#Bales2023FilmChallenge April 12: An only child (no, make that two!) on #NationalOnlyChildDay

An amazing adventure in the unusual!

Young Jill – played by the tragically doomed Lora Lee Michel – grows up on a ranch in an undisclosed African country (aka “Africa”) with her father. One day, two porters pass her house carrying an orphaned baby #gorilla. Smitten, she wants and gets the ape, names it Joe, and raises it until the simian reaches exceptional size. That's when a couple of showman collecting exotic menagerie for a Hollywood nightclub come across the odd couple. After long consideration and desperate for money, Jill decides to take Joe to the States where the two become an overnight cabaret sensation. But like Kong before him, Joe is not made for the concrete jungle.

One decade and a Hays Code later, the people who brought the world King Kong (1933) present Mighty Joe Young (1949): more drama, more spectacle, and superior special effects by Marcel Delgado, Ray #Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien et al. A box-office dud ánd Academy Award for Special Effects winner, Mighty Joe Young is now recognised as an #animation classic. In particular the nightclub scenes (keep your eyes peeled for Phil “The Swedish Angel” Olafsson!) are a wonderful display of the magic of #StopMotion.

#film #cinema #MightyJoeYoung #ErnestBSchoedsack #RuthRose #MerianCCooper #JohnFord #MarcelDelgado #RayHarryhausen #WillisHOBrien #WillisOBrien #TerryMoore #LoraLeeMichel #PhilOlafsson #animation #StopMotionAnimation#FilMastodon #CineMastodon @film https://letterboxd.com/12pt9/list/bales2023filmchallenge/