Jimmy (King Kong)
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Jimmy is a fictional character who appears in both the 1933 and 2005 versions of the movie King Kong. He is a sailor aboard the tramp steamer the S.S. Venture. In the 1933 film he is played by an unknown, uncredited actor, and in the 2005 film by actor Jamie Bell.
[edit] 1933 film
Jimmy is a relatively minor character who doesn't actually appear until after Ann Darrow's sacrifice to Kong by the natives of Skull Island. He is one of the crew members who volunteers to accompany Jack Driscoll and Carl Denham on their mission to rescue her, and is the man chosen to carry Denham's gas bombs. His name is only mentioned once ("Jimmy, bring the bombs!"), and he is killed in the log shaking sequence, the last sailor clinging to the log as Kong drops it down into the deep chasm.
[edit] 2005 film
Jimmy's role is expanded here, making him a much more important supporting character, the lookout of the Venture and a close friend with first mate Ben Hayes who he views as a father figure. He is much younger and something of a kleptomaniac, introduced stealing Jack Driscoll's pen when he brings him his lunch. After making him return the pen and chasing him off, Hayes says, to Driscoll, that Jimmy doesn't mean any harm, and tells him that he found him hiding in a cage some years ago, with his arm broken in two places, and "wilder than half the animals in here." Hayes says, further, "He still won't tell me where he came from, but it wasn't anyplace good."
Later scenes between Jimmy and Hayes reveal that while Hayes wants Jimmy to get himself educated so he won't have to spend his entire life at sea, Jimmy prefers to teach himself how to read (by studying a stolen copy of Heart of Darkness), so he can remain aboard the Venture with Hayes. Like his 1933 counterpart, Jimmy volunteers to go with the search party to save Ann Darrow, but Hayes makes him stay in the village with Captain Englehorn. Not taking no for an answer, Jimmy sneaks off anyway, but is soon discovered by Hayes and told to go back. Jimmy appeals to Hayes to let him stay and help rescue Miss Darrow, and Hayes relents, but warns Jimmy, "Don't make me regret it."
Jimmy survives the manic brontosaurus stampede, and, upon reaching the chasm bridged by a fallen log and encountering Kong for the first time, is told by Hayes to run. Jimmy insists he isn't afraid, but Hayes' last words to his surrogate son are that, "It's not about bein' brave." Hayes is then killed by Kong shortly afterwards, causing Jimmy to howl in anguish as the man he has come to consider his father dies. Unlike his 1933 counterpart, Jimmy not only survives the log shaking sequence but also the attack by giant insects at the bottom of the chasm, even managing to pull himself together and save the life of Jack Driscoll at one point.
Along with Jack, Carl Denham, and Preston, Jimmy is among the survivors rescued from the chasm by Englehorn and his search party. He returns to the village and is not seen again until after the first attempt by Denham and Englehorn to capture Kong goes wrong, and Jimmy furiously and singlemindedly shoots at the giant gorilla with his gun, until Kong angrily smashes the rowboat that he, Jack, and several other sailors are in. Jimmy is knocked unconscious and is last seen in the film being held above water by Jack as he watches Denham bring Kong down with a bottle of chloroform.
[edit] In other mediums
Jimmy appears in the 1932 and 2005 novelizations of both films, by Delos W. Lovelace and Christopher Golden respectively, as well as the 1991 Monster Comics adaptation drawn by Don Simpson. Although Lovelace and Golden's novels have Jimmy relatively similar to his counterpart(s) in both films - that is, young and not very big - Simpson's comic portrays Jimmy as being middle-aged, and quite large and brawny.
