Casualties of their very nature, most movie novelizations are printed once, sold briefly and then disappear entirely only to pop-up later on the collector’s market where they go for exorbitant prices. Lovelace’s 1932 novelization of the 1933 version of King Kong, all of the above is true and then some, because part of what makes Lovelace’s novelization of the original King Kong so interesting is not just the more fully fleshed out characters or the numerous scenes found within the book but not the film, but the fact that Lovelace’s novelization is one of the very few which has never gone out of print – at least not for long. And because novelizations have to be written well in advance of the film itself being finished, novelizations will often contain deleted or alternate versions of certain scenes not found in the theatrical release. Characters that only got a few words in edgewise can monologue for pages, and various bits of narrative minutia can be expanded upon at length. Today novelizations remain popular because they often provide fans with a more complete version of a particular story than what can be found in the two-hour runtime of a film. Also in the days before home video and television, novelizations served as a way for people to revisit a beloved film. Historically studios commissioned novelizations as another way of drumming up advance publicity for a film, as well as to provide their movie with a more erudite air at a time when films were still seen as a gimmick by many and not deserving of the same cultural status as books. Larson’s authoritative book Film Into Books: An Analytical Bibliography of Film Novelizations, Movie and TV Tie-Ins, novelizations are as old as the cinema itself.

Though often considered ‘junk literature,’ movie novelizations – that is, novels based on film scripts – remain a popular and lucrative part of the modern American literary landscape. Hope you enjoy, and many thanks to Justin for the write-up! Exclusive treat today! Maser Patrol special guest correspondent (pretty much our Gold Ranger) Justin Mullis is an expert on King Kong to the point that he actually teaches a college class on the subject! When discussing the original 1932 novel, I mentioned that I didn’t think there was much to say, and Justin rightly put me in my place by submitting the following exhaustive manuscript.

King kong lovelace