''Konga'' is a 1961 technicolour

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

horror film directed by

John Lemont John Lemont (1914–2004) was a Canadian-born film and television director. He worked primarily in British television from 1954 to 1962, directing such TV series as ''Sir Francis Drake'', ''Sixpenny Corner'' and ''The Errol Flynn Theater'' among ot ...

and starring

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...

, Margo Johns and

Austin Trevor Claude Austin Trevor Schilsky (7 October 1897 – 22 January 1978) was an Irish actor who had a long career in film and television. He played the parson in John Galsworthy's ''Escape'' at the world premiere in London's West End in 1926 an ...

. It was shot at Merton Park Studios and in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

for

Anglo Amalgamated Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company, run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy, which operated from 1945 until roughly 1971 (after which it was absorbed into EMI Films). Low-budget and second features, often produced at ...

, then distributed in the United States by

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

(AIP) as a double feature with '' Master of the World''. Anglo Amalgamated and AIP each provided half the funding for the US$500,000 film, with each studio receiving distribution rights in their respective hemispheres. ''Konga'' was the basis for a comic book series published by

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

and initially drawn by

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...

(prior to Ditko's co-creation of Spider-Man) in the 1960s. The film epitomises the B-movie in terms of illogical plot and shortcut special effects, such as a man in a gorilla suit replacing special effects. Shots of screaming people looking upwards invoke the idea that they are looking up to Konga and it is not explained how the serum changes species as well as size (chimp to gorilla).

Plot

British botanist Dr. Charles Decker comes back from Africa after a year, presumed dead. During that year, he came across a way of growing plants and animals to an enormous size. He brings back a baby chimpanzee, named Konga, to test out his theory. Decker goes insane after he discovers a serum that turns his chimpanzee subject into a ferocious

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

-sized ape. To further his hideous experiments, he mesmerizes the ape and sends it to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to kill all of his enemies who have more credit in the scientific community than he already has. Among his targets are Dean Foster, Professor Tagore, and Bob Kenton, the lover of Sandra Banks, the woman that the doctor wants for himself. During a field trip to the woods with a group of his students he makes an inappropriate advance to Sandra. He is later confronted by her boyfriend Bob and, although seeming to concede to Bob, sends Konga to strangle him. Decker's assistant and lover Margaret spots his affection for Sandra and attempts to get even by giving Konga an enormous amount of the strange serum and turns him into an enormous monster, although she becomes his first victim. Just before going on a rampage, the super-sized ape grabs Decker in one of his enormous hands, while Sandra is eaten by Decker's carnivorous plants. His rampage comes to a stop when he (and Decker) are killed by the British army. Upon his death, Konga changes back to a baby chimpanzee.

Cast

as Dr. Charles Decker * Margo Johns as Margaret * Jess Conrad as Bob Kenton *

Claire Gordon Claire Gordon (16 January 1941 – 13 April 2015) was an English film actress and comedian known for leading and cameo roles in many British films from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s, and for working with most of the television comedy stars of ...

as Sandra Banks *

as Dean Foster * Jack Watson as Superintendent Brown *

George Pastell George Pastell (13 March 1923 – 4 April 1976) was a Cypriot character actor in British films and television programmes. Sources vary as to whether his real name was Nino (IMDb) or George Pastellides (BFI). His marriage record gives his name ...

as Professor Tagore *

Vanda Godsell Vanda Godsell (17 November 1922 – 2 April 1990) was an English actress. Hal Erickson writes in Allmovie, "Vanda Godsell specialised in playing disheveled housewives, busybody landladies and blowsy domestics." She appeared as Mrs Weaver in ...

as Mrs. Kenton * Stanley Morgan as Inspector Lawson *

Grace Arnold Grace Arnold (19 September 1894 – 26 February 1979) was an English actress. Selected filmography * ''Guilt'' (1931) * '' Men Without Honour'' (1939) - Mrs. Hardy * ''Crimes at the Dark House'' (1940) - Maid (uncredited) * ''Spare a Copper'' ...

