Original artwork, not a still
Oh, no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Denham blames the girl, yet he is the man who chained Kong and shipped him to New York, so the line is also his own half-guilty verdict. It turns a monster movie into a tragedy about a creature destroyed by wanting something. Remakes keep coming back to it, and people still reach for it when an unbeatable force falls to something small.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for King KongShow the scene
The closing line of King Kong (1933). After Kong breaks loose at a New York theatre, he climbs the Empire State Building with Ann Darrow in his grasp, and biplanes shoot at him until he falls to the street. Filmmaker Carl Denham pushes through the crowd around Kong's body. When a policeman remarks that the planes got him, Denham answers with the line. It completes the film's opening proverb, written by co-director Merian C. Cooper, about the beast looking on beauty and staying its hand.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: King Kong (1933 film)Plot and Development sectionsReference checked
- Wikiquote: King Kong (1933 film)Carl Denham sectionReference checked
Context reviewed
