King Kong Escapes [Blu-ray] in Bloomington, MN

Rhodes Reason
is the requisite Hollywood "name" actor in the Japanese-produced
King Kong Escapes
. While hacking through the jungle, expedition leader Nelson (Reason) and his companions are attacked by a dinosaur. They are rescued by King Kong, who since his traumatic experiences in New York has evidently changed his spots and become a lovable old Joe. Susan (
Linda Miller
), the prettiest member of Nelson's expedition, takes quite a liking to the big ape (Kong, not Nelson), and the feeling is reciprocated. The emphasis then shifts to dome-headed mad scientist Dr. Who (
Eisei Amamoto
), whose plans to take over the world include building a huge "Mechni-Kong," a robot designed to put the real Kong out of commission (if Amamoto sounds familiar to you, that's because his dialogue is dubbed by
Paul Frees
, the voice behind Boris Badenov). The climactic battle between the two Kongs is staged on a tinker-toy replica of Tokyo Tower -- hardly as imposing a structure as the Empire State Building, but consider what they're working with here. The Rhodes Reason/Linda Miller scenes were directed in Canada by
Arthur Rankin Jr
., the man responsible for the
King Kong
animated TV series of the late 1960s.