Since 1931, The Cliftex Theater has presented King Kong & Godzilla films on the silver screen
by NATHAN DIEBENOW
Bosque Film Society Board Secretary
If y’all didn’t go, y’all missed out on experiencing GODZILLA VS. KONG’s first-run showing at The CLIFTEX. For me, the best part was watching it with a theater full of kids on Saturday night. It’s a treat to watch a picture meant for its intended audience because they jumped, laughed, and clapped at all the right moments. Their energy across age, race, and gender truly enhanced the cinematic trip.
In fact, the duo sitting in front of me were school-age brothers, roughly aged 16 and 6. During the film’s first half, the little bro kept asking his big bro a bunch of questions which were answered in loud whispers –“Be quiet!” and “Watch the film!”– exactly the proper way a big bro should teach a little bro to watch said creature features. At film’s end, the big bro even had to wake up his little bro from sleep because GVK was that awesome!
Truth be told, I’m not a huge fan of Godzilla or King Kong either. While I appreciate the “Man vs Nature” side of their storylines, I never really got into their respective franchises. That said, GVK surprised me by the way its plot engaged me act by act: Why is Godzilla on a rage? Is King Kong really a big dumb ape? Can’t this be a “buddy monster movie” akin to LETHAL WEAPON?
The other cool aspect of GVK was the limits the screenwriters placed on Godzilla’s powers. The specific scene I liked was when Godzilla had just about finished off Kong in the ocean, but then, Dr. Lind –played by Alexander Skarsgard– figures out [spoiler alert!] that if the navy pretended to be dead, Godzilla would stop fighting, thinking the boats were no further threat. It was an interesting twist.
For me, the worst part of the film was that Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, and Steve Guttenberg weren’t in this near-complete rip off of the THREE MEN AND A BABY (1987), which itself was based on the 1985 French film TROIS HOMMES ET UN COUFFIN (Three Men and a Cradle). Okay, I’m joking about them not appearing being the worst part. Mechagodzilla’s resemblance to Guttenberg placated me enough.
Truly, Jia –the young girl who is deaf and chats with Kong via sign language– made me reach back for the THREE MEN… movie franchise reference. It’s a somewhat inaccurate reference –save for the monsters’ presence with her– yet the film is ultimately about a custody battle for our planetary family. Who wins will rule the world! I won’t spoil the ending for you –this time!
Looking back through The Clifton Record archives on the online Portal to Texas History, The CLIFTEX showed a bunch of films featuring King Kong and Godzilla: KING KONG (December 1931); KING KONG (March 1944); KING KONG AND GODZILLA (September 1963); DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (January 1970); GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER (May 1972); KING KONG (June 1977).
So we know these two titans of trouble were hugely popular at The CLIFTEX –with or without siblings. I hope to see more monster movies at the oldest picture show in operation in Texas in the future. Enjoy!