Archive for Saturday, October 10, 2009
King Kong figurine used in movie for sale
October 10, 2009
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London — A tiny King Kong figurine that helped launch the career of one of cinema’s biggest monsters is going up for sale, Christie’s auction house said Friday.
The London auctioneer said the 22-inch skeleton, the skull of which is pictured above, was the one used in the climactic scene of the 1933 movie in which the humongous ape climbs New York’s Empire State Building, clutching a blonde starlet and swatting away fighter planes.
“King Kong” wowed 1930s audiences with groundbreaking special effects that appeared to show the titular beast brawling with dinosaurs and cutting a swathe of destruction through New York City.
Much of the credit goes to Willis O’Brien, then chief technician at RKO studios, who created the monster by adding layers of cotton, rubber, liquid latex and rabbit’s fur to a metal armature.
Although several such models were used in the film, Christie’s spokeswoman Jo Swetenham said this one was thought to be the largest. She added that the monster’s fleshy covering has since rotted away.
Christie’s said it hopes to get up to about $240,000 from the figure’s sale Nov. 24.
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