as Miss Barnesdell *

Leonard Sachs Leonard Meyer Sachs (26 September 1909 – 15 June 1990) was a South African-born British actor. Life and career Sachs was born in the town of Roodepoort, in the then Transvaal Colony, present day South Africa. He was Jewish. He emigrated t ...

as John Kenton * Nicholas Bennett as Daniel * Kim Tracy as Mary * Rupert Osborne as Eric Kenton * Waveney Lee as Janet Kenton * John Welsh as Commissioner Garland * Paul Stockman as Konga (uncredited)

Production

Following the success of Herman Cohen's previous British made film ''

Horrors of the Black Museum ''Horrors of the Black Museum'' (1959) is a British-American horror film starring Michael Gough and directed by Arthur Crabtree. It was the first film in what film critic David Pirie dubbed Anglo-Amalgamated's "Sadian trilogy" (the other two ...

'' that also featured

Nat Cohen Nat Cohen (23 December 1905 – 10 February 1988)William D. Rubinstein, et al (eds.''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'' Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p.171 was a British film producer and executive. For over four decades he was one of t ...

(who was no relation to Herman) of

Anglo-Amalgamated Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company, run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy, which operated from 1945 until roughly 1971 (after which it was absorbed into EMI Films). Low-budget and second features, often produced at M ...

asked Cohen for another

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality "B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become hi ...

. As Cohen had long admired ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'', he thought of a giant ape film shot in colour. Due to Cohen's success with his ''

I Was a Teenage Werewolf ''I Was a Teenage Werewolf'' is a 1957 horror film starring Michael Landon as a troubled teenager, Yvonne Lime and Whit Bissell. It was co-written and produced by cult film producer Herman Cohen and was one of the most successful films release ...

'' (1957), AIP used "I Was a Teenage Gorilla" as the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

.Axmaker, Seam
"Article: 'Konga'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: 8 April 2015. Cohen paid RKO Pictures $25,000 for the rights to the name of Kong for exploitation purposes. Cohen recalled that the special effects for the film, that was one of the first giant monster movies shot in colour (Eastmancolor), took 18 months to complete. The climactic scene in London streets was possible when the producer convinced the police that the scenes could be effectively staged late at night on essentially empty streets. A combination of miniature sets, an actor in a

gorilla suit Gorilla suits are a type of creature suit resembling a gorilla. The gorilla suit is a popular Halloween and costume party costume, and is also used as a source of humour, while more realistic suits have been used both to represent real gorillas i ...

, and use of studio mattes also made the technical aspects of the production look better than its meagre budget would otherwise have allowed. An unknown (and uncredited) actor named Paul Stockman was the man inside the ape suit. In an interview, he revealed "How I came to get the part of Konga: my agent told me there was an American producer looking for a six-foot actor. Would I go to Mac’s Rehearsal Rooms, Leicester Square, London? So I toddled along; I walked into the room and there’s 20 six-foot tall blokes! I thought, "Oh, dear, it’s a lineup!" Anyway, the producer Herman Cohen came in carrying a big cardboard box. He said, "The actor I need must be exactly six foot, so if you’re six foot, one or five foot, eleven, thank you for coming but you won’t do." So everybody left except three, two other guys and myself. The producer then opened a cardboard box and took out the gorilla headpiece. He said, "Now I’d like all three of you to try this on because the guy who gets the part will have to wear this six to eight hours a day, so see how you feel with it." So, we each put the gorilla head on. The other two had blue eyes and I’ve got brown eyes. And we all knew a gorilla has brown eyes. So that was how I got the part!"

