“King Kong: The Radio Serial” was a serialized adaptation of the original 1933 film “King Kong,” broadcast in the United States on NBC as a promotional strategy for the iconic feature film.
Marketing strategy.
Following the release of a promotional novelization in 1933, RKO Pictures devised an unprecedented advertising campaign to build anticipation ahead of the film’s premiere on March 2, 1933. RKO reserved an advertising block on the NBC radio network to broadcast a serialized radio adaptation designed to hook the audience with suspense.
The task of adapting the screenplay and the novel fell to William S. Rainey, who structured the events of the expedition for a purely auditory format.
The cast included Peggy Allenby as Ann Darrow, George Gaul as Carl Denham, Ned Weaver as Jack Driscoll, and Parker Fennelly as Captain Englehorn, as well as actors such as Pierce Benton, Arthur Ebony, and Charles Webster, with William S. Rainey himself serving as narrator and occasionally lending his voice to natives, sailors, and onlookers when the action called for it.
The radio series was originally broadcast by WEAF in New York City and also reached areas of New Jersey, Connecticut, and upstate New York.
Episodes.
Originally planned as a 16-episode series, the radio series ended up airing 15 episodes due to a last-minute interruption caused by emergency news coverage on NBC following the devastating 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Long Beach, California, on March 10, 1933.
Episode 1. Saturday, February 25, 1933.
A traumatized narrator opens the show warning of the horrors he witnessed. Filmmaker Carl Denham meets with his agent, Weston. Denham urgently needs to hire an actress willing to accompany him on a dangerous voyage to an unknown location, but none are willing to take the risk. Determined, Denham takes to the streets of New York to find a girl himself.
Episode 2. Monday, February 27, 1933.
Denham finds Ann Darrow about to be arrested for trying to steal an apple from a street vendor due to extreme poverty. Denham saves her, buys her a full meal, and offers her the role of a lifetime aboard his ship, the Wanderer.
Episode 3. Saturday, March 4, 1933.
Aboard the ship on the open sea, Lumpy the cook and First Mate Jack Driscoll discuss the secrecy surrounding the voyage. Denham finally shows Captain Englehorn and Driscoll an ancient map, revealing that their true destination is a mysterious island protected by a massive wall and a legend of a monster named "Kong."
Episode 4. Monday, March 6, 1933.
The ship sails through a dense fog and finally sights the dreaded Skull Island, just as described on the map.
(Historical note: The broadcast scheduled for Saturday, March 11, was not dramatized due to emergency news coverage of the Los Angeles earthquake. The following episode aired with a slightly adapted script that combined the events of the voyage and the first contact with the natives).
Episode 5. Monday, March 13, 1933.
Denham, Ann, and the crew go ashore and discover the natives performing a sacrificial ritual. The native chief interrupts the event and, fascinated by Ann's blonde hair, proposes to trade her for six women from the tribe to offer her to Kong. Englehorn rejects the offer, and they return to the ship.
Episode 6. Saturday, March 18, 1933.
Under the cover of night, several natives sneak aboard the Wanderer, kidnap Ann Darrow from her cabin, and take her back to the island. Upon discovering her absence, Driscoll and Denham quickly organize a rescue party.
Episode 7. Monday, March 20, 1933.
Ann is tied between two ceremonial pillars on the other side of the Great Wall. Kong appears roaring and carries her off into the jungle. The rescue party breaks through the gates and ventures into the jungle, where they are attacked by a giant Stegosaurus, which they manage to subdue using tear gas bombs.
Episode 8. Saturday, March 25, 1933.
The pursuit continues through the jungle. As Kong carries Ann, he is attacked by a giant sea serpent. While the gorilla battles the reptile, Driscoll takes advantage of the distraction to creep closer and keep watch over Ann.
Episode 9. Monday, March 27, 1933.
Driscoll takes shelter in a crevice of a canyon wall while Kong tries to reach him with his hand. Driscoll pulls out his knife and violently stabs Kong's fingers and arm, forcing the enraged ape to back away.
Episode 10. Saturday, April 1, 1933.
Denham catches up with Driscoll after the log bridge disaster. Realizing that firearms are useless against the monster, Denham decides to head back to the beach to retrieve the shipments of gas bombs. Driscoll remains behind, tracking the beast alone.
Episode 11. Monday, April 3, 1933.
A weakened Denham reaches the native village and informs Captain Englehorn that most of the men have been killed. They prepare a new party armed with more gas bombs for the final assault.
Episode 12. Saturday, April 8, 1933.
At the mountain lair, a Pterodactyl attacks Ann. While Kong fights off the flying reptile, Driscoll rescues Ann and both jump into a river, swimming downstream toward the village. Kong pursues them in a rage.
Episode 13. Monday, April 10, 1933.
Driscoll and Ann make it through the gates of the Great Wall, but Kong rams the gates and massacres the native village. Denham hurls a gas bomb directly at his chest, knocking the beast unconscious. Denham announces his plan to bring him to New York as "The Eighth Wonder of the World."
Episode 14. Saturday, April 15, 1933.
At the New York theater, Driscoll and Ann reveal to the press that they are getting married. They present a chained Kong to the audience, but the flashing lights of the press cameras enrage him. The beast breaks free from his chains and wreaks havoc across the city, searching for Ann at her hotel.
Episode 15. Saturday, April 22, 1933.
Kong snatches Ann and climbs to the top of the Empire State Building. Army planes machine-gun him until he plummets to his death. On the street, standing over the ape's body, the police attribute the victory to the airplanes, to which Denham delivers the iconic final line: "It wasn't the airplanes... It was Beauty killed the Beast."
Lost.
Because WEAF's broadcasts were live, and because in 1933 the technology for recording live radio broadcasts (transcription discs) was still in its infancy and very expensive, no audio recordings of any of the episodes have survived.
However, thanks to the research of historians such as Martin Grams Jr., it was possible to recover the storyboards, scripts, and complete episode synopses for all 16 episodes, as well as the RKO press kits that promoted the show.
To date, the only surviving recording is a 7-minute radio promo broadcast in 1933 that served as an announcement for the film's theatrical release, but it does not contain any excerpts from the dramatic episodes of the radio drama.
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