The Angel Of Terror

Wallace had written the initial 110-page draft for King Kong over five weeks from late December 1931 to January 1932. The movie was initially to be called The Beast the name of Wallace''s treatment. Wallace''s own diary described the writing process for this draft as he worked with Merian C. Cooper. Cooper fed aspects of the story which had been inspired partly by an aspiration to use as much footage of an abandoned RKO picture with a similar premise Creation as possible. Wallace then executed Cooper''s ideas the latter approving the developing script on a sequence-by-sequence basis. While working on the project Cooper also screened various recent films for Wallace to put him in the right mindset including Tod Browning''s Dracula and James Whale''s Frankenstein. Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack were thrilled with the draft screenplay. However on Wallace''s death the 110 page script they were left with only a first rough draft not a final and completed shooting script. the fragmentary nature of Wallace''s script meant that the main dialogue-free action of the film such as the jungle sequences would have to be shot first as a showreel for the board of RKO. Ruth Rose Schoedsack''s wife was brought in to work on to evolve the script. James Ashmore Creelman who worked on The Most Dangerous Game screenplay was also brought in to tidy up the script. The original Wallace screenplay is analysed and discussed in The Girl in the Hairy Paw (1976) edited by Ronald Gottesman and Harry Geduld and by Mark Cotta Vaz in the preface to the Modern Library reissue of King Kong (2005).In December 1932 his story and screenplay for King Kong were novelised or transcribed by Delos W. Lovelace appearing in book form as King Kong. It is attributed to Wallace Cooper and Lovelace and originally published by Grosset and Dunlap. The book was reissued in 2005 by the prestigious Modern Library a division of Random House with an Introduction by Greg Bear and a Preface by Mark Cotta Vaz and by Penguin in the US. In the UK Victor Gollancz published a hardcover version in 2005. The first paperback edition had been published by Bantam in 1965 in the US and by Corgi in 1966 in the UK. In 1976 Grosset and Dunlap republished the novel in paperback and hardcover editions. There were paperback editions by Tempo and by Futura that year as well. In 2005 Blackstone Audio released a spoken-word version of the book as an audiobook on CD with commentary by Ray Bradbury Harlan Ellison and Ray Harryhausen among others. There were also German and Czech versions of the novel in 2005.In 1933 Cinema Weekly published the short story King Kong credited to Edgar Wallace and Draycott Montagu Dell (1888–1940). Both Wallace and Cooper had signed a contract which allowed them to develop the story in a book or short story or serial form. Walter F. Ripperger also wrote a two-part serialization of the Wallace and Cooper story in Mystery magazine titled King Kong in the February and March issues in 1933.In 1959 a mini-revival of Wallace''s work occurred in Germany and around the Eastern Bloc and his eldest son Bryan relocated there for some time to edit and direct many of the string of Edgar Wallace B-movies and made-for-TV movies filmed in that country. These later became a staple of late-night television. In 2004 Oliver Kalkofe produced the movie Der Wixxer an homage to the popular black and white Wallace movies. It featured a large number of well known comedians.There are more of Wallace''s books still in print in Germany than elsewhere and his work has consistently remained popular.