Kaiju Battle
  • Home
  • Features
    • Kaiju Battle Vision
    • Saturday Showcase
    • Creature Feature
    • Creator Close-Up
    • Classic Comics
    • Character Close-Up
    • FanWorks >
      • Artwork/Customs
      • FanFics/Projects
      • Events/Cons
    • Godmera's Fandom
  • Movies/Media
    • Godzilla/Toho
    • Godzilla/Legendary
    • Gamera
    • Pacific Rim
    • King Kong
    • Ultra Universe
    • Other Kaiju
  • Collectibles
    • Godzilla/Toho Collectibles
    • Monsterverse Collectibles
    • Gamera Collectibles
    • Pacific Rim Collectibles
    • Ultra Universe Collectibles
    • Other Kaiju Collectibles
  • Comics/Books
    • IDW Godzilla
    • Marvel/Dark Horse
    • Legendary/Monsterverse
    • Pacific Rim Comics
    • Other Kaiju Comics
    • Magazines/Books
  • Databases
    • Figure Database >
      • X-Plus Toho/Daiei/Other >
        • X-Plus 30 cm Godzilla/Toho Part One
        • X-Plus 30 cm Godzilla/Toho Part Two
        • X-Plus Large Monster Series Godzilla/Toho Part One
        • X-Plus Large Monster Series Godzilla/Toho Part Two
        • X-Plus Godzilla/Toho Pre-2007
        • X-Plus Godzilla/Toho Gigantic Series
        • X-Plus Daiei/Pacific Rim/Other
        • X-Plus Daiei/Other Pre-2009
        • X-Plus Toho/Daiei DefoReal/More Part One
        • X-Plus Toho/Daiei DefoReal/More Part Two
        • X-Plus Godzilla/Toho Other Figure Lines
        • X-Plus Classic Creatures & More
        • Star Ace/X-Plus Classic Creatures & More
      • X-Plus Ultraman >
        • X-Plus Ultraman Pre-2012 Part One
        • X-Plus Ultraman Pre-2012 Part Two
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2012 - 2013
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2014 - 2015
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2016 - 2017
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2018 - 2019
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2020 - 2021
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2022 - 2023
        • X-Plus Ultraman Gigantics/DefoReals
        • X-Plus Ultraman RMC
        • X-Plus Ultraman RMC Plus
        • X-Plus Ultraman Other Figure Lines
        • X-Plus Tokusatsu
      • Bandai/Tamashii >
        • S.H. MonsterArts Part One
        • S.H. MonsterArts Part Two
        • S.H. Figuarts Part One
        • S.H. Figuarts Part Two
        • S.H. Figuarts Part Three
        • Figuarts Other Ultraman Lines
        • Ultra-Act
        • Tamashii/Bandai Pacific Rim
        • Bandai Creation
      • Banpresto
      • NECA >
        • NECA Godzilla/Kong
        • NECA Pacific Rim
      • Medicom Toys >
        • Medicom Toys Part One
        • Medicom Toys Part Two
        • Medicom Toys Part Three
        • Medicom Toys Part Four
        • Medicom Toys Other Figure Lines
      • Kaiyodo/Revoltech
      • Diamond Select Toys
      • Funko/Jakks/Others
      • Playmates Toys
      • Art Spirits
      • Mezco Toyz
    • Movie Database >
      • Toho Godzilla Movies
      • Toho Monster Movies
      • Legendary Monsterverse Movies
      • Gamera/Daiei Movies
      • U.S. Monster Movies
      • International Monster Movies
      • Monster Suits
    • Comic/Book Database >
      • Comicbook Database
      • Book Database
  • Marketplace
  • Kaiju Addicts

KAIJU MOVIE DATABASE

Konga (1961)/(1961)

7/21/1961

0 Comments

 
Konga is a 1961 British/American international co-production science fiction horror film directed by John Lemont and starring Michael Gough, Margo Johns and Austin Trevor. It was shot at Merton Park Studios and in Croydon for Anglo Amalgamated, then distributed in the United States by American International Pictures (AIP) as a double feature with Master of the World. Anglo Amalgamated and AIP each provided half the funding for the US$500,000 film with each studio receiving distribution rights in their respective hemispheres.

Konga was the basis for a comic book series published by Charlton Comics and initially drawn by Steve Ditko (prior to Ditko's co-creation of Spider-Man) in the 1960s.
Plot
British botanist Dr. Charles Decker (Michael Gough) comes back from Africa after a year, presumed dead. During that year, he came across a way of growing plants and animals to an enormous size. He brings back a baby chimpanzee, Konga, to test out his theory. Decker goes insane after he discovers a serum that turns his chimpanzee subject into a ferocious gorilla-sized ape.

​To further his hideous experiments, he mesmerizes the ape and sends it to London to kill all his enemies who have more credit in the scientific community than he already has. Among his targets is Dean Foster (Austin Trevor) Professor Tagore (George Pastell) and Bob Kenton (Jess Conrad), the lover of Sandra Banks (Claire Gordon), the woman the doctor wants for himself.

