King Kong

An original vintage still from the production of King Kong, the 1933 classic directed by Merian C. Cooper.

This vintage original black and white still is printed on glossy photographic stock and features Kong battling the Pteranodon as he protects Ann Darrow (Fay Wray). The still is hand inscribed to the verso 'KING KONG, ANO 1932' and stamped 'DISCINA' which was a French distribution company, it measures 9.5" x 7" and is untrimmed, this size is not an unusual one for a French still of the period. Accurately dating Kong stills is very difficult and despite the fact DisCina was not founded until 1938 we believe strongly that this still likely dates to the 1930s release, there is seemingly no evidence that DisCina actually handled a cinematic release of the picture however they clearly possessed this still in their archive, it is consistent with a first release still and later 1950s release stills differ from this example significantly.

The still remains in only fair condition representative of its age, present is edge wear, multiple pin holes to every corner and some minor staining, miniscule paper loss to Kong's head which is only visible on very close inspection with toning to the verso.

An extremely rare artefact from this highly influential classic which remains one of the most significant pictures in the history of cinema.