'King Kong' Star Fay Wray Dies at 96 in New York

I cannot remember a time when King Kong was not one of my favorite movies in the world. When I was a wee lad, I just liked the big ape and all the cool dinosaurs. When I was a teen, I came to appreciate the good natured humor of it. Today, it's just plain a favorite part of my life.

And Fay Wray? I had a crush on her then. I have a crush on her now. I'll have a crush on her if I have the good fortune to live to see 96. She was a beauty and could she ever scream!

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I keep writing feeble appreciations of personalities who deserve to be discussed more during their lifetimes. I agree with you, LT, about Fay Wray's beauty. She seemed to be the epitome of Hollywood beauty in the 30s. I don't know what it was about the women in those 30s films. Was it the clothes, the hair, the makeup? I don't know, but they were sexy. In Fay Wray's case, she had beautiful eyes. I don't want to think about those eyes never opening again, so there, that's the last I'll ever think of it.

I will think about "King Kong" and keep watching it. Fay Wray was also in the movie made by the Kong filmmakers the year before (along with a few other Kong actors), "The Most Dangerous Game", based on the famous Connell story. She was also fetching in color in two weird horror films before "King Kong", "Doctor X" and "Mystery of the Wax Museum." (Those last two were filmed in the early two-strip technicolor process.) If you get a chance, check them out. No, they're not colorized, that's the way they were filmed! The obit also mentioned "Viva Villa!", and yes, you should watch that entertaining film, not only to see sexy Fay but to see Wallace Beery and Leo Carrillo occasionally act like Laurel and Hardy!

Just a coincidence, LT, but now playing, "Bloomington", off the new Old 97s album "Drag It Up."