After Konga strangles Bob Kenton to death, Decker attempts to make Sandra his own. This does not sit well with Margaret (Margo Johns), the botanist's assistant and current girlfriend, who attempts to get even by giving Konga an enormous amount of the strange serum and turns him into an enormous monster, although she becomes his first victim.
Picture
​Just before going on a rampage, the super-sized ape grabs Decker in one of his enormous hands, while Sandra's arm is eaten by Decker's carnivorous plants. His rampage comes to a stop when he and Decker are killed by the British army. Upon his death, Konga changes back to a baby chimpanzee.
Picture
Cast
  • Michael Gough as Dr. Charles Decker
  • Margo Johns as Margaret
  • Jess Conrad as Bob Kenton
  • Claire Gordon as Sandra Banks
  • Austin Trevor as Dean Foster
  • Jack Watson as Superintendent Brown
  • George Pastell as Professor Tagore
  • Vanda Godsell as Bob's Mother
  • Stanley Morgan as Inspector Lawson
  • Grace Arnold as Miss Barnesdell
  • Leonard Sachs as Bob's Father
  • Nicholas Bennett as Daniel
  • Kim Tracy as Mary
  • Rupert Osborne as Eric Kenton
  • Waveney Lee as Janet Kenton
  • John Welsh as Commissioner Garland
  • Paul Stockman as Konga (uncredited)
Picture
Production
Following the incredible success of Herman Cohen's previous British made film Horrors of the Black Museum that also featured Michael Gough, Nat Cohen (who was no relation to Herman) of Anglo-Amalgamated asked Cohen for another exploitation film.

As Cohen had long admired King Kong he thought of a giant ape film shot in colour. Due to Cohen's success with his I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957), AIP used "I Was a Teenage Gorilla" as the working title. Cohen paid RKO Pictures $25,000 for the rights to the name of Kong for exploitation purposes. Cohen recalled that the special effects for the film that was one of the first giant monster movies shot in colour (Eastmancolor) took 18 months to complete. The climatic scene in London streets was possible when the producer was able to convince a police precinct captain that the scenes could be effectively staged late at night on essentially empty streets.  A combination of miniature sets, an actor in a gorilla suit and use of studio mattes also made the technical aspects of the production look better than its meagre budget would allow.
Picture
Reception
Konga appeared as part of a program double-bill with Master of the World (1961). The film was reviewed in The New York Times, where the film critic Eugene Archer noted it played to "misplaced guffaws" and was further described as: "... the British 'Konga' is nothing more than an overblown 'King Kong,' hammily played by Michael Gough and an improbable-looking ape."

In a later Time Out film review, Konga was considered: "Inept, silly, and ludicrously enjoyable monster movie, with Gough as the mad boffin who injects a chimp with a growth serum, only to see it turn into an uncredited actor in a gorilla suit. Thereafter the ape grabs a Michael Gough doll and heads for Big Ben. Deeply political." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 33% based on 6 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 4.4/10.
Picture
Novel and comic-book series
A novelization of the film was released in paperback at the time of its original release (Konga by Dean Owen (Monarch, 1960)).

From 1960 to 1965 Charlton Comics published 23 issues of the comic Konga. It included work by Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko. The series was renamed Fantastic Giants with issue #24, which turned out to be the last issue of the series.

Konga also appeared in a three-issue mini-series that started off as The Return of Konga, before it was renamed Konga's Revenge with issue #2. The series ran from 1962-1964. This was followed by a one-shot reprint issue in 1968.

In 1990, Steve Ditko illustrated a back-up story in Web of Spider-Man Annual #6 called "Child Star". In this story, Captain Universe creates huge versions of toys based on Gorgo and Konga to battle giant monsters that are attacking the neighborhood. For copyright reasons Konga's name was altered to "Kongo". This sequence was Ditko paying homage to his earlier work with these characters from the 1960s Charlton Comics comic books.

Some of these issues were reprinted (in black and white) in a trade paperback in 2011 called Angry Apes n' Leapin Lizards.

In August 2013, IDW Publishing reprinted all the issues that artist Steve Ditko worked on (Konga #1 and #3-15 and Konga's Revenge #2) as a deluxe hardcover collection called Steve Ditko's Monsters: Konga.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.


