Fay Wray, Beauty to Kong's Beast, Dies at 96

The New York Times ^ | 08/09/2004

[Arthur McGowan]

Three marriages, but no divorces. Weird.

[TracyPA]

Actress Virginia Grey died July 31.

[Lori675]

King Kong one of the best movies ever.

[WIladyconservative]

Oh thank you very much . . . I've had that song stuck in my head since you posted!

_{Micheal Rinney was ill the day the earth stood still . . . .}

[RightWingAtheist]

Especially since Ms. Wray is no longer around to provide an interview for the disc.

They made the same mistake with The Thing-the original movie, which I consider far better than the overpraised John Carpenter film-which they also failed to provide a DVD for on its 50th anniversary. Instead, two years later, they released, without fanfare, a bare-bones DVD with just a ratty old trailer, no commentary, no extras, nothing. Not even a Marvin the Martian cartoon. Now that star Kenneth Tobey is gone, it hurts even more.

[RightWingAtheist]

Peter Jackson says he's remaking his favorite movie because "today's kids" can't stand black and white and are incapable of appreciating stop motion. To which I say-f***'em if they can't appreciate good art. It's that attitude which has resulted in Shakespeare and Byron being replaced by Maya Angelou in schools. If you want to get kids to appreciate the original story, get them to appreciate the original movie. I suspect the REAL reason Jackson wants to do a remake is just plain ego-stroking: Kong is the movie he always wished he had made, and now, he has the chance to make it.

[RightWingAtheist]

Willis O'Brien didn't win the Oscar for King Kong, though-he won it for Mighty Joe Young. And the animation on that film was mostly by Ray Harryhausen.

[MrLee]

I loved 1932's "Vampire Bat". Wasn't she a blonde in that one?

[vetvetdoug]

I remember several screen writers, actors and directors sitting around and discussing the most beautiful actresses they had ever worked with. Minelli (Liza Minelli's father) stated that Fay Wray was the stunningly most beautiful of all and the rest of the men agreed wholeheartedly. After seeing that interview, I paid attention to whenever Fay Wray was on the screen and came to the same conclusion.

[12 Gauge Mossberg]

There's a thread on how some Three Stooges shorts are going to be colorized as well. Hollywood just can't leave well enough alone.

[asgardshill]

Michael Rennie was ill.
The day the earth stood still
But he told us where we stand
And Flash Gordon was there
In silver underwear.
Claude Rains was the invisible man.

Then something went wrong
For Fay Wray and King Kong
They got caught in a celluloid jam
Then at a deadly pace
It came from outer space
And this is how the message ran

Science Fiction - double-feature
Dr X will build a creature
See Androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet
Oh - at the late night, double-feature
Picture Show.

[lawgirl]

Another friend of Cary's gone. :(

[AnAmericanMother]

Poor Dean Swift! :-(

[Sloth]

I recently read something to the effect of, "Why do they remake the good movies? Shouldn't they re-make the lousy ones and fix whatever was wrong with them?"

Makes a lot of sense.

[Sloth]

From an early (1933) Technicolor film, 'The Mystery of the Wax Museum.'

[xp38]

True. Most remakes do not compare well with the originals. Occasionally there are exceptions. Ben Hur and The 10 Commandments are two of them. Granted the originals were from the silent era. That said I have seen the silent version of Ben Hur and it holds its own with the Heston version and I highly recommend seeking it out.

[RightWingAtheist]

Also The Maltese Falcon; the John Huston version is the third film based on the Hammet story. I also think Hitchcock got it right the second time when he remade his own The Man Who Knew Too Much.

[RightWingAtheist]

Incidentally, I've seen Mystery of the Wax Museum, and it's a good little horror-mystery, with a wonderful perormance by Glenda Farrell as the heroine.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

"T'was beauty that killed the beast"