Ann Darrow, a down-on-her-luck actress looking for work, meets film director Carl Denham/C.B., who offers her a job in a new film. They board the Venture to leave for the film shoot. Ann meets a sailor boy named Rick and his Monkey Chips, she later meets Jack Driscoll after he saved her from almost being crushed by cargo. They arrive at Skull island and after a run-in with the natives, they have Ann sacrificed to the giant gorilla King Kong who makes off with her into the jungle. Together, they fight a Tyrannosaurus, Pterodactylus and a Gigantophis. Jack rescues Ann and Kong becomes unconscious by a gas bomb.
The film then follows Kong's escape from C.B.'s theater and rampage of New York City. Kong takes Ann up on top of the Empire State Building with Jack in pursuit. The biplanes come and attack Kong with guns, but miss most of the time. When all the planes have been knocked down, the army sends two blimps with a net in between them to catch Kong. They catch him successfully. Kong tries to get out of the net, but the net rips and when Kong reaches for Ann, he falls from the net and plummets to the streets of New York. However, Kong survives the fall.