King Kong has taken over the radio waves! KMET, KLOS, & KROQ have DJs inviting listeners to be a part of the backlot extravaganza. There are coupons in the newspaper and flyers posted around the city. Be an extra for the King Kong movie!
I grabbed a couple of invitation flyers and wrangle up a friend for the very first night.
It’s weird to see a line of people down Arizona and Elenda. Lots of Culver City has turned out for this event! We are being funneled into a very specific dropping point in MGM’s Lot 2.
We proudly hand in our flyers, like backstage passes to a famous concert. They just grab them and point. “That way!” So much for the star treatment.
The set is marvelous and not to complain, but there is no sign of Kong. All we see is a very large Petrox tank. We hope he is inside. What we can see is a woman loosely tied at the wrists. Her name is Jessica Lange; we have never heard of her, but she looks like a movie star! A movie star that is about to be offered up to an oversized ape!
The crew gives us instructions from time to time. First, move in together to appear as a larger crowd, applaud, look up at the helicopter, move as a group to the other side of the bleachers… Look scared everybody!
This is cool, but Kong’s head has been peering and flirting with me over the fence for weeks! (I imagine him as my new boyfriend.) Now he decides to play hard to get. Wherefore art thou, my 40-foot Romeo?
Technical difficulties develop on the first night the public is invited. That’s showbiz, I guess! It occurs to me that my weeknight curfew is rapidly approaching, so I exit stage right. I’d rather lose my part to another MGM starlet than face my mother’s fury.
After that night, Kong performed like a seasoned pro!
Many Culver City residents appeared as movie extras.
