Hollywood Goes to War: Merian Cooper, the Man Who Created "King Kong"
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 17 October 2024
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, from the time he was a boy, Merian C. Cooper wanted to be an adventurer, a wish that propelled him into journalism, the National Guard, military aviation, and two world wars. Amid these, he became a movie producer and writer, working on some cinematic classics, including King Kong in 1933. He even played one of the pilots in the film. Here again, to tell this "Hollywood Goes to War" story is Roger McGrath.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And we're back with our American stories and here to tell another Hollywood Goes to War story is Roger McGrath. |
| 0:17.8 | He's the author of Gunfighters, Hollywoodman Vigilantees, Violence on the Frontier. |
| 0:23.4 | He's also a U.S. Marine and former history professor at UCLA. |
| 0:27.9 | Dr. McGrath has appeared on numerous History Channel documentaries |
| 0:31.3 | and is a regular contributor for us here at Our American Stories. |
| 0:36.6 | Here's McGrath. |
| 0:38.4 | Marian C. Cooper was one of Hollywood's most important figures in its golden age. |
| 0:44.1 | He wrote his great prominence in 1933, when he co-wrote, directed, and produced the |
| 0:49.6 | blockbuster King Kong. |
| 0:53.4 | Before he retired, he had six credits for directing, 19 for writing, and 68 for producing. |
| 1:01.0 | He worked closely with John Ford, producing such Ford classics as Ford Apache. |
| 1:07.0 | She wore a yellow ribbon, Rio Grande, Wagonmaster, The Quiet Man, and The Searchers. |
| 1:16.6 | What is generally not known about Miriam Cooper is his service as a U.S. Army pilot in World War I, |
| 1:24.6 | and then as the organizer of the Toske U.osk squadron, a group of American pilots who came |
| 1:31.3 | to Poland's aid and flew with great distinction in the Polish-Russian War of 1920. |
| 1:39.6 | Marion Cooper is born in 1893 in Jacksonville, Florida, the son of a prominent attorney. |
| 1:47.0 | Cooper Line goes back to the colonial era in southeastern Georgia. |
| 1:54.0 | Rising of prominence during the Revolutionary War is John Cooper, |
| 1:59.0 | Marion's great-great-grandfather, |
| 2:01.6 | who serves as a colonel alongside Casimir, |
| 2:04.6 | the Polish cavalry commander. |
| 2:08.6 | After a meeting with Ben Franklin in Paris in 1776, |
... |
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