For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

During New Years Day,I read a very interesting discussion about Ray Harryhausen's work on It Came from Beneath the Sea. With him in mind,I was pleased to find that the BBC was showing Harryhausen's first major credit,which led to me getting ready to find out how mighty Joe is.The plot:Living in Tanganyika Territory, Africa with her dad, Jill Young adopts a gorilla called Joe who she promises to take care of.12 years later:Wanting a big animal show for their new nightclub, Max O'Hara and his pal Gregg take a trip to Africa. After grabbing the tails of lions,O'Hara and Gregg catch a glimpse of what could be their main attraction:Joe. Crossing fire with the guys,Jill Young turns down all offers to take Joe to Hollywood. Trying to stay true to her beliefs,Young's money issues eventually got her to cave into a deal where she will get rich quick via going with Joe to Hollywood,which will allow the public to find out how mighty Joe is.View on the film:"Co-presenting" the feature,John Ford puts his mitts all over director Ernest B. Schoedsack's final full film,as the "African jungle" is given a breezy,sun-kiss atmosphere by cinematographer J. Roy Hunt that is much closer to the farmyard Western appearance than any jungle Adventure. Along with the jungle breeze, Schoedsack keeps Ford's touch prominent in the glamorous nightclub scenes,where a high-end club is smashed with bottles and clubs into a Western salon. Making a loss of $675,000 at the box office, (which stopped Joe Meets Tarzan from hitting the screens) Ray Harryhausen makes his debut work a towering success. Working with advance stop-motion animation effects for the time, Harryhausen gets to grips with a detailed character design of Joe over the two years of filming,with Joe's punch being given an excellent comedic edge in scenes which seamlessly blend the animation with live action events. Reacting to a stop-motion effect,the elegant Terry Moore gives a great performance as Jill Young,whose loss of her mum Moore keeps at the heart of Young's friendship with Joe,even as everyone starts to fear over how mighty Joe is.

The 1940's were big on gorillas. They were mysterious creatures to most people, having a human-like element, but with enormous power. Hence, the popularity of King Kong. In this one, a young woman finds an enormous ape. He is taken from his digs to America, where he becomes an attraction. The girl is in love with the producer and so she allows Joe (which he is named and "Young," which is the girls last name) to continue to perform. Unfortunately, he is kept caged up. Everyone considers him a danger. Eventually, an event occurs where some drunks feed him alcohol and get him riled up with fire. He goes on a rampage and is sentenced to death. This leads to an exciting conclusion which is strictly Hollywood. Great fun. Launched a sequel which I've never seen.

I had already seen the 1998 Disney remake with Charlize Theron and Bill Paxton, so I had a rough idea what to expect with this black and white original version, directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack (King Kong). Basically in 1937 Tanganyika Territory, Africa, eight-year- old Jill Young (Lora Lee Michel) lives with her father John Young (Regis Toomey) on his ranch, she and two Africans come across an orphaned baby gorilla, Jill really wants a pet, her father allows her to care for for the gorilla. Twelve years later, talkative and persuasive promoter Max O'Hara (Robert Armstrong) with his sidekick, Oklahoma cowboy Gregg (Ben Johnson), are on a trip to Africa looking for new animal attractions to headline O'Hara's new Hollywood nightclub. They capture several lions and prepare to leave, but then out of the blue they see a huge 12 foot gorilla, they try to capture the creature, but are stopped when now teenage Jill Young (Terry Moore) rescues them from the beast harming them. Jill explains about her connection with the gorilla, named Joseph "Joe" Young , Gregg is smitten with ill, while Max seduces her with the thought of a fancy life, fame and fortune if she signs a contract for her and Joe to come with them and become the star attraction of his nightclub. A short time later, back in Hollywood, the nightclub opens and Joe makes his stage debut, with Jill by his side to keep him calm, the audience reaction is staggering and Joe's popularity grows, but the high life is not quite what Jill pictured. Jill realises that Joe is unhappy and asks Max to arrange her return to Africa, he does persuade to stay a little longer in show business, but three alcoholic customers give booze to Joe, causing him to rage and break out of his holding cage in a violent temper. Joe is sentenced by the justice to be destroyed, Jill, Max and Gregg do everything possible to find him before the authorities, it comes to a point when Joe reaches an orphanage that gets set on fire, he rescues some of the children and appears to be harmed, but in the end he is safe and sound, and returns to Africa with Jane, and Gregg joins them, they send a goodbye message to Max. Also starring Frank McHugh as Windy, Douglas Fowley as Jones, Denis Green as Crawford, Paul Guilfoyle as Smith and Nestor Paiva as Brown. The story is a obviously a variation on the King Kong tale, made much more schmaltzy, but it does have the fantastic work of stop- motion animation genius Ray Harryhausen to create the giant gorilla and his movements, all in all I prefer the remake, but this classic original is an alright fantasy adventure. It won the Oscar for Best Effects, Special Effects. Worth watching!

This is a cracking film in every way. Taken in its own context, it's every bit as good as King Kong. Although made in 1949, it completely blows away the remake from 1999. That expert of special effects Ray Harryhausen does a brilliant job in so many memorable scenes in the film, probably the most famous of which is the rescuing of the trapped children from the burning building. Not far behind is the scene in the huge night club, when Mighty Joe goes berserk after being given alcohol. The pace of the film never slackens and the players all put in good performances, with the big star of the show.....Mighty Joe Young himself. Don't miss!!