with him where the gorilla Joseph "Joe" Young would be the lead attraction. Soon she realizes that her dream is a nightmare to Joe and she asks Max to return to Africa. However he persuades her to stay a little longer in the show business. But when three alcoholic costumers give booze to Joe, the gorilla destroys the spot and is sentenced by the justice to be sacrificed. Will Jill, Gregg and Max succeed in saving Joe?

"Mighty Joe Young" is a surprisingly excellent movie, with a story that entwines drama, romance and adventure and with awesome special effects for a 1949 movie. I bought this DVD a couple of years ago, but I was expecting a lame rip-off of King Kong based on the awful Brazilian title. However, the plot is engaging, with lots of emotions and many plot points and Joe's runaway is spectacular. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Monstro de um Mundo Perdido" ("Monster of a Lost World")

An African girl (Terry Moore) is best friends with a twelve-foot tall ape named Joe she grew up with. American promoter Max O'Hara (Robert Armstrong) persuades the girl to bring her ape to America to take part in his show. You can pretty much guess how this will go wrong even if you haven't seen King Kong.

First big role for Ben Johnson as a cowboy who falls for Moore. He's pretty wooden here but then again he was a fairly wooden actor throughout his career. He does his usual John Wayne, Jr. routine. Lots of "Yassir" and "Ah reckon" type stuff. Robert Armstrong plays a role very much like Carl Denham from King Kong, although a little more comedic. Terry Moore is more Helen Mack than Fay Wray. That is to say she's cute but not much screen presence.

Re-teaming of many of the King Kong team for a story that is very similar to that film, although different enough to keep this from being considered a remake. The story is mostly kid stuff and fluff but cute nonetheless. The Willis O'Brien/Ray Harryhausen special effects alone are worth checking this movie out.

When many people bring this film up, many of them want to compare it to its predecessor King Kong. However, if they would let this film stand on its own they would see that this is a good film about a young girl and her pet gorilla. Joe is almost childlike and is even lovable. Also, the human cast is fine especially Terry Moore and Robert Armstrong in what pretty much is a repeat of his role of impresario Carl Denham in the original Kong.

But, lets not forget the special effects. Willis O'Brien and his protégé, a young Ray Harryhausen do a remarkable job with Joe. The pretty much show him as being a more rounded character than Kong and you can see the aforementioned childlike qualities they bring to him. This is definitely a great film.

Thanksgiving just can't be Thanksgiving without Mighty Joe Young. From as far back as I can remember, until about 10 years ago, WOR, channel 9 in New York City, played a King Kong festival on Thanksgiving day, and then a Godzilla festival on Friday, dubbing it "Monster Weekend." Of the 3 "ape movies" played back-to-back (King Kong, Son of Kong, and Mighty Joe Young), this was far and away the best. There were several reasons for it. (1) Mighty Joe Young has the best special effects of all the ape movies (and, truth be known, far better than those of most of the Godzillas -- which were filmed 10-20 years later!). (2) Mighty Joe Young has the best story. It's about a little girl who adopts a young gorilla in Africa on her family's plantation, and she grows up with it. The gorilla turns out to be the largest in the world (but nowhere near the size of Kong). Joe is affectionate with his "sister", and very protective of her, and the animators gave him a wonderful range of facial expressions and emotions. (3) Mighty Joe Young has the best climax, and the best ending.

All told, Mighty Joe Young is a terriffic movie. It was light years ahead of its time in so many ways, including special effects. It is well worth the time to see it.

My score: 8/10