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Media Watch: I'm off work until Monday, and I'm going to be cooking tonight and tomorrow. I'm watching a little more TV as a result. Last night TCM showed most of the original King Kong, plus a short biography of it's producer Merriam C. Cooper. It turns out that there were parallels between the characters in Kong, and Cooper's real-life adventures.
There was nothing said about the brilliant English writer Edgar Wallace's contribution to the movie, but after I asked around, I got this communication from Arthur Lortie: Recycling an old "article" of mine --

King Kong was created by:
1] Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- in the novel "The Lost World", Professor Challenger finds a hidden plateau where dinosaurs rule. He brings a pterodactyl egg back to London which promptly hatches and runs amuck;
2] Willis O"Brian -- the special effects wizard, after completing the silent version of The Lost World, put together some test footage of a giant ape and other giant critters. David O Selznick bought this and decided to write a script around the footage.
3] Meriam C Cooper -- developed a plot from the test footage Since the plot has some resemblance to the Conan Doyle book, Selznick purchases those rights also. London is changed to New York.
4] Delos Lovelace -- finalizes the original script upon which the film is based.
5] David O. Selznick -- who put the whole thing together

But Wallace's contributions exist.
From the American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-1940:
In an interview with David O. Selznick (the producer), it states: "During the filming of the test reel, Selznick brought in popular English mystery writer Edgar Wallace to write a draft of the script based on Cooper's treatment. Selznick writes in a modern source: 'I had signed up and sent for Edgar Wallace and brought him to California, where unfortunately he died in consequence of getting pneumonia [on 02/10/1932]...I have never believed that Wallace contributed much to King Kong, but the circumstances of his death complicated the writing credits.'
Selznick persuaded Cooper to use Wallace because of his renowned speed and talent, but also admitted his desire to exploit the popular writer's name. In a July 1932 memo to Selznick, as quoted in modern sources, Cooper complains about giving Wallace a story credit as he believed that little if any of the script was attibutable to him. He did agree that Wallace's name should appear on the novelization of the screenplay, which was written by Delos Lovelace, because he recognized the value of Wallace's name and wanted "to use it". However, a modern source contends that Wallace contributed more than Cooper was willing to admit. Wallace's draft of the script, which he wrote between 1 Jan and 5 Jan 1932 does detail many aspects of the story as it was eventually filmed. In addition, Wallace indicates in his published memoirs that his script was received with great enthusiasm by Cooper and Selznick. It is not known how heavily Wallace relied on Cooper's treatment for his draft, however."
(The article goes on to discuss other writers involved in the script.)


There is more in Edgar Wallace's book, MY HOLLYWOOD DIARY, which consists of informal letters home to his wife. Specifically, see page 132 [25 Dec 1931 - Merian Cooper called and we talked over the big animal play we are going to write, or, rather, I am writing and he is directing. He has just had an approval from New York, and I am going to turn him out a scenario]; page 141/2 [29 Dec 1931 - An announcement has been made in the local Press that I am doing a super-horror story with Cooper, but the truth is it is much more his story than mine. I am rather enthusiastic about it, but the story has got to be more or less written to provide certain spectacular effects. I shall get much more credit out of the picture than I deserve, if it is a success, but, as I shall be blamed by the public if it's a failure, that seems fair.]; page 143 [30 Dec 31 - We had a long talk about the scenario, which is not yet written but only roughly sketched, and came to a decision as to the opening. We practically know how the story is going to run.]; page 147 [still same letter of 30 Dec - I am going to write the story of our beast play in collaboration with Merian Cooper, That is to say, I will give him a "bar line," a bar line being credit as collaborator, because he has really suggested the story, though I of course shall write it, and I am to be allowed to use the illustrations that we are having drawn. It ought to be the best boys' book of the year.
Now THERE's some English understatement for you!
He doesn't want to take a penny out of it as long as he has a credit line.]; page 154 [1 Jan. 1932 - After they had gone I went on working on the scenario and I have got 28 pages of it done, which is a good start. I can't do very much at a time because each sequence has to approved by 'Coop.'] ; page 163 [4 Jan 32 - I have nearly finished the beast scenario, and Cooper has the second part and is coming up to discuss one or two points which he thinks are important, but which are really unimportant since they can be altered terribly easily.]; page 164 [5 Jan 32 - Cooper and O'Brien came and we went right through the script, except the very last two reels, which are not yet written. . . . Cooper is very pleased, and to-day I am finishing the scenario and letting him have it.] ... and so forth. The last letter in the book is dated 7 Feb, and Wallace died on 10 Feb.

There is one last part to this story.
In November , 2002 I stumbled across a citation in NUCMC (National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections) that listed the Wallace script at the British Library Dept. of Manuscripts! The script had been sold to the Library by a private collector 10 years ago. I contacted them and they weren't even aware what they had. Two weeks later they reported that it had been stolen. So close ....
The manuscript, or a copy, showed up on ABE in 2004 for $25K but was quickly removed [or sold]

Arthur Lortie
16 Adams Street #3
Taunton, MA 02780-2504
USA