'King Kong' turns 75

LOS ANGELES, March 24 (UPI) -- TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies are celebrating the 75th anniversary of "King Kong" by airing the 1933 and 2005 versions of the Hollywood film.

TCM is to run the original classic, starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot, April 7. TNT and TBS said they plan to simulcast director Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning 2005 remake, starring Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody, April 11.

"'King Kong' is an excellent example of how having a portfolio of networks like ours provides outstanding programming opportunities," Ken Schwab, senior vice president of programming for TBS and TNT, said in a statement.

"Through our celebration of 'King Kong's' 75th anniversary, we will be able to bring the past and present together in a way no other company can do," added TCM's Charles Tabesh.

"King Kong" is the story of a maverick filmmaker determined to document something new and exciting for his latest picture. He gets more than he bargained for, though, when his cast and crew encounter a giant gorilla, who takes a liking to his leading lady, on the remote locale Skull Island. The director brings the beast back home, but he escapes and goes on a rampage through New York.