Thank you to the 433 patrons who came out for our 85th anniversary screening of King Kong on March 15, 2018. We are grateful to Jay Warren, Steve Darnall, Paul Pandocchi, the Pickwick Theatre Classic Film Series cast (Monica, Shannon, Jerry); and the theatre management and staff, who help us with all the details. (Thank you Kathryn and Tommy.) We are also grateful to film historian Rudy Behlmer. Rudy could not be with us in person, but he contributed a special written introduction for this specific screening. Thank you to Kong scholar Jack Polito for helping us out with his photo collection. Finally, thank you to my dad, who also contributed to our program– and, more importantly, introduced me to this film so many years ago.
King Kong has always been my favorite movie of all-time, but until this month, I had never presented it publicly. (I had played a 16mm print of it for friends in a private screening at the LaSalle Bank Theatre in Chicago many years ago.) At LaSalle, I programmed many of the films that were directed and/or produced by Merian C. Cooper, including a 16mm print of Grass (1924) from the George Eastman House, a 35mm print of Chang (1927), and 16mm prints of The Most Dangerous Game (1932) and a more complete version of She (1935). I even screened Son of Kong (1933) at LaSalle. Then later at the Park Ridge Public Library Classic Film Series, I brought back She and also played The Last Days of Pompeii (1934). Over the years, I suppose I was waiting for the right time to present King Kong. With the film and my dad both turning 85 this year, I knew 2018 was finally that time. This was going to be a special night at the Pickwick Theatre, so we tried to make it as memorable as we could for our audience.
There were many theatregoers of all ages– several of whom were seeing the film for the first time. Many were experiencing it in a theatre for the first time. But no matter how many times this film is shown, there is always something new to appreciate, some detail in the frame that might have been missed before. Thank you once again to everyone who supported this event.
Visit our Photo Archive for more pictures from this night!
~MCH
Movie Hostess & Program Host
Radio host Steve Darnall and his wife, Meg, with copies of my article on King Kong!
The King Kong armature replica…
Model builder Paul Pandocchi
Jay Warren performing the Max Steiner-inspired King Kong March!
Introducing Kong the Mighty after the “King Klunk” cartoon…
With Shannon
With my King Kong armature…
Our 8-page program for the evening featuring a written introduction by Rudy Behlmer!
From this newspaper clipping, we know that King Kong did play at the Pickwick Theatre before!
