July 27, 1949 –
The RKO Radio Picture , Mighty Joe Young, made by the same creative team responsible for King Kong, opened in New York City on this date, (in fact, when Joe smashes through the facade during the nightclub riot, the first scream you hear is that of Fay Wray, stock audio from the original King Kong.)
Second-unit director David Sharpe recalled an incident that happened on the nightclub set: “We were shooting some action stuff . . . which featured lions, tigers, elephants, and apes in cages around the table area. We had trained lions to run from one side of the set to the other. One of them broke loose, jumped onto the top of his cage and grabbed the trainer by the throat. I was in the camera cage. I pushed the iron door open, raced across the set and punched the lion in the face. I guess I shocked him so badly he let go, turned tail and ran into his cage.“
(I’ve mentioned this before, I’m no longer going to direct you to Terry Moore’s photo spread in Playboy. You go on ahead and find it yourself.)
The Haus of Dcaligari 