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King Kong, the grandfather of all monster movies, is an ambitious visual effects extravaganza servicing a fast-paced adventure story. The film’s action set-pieces have inspired generations, whether its Kong’s clashes with prehistoric creatures on spooky Skull Island or his iconic last stand atop the Empire State Building. The film works fine as a good old-fashioned matinee movie, but its “Beauty and the Beast” overtones and poignant ending make it worthy of slightly deeper interpretation. Fay Wray and Bruce Cabot give charismatic performances, and Max Steiner delivers a robust musical score, one of the first action film scores ever written. Directors Ernest B. Shoedsack and Merian C. Cooper petitioned to get visual effects artist Willis O’Brien an Oscar for his pioneering work, but the Academy declined. (In fact, the Academy would not honor achievment in visual effects for another thirty years.)