14. Journalist, adventurer, documentalist

After the end of the war, Cooper worked as a journalist and documentalist, traveling around less-frequented corners of the globe. Cooper traveled together with the operator Ernest Schoesdsack, a friend from Paris. On the board of “Wisdom II” they set off through the New Hybrids, Solomon Islands, they visited the Island of the Murderers. Finally, they came to Abyssinia, where they met King Ras Tafari, who specially ordered his entire army to be presented to the filmmakers. Marguerite Harrison, a former US agent – the one who supported Merian Cooper with packages during his stay in Soviet captivity, joined the other trips they organized. Marguerite in her memoirs said: “In Merian’s eyes I was simply a good companion, business partner and person to whom he claimed he had an undying debt of gratitude for saving his life in Russia.”

Together, they produced “Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life”, “Chang – the drama of the wilderness” (filmed in Siam) and “Four Feathers” about the battles with Zulus. All these crazy trips were just an introduction to the adventure of life – the production of the film “King Kong”.