Reception

''Konga'' appeared as part of a double feature with '' Master of the World'' (1961). The film was reviewed in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', where the film critic Eugene Archer noted it played to "misplaced guffaws" and was further described as: "... the British 'Konga' is nothing more than an overblown 'King Kong,' hammily played by Michael Gough and an improbable-looking ape." In a later '' Time Out'' film review, ''Konga'' was considered: "Inept, silly, and ludicrously enjoyable monster movie, with Gough as the mad boffin who injects a chimp with a growth serum, only to see it turn into an uncredited actor in a gorilla suit. Thereafter the ape grabs a Michael Gough doll and heads for Big Ben. Deeply political." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 33% based on , with a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

rating of 4.4/10.

Novel and comic book adaptations

A novelization of the film was released in paperback at the time of its original release (''Konga'' by Dean Owen (real name: Dudley Dean McGaughey) (Monarch Books 1960)). From 1960 to 1965, Charlton Comics published 23 issues of the comic book ''Konga''. It included work by Spider-Man co-creator

. The series was renamed ''Fantastic Giants'' with issue #24, which turned out to be the last issue of the series. Konga also appeared in a three-issue miniseries that started off as ''The Return of Konga'', before it was renamed ''Konga's Revenge'' with issue #2. The series ran from 1962 to 1964. This was followed by a one-shot reprint of issue #3 in 1968. In 1990, Steve Ditko illustrated a back-up story in ''Web of Spider-Man Annual'' #6 called "Child Star". In this story,

Captain Universe Captain Universe is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is the guardian and protector of Eternity. Rather than a character with a single identity, Captain Universe is a persona that h ...

creates huge versions of toys based on Gorgo and Konga to battle giant monsters that are attacking the neighborhood. For copyright reasons, Konga's name was altered to "Kongo". This sequence was Ditko paying homage to his earlier work with these two characters in their 1960s

comic book series. Some of these issues were reprinted (in black and white) in a trade paperback in 2011 called ''Angry Apes n' Leapin Lizards''. In August 2013, IDW Publishing reprinted all the issues that artist

worked on (''Konga'' #1 and 3–15 and ''Konga's Revenge'' #2) as a deluxe hardcover collection called ''Ditko's Monsters: Konga!''. In April 2019, IDW published a book called ''Ditko's Monsters: Gorgo vs. Konga'' which collected issues #5 and 6 of the series."B Movie Giants Gorgo & Konga Return in Ditko’s Monsters."
''www.outrightgeekery.com'', April 17, 2019. Retrieved: July 19, 2019.

Home media

''Konga'' was released to DVD by MGM (the successor-in-interest to AIP) in Region 1 first on December 6, 2005 as a standard full screen disc and then on September 11, 2007 in Region 1 as part of MGM's 'Midnite Movies' collection in a double bill with ''

Yongary, Monster From The Deep ''Yongary, Monster from the Deep'' (, ) is a 1967 ''kaiju'' film directed by Kim Ki-duk, with special effects by Kenichi Nakagawa. The film was a South Korean- Japanese co-production between Keukdong Entertainment Company and Toei Company. The fi ...

'' on the first disc and ''Konga'' on the second, and also to Blu-Ray by KL Studio Classics (under license from MGM) on December 3, 2019 in a 'Special Edition' with the movie presented in a 2K master print and with special features included (radio spot, image gallery, and the theatrical trailer.)

References

Notes Citations Bibliography * Heffernan, Kevin. ''Ghouls, Gimmicks, and Gold: Horror Films and the American Movie Business, 1953-1968''. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2004. . * Pym, John, ed. "Konga." ''Time Out Film Guide''. London: Time Out Guides Limited, 2004. . * Weaver, Tom. "Herman Cohen Interview". ''Attack of the Monster Movie Makers: Interviews With 20 Genre Giants''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1994. .

External links

* * * *
Konga (character)
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on December 2, 2015. {{Steve Ditko 1961 films 1961 horror films American International Pictures films 1960s monster movies British science fiction horror films 1960s English-language films Films about apes Films adapted into comics Films directed by John Lemont Films set in London Giant monster films British monster movies Films about size change 1960 comics debuts Charlton Comics titles Comics based on films Mad scientist films 1960s science fiction horror films 1960s British films British independent films