by petekrug17 Tue Apr 7 2015

After Carl Denham knocked out Kong with the smoke bomb, how'd they haul his huge carcass onto the ship? Kong would have to weigh several tons! Also, how'd they secure him after they got him on the ship? Surely the effects of the smoke would wear off long before they got back to New York and Kong would wake up again, so how would they stop him from rampaging on the ship? What would they use to tie him down with?

Responses:

by GreatWhiteApeofBarsoom Wed Apr 8 2015

That's not a plot hole. A plot hole is a direct contradiction from something previously established. For instance, if the film indicated Kong was completely land bound and then had him flying with no reason for this new-found ability, that would be a plot hole.

What I've always thought is that the crew cleared off one of the ship's decks and strapped Kong securely to it. Then they probably used tranquilizers to keep him inert and insensate during the voyage back to New York.

Considering it's never said the Venture can't hold Kong and we're given no indication of how Denham, Englehorn, and Co. do it, the transportation isn't a plot hole at all.

by MystMoonstruck Mon Apr 13 2015

I have a book on the making of the film. They had planned a scene in which they construct a huge raft that is towed behind the boat. I think there might be a drawing of what they designed. However, the movie turned out to be lengthy, and that sequence would have meant they had to cut footage elsewhere. So, they gave up the transition scene, supposing that people would assume that they did something like that to get Kong back to New York City.

I'll look for that book and add any details I might have forgotten. I think I know where it is, but I have a very large library that isn't quite in order anymore.

Nowadays, people seem to want every little detail on the screen! They can't imagine; it has to be explained to them. As a child in the Fifties seeing this, I could picture them doing that; none of the others watching with me ever said, "Tell me how they got him back to the city." By the way: Back in the Fifties and Sixties, this was shown often. In the 1950s, there wasn't a lot of programming, so they used old movies, especially SF/fantasy/horror, as fillers. And, we watched them EVERY time!

by joe_538 Fri Feb 19 2016

I concerned myself more with Kong being cleared through customs and the difficulty they'd have keeping a giant gorilla secret for the amount of time it would take to arrange the exhibition.

by magolding Sun Mar 6 2016 20:16:29

I always believed they built a giant raft and towed Kong on it behind the ship. I even sort of imagined I remembered seeing such a scene which might have been cut out of some versions of the move.

And I later learned there is such a scene - but in the Japanese movie King Kong vs Godzilla, which I once saw.

There might still be an older thread where they discuss loading Kong onto the ship and the problems with moving him. That is "What Happened to the Dinosaurs?" in the first and second pages.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024216/board/thread/187458139?p=2

They skipped over showing how they got Kong to NYC and how they "taught him fear" for reasons of pacing - and probably also because they realized it would have been very difficult with many chances for disaster.

For example, they could have met a storm while towing Kong on a raft which could have broken the tow line and sunk the raft with Kong.

They probably went through either the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal to reach Skull Island, but on the way back they would have to go around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope to avid letting their secret out of the bag, adding weeks to their journey.

by ozart2002-919-392694 Thu Aug 4 2016

Listen closely to Denham after they bombed Kong into submission on the beach...He says "He'll be out for hours - get back to the ship for tools so we can build a raft."