    Toho Godzilla Movies

    Toho Monster Movies

    Legendary Monsterverse Movies

    ​Gamera/Daiei Movies

    ​U.S. Monster Movies

    ​International Monster Movies

    Monster Suits

    Release Dates

    December 2022
    May 2022
    March 2021
    May 2019
    November 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    March 2017
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2014
    July 2013
    November 2010
    July 2008
    June 2008
    January 2008
    April 2006
    December 2005
    October 2005
    December 2004
    April 2004
    December 2003
    December 2002
    December 2001
    December 2000
    December 1999
    July 1999
    March 1999
    December 1998
    May 1998
    December 1997
    December 1996
    July 1996
    April 1996
    December 1995
    March 1995
    December 1994
    July 1994
    December 1993
    December 1992
    December 1991
    December 1989
    December 1986
    June 1985
    December 1984
    March 1980
    August 1977
    March 1977
    December 1976
    March 1975
    March 1974
    March 1973
    December 1972
    March 1972
    July 1971
    August 1970
    March 1970
    December 1969
    March 1969
    August 1968
    March 1968
    January 1968
    December 1967
    August 1967
    July 1967
    April 1967
    March 1967
    December 1966
    August 1966
    July 1966
    April 1966
    March 1966
    December 1965
    November 1965
    August 1965
    December 1964
    August 1964
    April 1964
    December 1963
    August 1963
    August 1962
    March 1962
    July 1961
    February 1961
    January 1961
    November 1959
    June 1959
    March 1959
    October 1958
    December 1957
    October 1957
    June 1957
    May 1957
    December 1956
    November 1955
    August 1955
    July 1955
    April 1955
    November 1954
    June 1954
    June 1953
    July 1949
    December 1933
    March 1933


    RSS Feed

About Kaiju Battle
Links & Friends
Contact Us
Privacy Policy

© 2011-2023 Kaiju Battle. All Rights Reserved.
Visit Our Social Media Sites
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Features
    • Kaiju Battle Vision
    • Saturday Showcase
    • Creature Feature
    • Creator Close-Up
    • Classic Comics
    • Character Close-Up
    • FanWorks >
      • Artwork/Customs
      • FanFics/Projects
      • Events/Cons
    • Godmera's Fandom
  • Movies/Media
    • Godzilla/Toho
    • Godzilla/Legendary
    • Gamera
    • Pacific Rim
    • King Kong
    • Ultra Universe
    • Other Kaiju
  • Collectibles
    • Godzilla/Toho Collectibles
    • Monsterverse Collectibles
    • Gamera Collectibles
    • Pacific Rim Collectibles
    • Ultra Universe Collectibles
    • Other Kaiju Collectibles
  • Comics/Books
    • IDW Godzilla
    • Marvel/Dark Horse
    • Legendary/Monsterverse
    • Pacific Rim Comics
    • Other Kaiju Comics
    • Magazines/Books
  • Databases
    • Figure Database >
      • X-Plus Toho/Daiei/Other >
        • X-Plus 30 cm Godzilla/Toho Part One
        • X-Plus 30 cm Godzilla/Toho Part Two
        • X-Plus Large Monster Series Godzilla/Toho Part One
        • X-Plus Large Monster Series Godzilla/Toho Part Two
        • X-Plus Godzilla/Toho Pre-2007
        • X-Plus Godzilla/Toho Gigantic Series
        • X-Plus Daiei/Pacific Rim/Other
        • X-Plus Daiei/Other Pre-2009
        • X-Plus Toho/Daiei DefoReal/More Part One
        • X-Plus Toho/Daiei DefoReal/More Part Two
        • X-Plus Godzilla/Toho Other Figure Lines
        • X-Plus Classic Creatures & More
        • Star Ace/X-Plus Classic Creatures & More
      • X-Plus Ultraman >
        • X-Plus Ultraman Pre-2012 Part One
        • X-Plus Ultraman Pre-2012 Part Two
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2012 - 2013
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2014 - 2015
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2016 - 2017
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2018 - 2019
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2020 - 2021
        • X-Plus Ultraman 2022 - 2023
        • X-Plus Ultraman Gigantics/DefoReals
        • X-Plus Ultraman RMC
        • X-Plus Ultraman RMC Plus
        • X-Plus Ultraman Other Figure Lines
        • X-Plus Tokusatsu
      • Bandai/Tamashii >
        • S.H. MonsterArts Part One
        • S.H. MonsterArts Part Two
        • S.H. Figuarts Part One
        • S.H. Figuarts Part Two
        • S.H. Figuarts Part Three
        • Figuarts Other Ultraman Lines
        • Ultra-Act
        • Tamashii/Bandai Pacific Rim
        • Bandai Creation
      • Banpresto
      • NECA >
        • NECA Godzilla/Kong
        • NECA Pacific Rim
      • Medicom Toys >
        • Medicom Toys Part One
        • Medicom Toys Part Two
        • Medicom Toys Part Three
        • Medicom Toys Part Four
        • Medicom Toys Other Figure Lines
      • Kaiyodo/Revoltech
      • Diamond Select Toys
      • Funko/Jakks/Others
      • Playmates Toys
      • Art Spirits
      • Mezco Toyz
    • Movie Database >
      • Toho Godzilla Movies
      • Toho Monster Movies
      • Legendary Monsterverse Movies
      • Gamera/Daiei Movies
      • U.S. Monster Movies
      • International Monster Movies
      • Monster Suits
    • Comic/Book Database >
      • Comicbook Database
      • Book Database
  • Marketplace
  • Kaiju Addicts