''Darkest Africa'' (1936) is a Republic

movie serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

. This was the first serial produced by Republic Pictures and was a loose sequel to a

Mascot Pictures Mascot Pictures Corporation was an American film company of the 1920s and 1930s best known for producing and distributing film serials and B-westerns. Mascot was formed in 1927 by film producer Nat Levine. In 1936 it merged with several other ...

serial called '' The Lost Jungle'', also starring

Clyde Beatty Clyde Beatty (June 10, 1903 – July 19, 1965) was a famed animal trainer, zoo owner, and circus mogul. He joined Howe's Great London Circus in 1921 as a cage boy and spent the next four decades rising to fame as one of the most famous circ ...

. Mascot, and other companies, had been taken over in 1935 by

Consolidated Film Laboratories Consolidated Film Industries was a film laboratory and film processing company and was one of the leading film laboratories in the Los Angeles area for many decades. CFI processed negatives and made prints for motion pictures and television. The ...

and merged to become Republic. Producer

Nat Levine Nat Levine (July 26, 1899 – August 6, 1989), was an American film producer. He produced 105 films between 1921 and 1946. He was personal secretary to Marcus Loew, formed Mascot Pictures in 1927, and merged Mascot with Herbert Yates's Re ...

was formerly the owner of Mascot Pictures.

Plot

While on Safari in East Africa,

runs into a

loincloth A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks. Loincloths which are held up by belts or strings are specifically known as breechcloth or ...

wearing boy, ''Baru'', and his pet

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...

Bonga. Baru reveals that he has escaped from the lost city of Joba, King Solomon's sacred city of the Golden Bat, but that his sister, Valerie, remains there. She was found by High Priest Dagna as a child and declared to be Joba's goddess as part of his quest for power. Her escape could cause a revolt among the city's citizens. Clyde agrees to help Baru rescue Valerie and they set out to Joba, through the Valley of Lost Souls. Meanwhile, the unscrupulous Durkin and Craddock notice the green

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

Baru is wearing and follow them to plunder the city for similar jewels. Dagna receives word of the heroes approach from his bat-men and makes plans to stop them.

Cast

Main cast

Himself A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its antecedent) within the same sentence. In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and refer to a previously n ...

, world-famous

big game hunter Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for meat, commercially valuable by-products (such as horns/antlers, furs, tusks, bones, body fat/oil, or special organs and contents), trophy/taxidermy, or simply just for recreation ("s ...

and

lion tamer Lion taming is the taming and training of lions, either for protection or for use in entertainment, such as the circus. The term often applies to the taming and display of lions and other big cats such as tigers, leopards, jaguars, black pa ...

. Beatty was billed as the "World's Greatest Wild Animal Trainer" *Manuel King as Baru Tremaine, escapee from the Lost City of Joba. King was billed as the "World's Youngest Wild Animal Trainer" *

Elaine Shepard Elaine Elizabeth Shepard (April 2, 1913 – September 6, 1998) was a Broadway and film actress in the 1930s and 1940s. She was also the author of ''The Doom Pussy'', a semi-fictional account of aviation in the Vietnam War. Film and stage Shepar ...

as Valerie Tremaine, Baru's sister and captive "goddess" of Joba *

Lucien Prival Lucien Prival (July 14, 1901 – June 3, 1994) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1926 and 1953. Born in New York City, Prival was the son of a French mother and a Russian father. From 1912-1919 he lived w ...

as Dagna, High priest and ruler of Joba *

Ray "Crash" Corrigan Ray "Crash" Corrigan (born Raymond Benitz; February 14, 1902 – August 10, 1976) was an American actor most famous for appearing in many B-Western movies (among these the Three Mesquiteers and Range Busters film series). He also was a st ...

(in ape suit) as ''Bonga'', Baru's pet ape *

Wheeler Oakman Wheeler Oakman (born Vivian Eichelberger; February 21, 1890 – March 19, 1949) was an American film actor. Early years Oakman was born as Vivian Eichelberger in Washington, D.C., and educated in that city's schools. He grew up in Fairfax, Vir ...

as Durkin, "Shady trading-post entrepreneur"

Supporting cast

Edward McWade Edward McWade (January 14, 1865 – May 17, 1943) was a writer, stage actor and an American film actor. Biography McWade was born in Washington, D.C., on January 14, 1865. His father was notable stage actor Robert McWade Sr. (1835-1913) an ...

as Gorn, keeper of the Books of Law in the Lost City of Joba * Edmund Cobb as Craddock, "Shady trading-post entrepreneur" *Ray Turner as Hambone, Clyde's assistant * Donald Reed as Negus, a slave in the Lost City of Joba

Production

''Darkest Africa'' was budgeted at $107,281 although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example ''The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural ho ...

was $119,343 (a $12,062, or 11.2%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1936. It was filmed between 29 November and 28 December 1935 under the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

''Dark Continent''. The serial's production number was 416. Over all sixty-six Republic serials, however, this was the third cheapest per chapter (it cost $7,956.20 on average to produce each of the 15 chapters in the serial).

Special effects

The special effects are by John T. Coyle and the

Lydecker brothers Howard and Theodore Lydecker, always known—and billed—as such, were Howard "Babe" Lydecker (June 8, 1911 – September 26, 1969) and Theodore Lydecker (November 7, 1908 – May 25, 1990), a special effects team primarily working as contract ...

. ''Darkest Africa'' contained the first use of the flying special effects that Republic would go on to use in future serials, such as the acclaimed '' Adventures of Captain Marvel''. This serial also showcased examples of the studio's model work that would be one of the factors in its future reputation and success. The destruction of the lost city in the final chapter is particularly highlighted by Cline as a "picturesque example."

Stunts

Yakima Canutt Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing t ...

was the ramrod (stunt coordinator) on this serial. * Eddie Parker as Craddock (doubling Edmund Cobb)

Release

Theatrical

''Darkest Africas official release date is 15 February 1936, although this is actually the date the seventh chapter was made available to film exchanges. A 73-minute feature film version, created by editing the serial footage together, was released on 21 May 1936. Darkest Africa was first re-released under the title of ''King of Jungleland'', on 10 November 1948, between the first runs of ''

Adventures of Frank and Jesse James ''Adventures of Frank and Jesse James'' is a 1948 Republic film serial directed by Fred C. Brannon and Yakima Canutt and starring Clayton Moore, Steve Darrell, Noel Neill, George J. Lewis, John Crawford, and Sam Flint. Plot Cast * Clayto ...

'' and ''

Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc ''Federal Agents vs. Underworld, Inc.'' (1949) is a 12-episode black-and-white film serial produced by Republic Pictures during July 1948 and released in January 1949, an original screenplay written collaboratively by Royal K. Cole, Basil Dickey ...

''. The name change was to conform to Republic's successful tradition of using the "King of..." naming format.

Television

''Darkest Africa'' was one of several Republic serials re-released for television in 1966. It was again retitled, this time as ''Batmen of Africa'', to capitalize on the Batman craze of the time. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.

Critical reception

Cline wrote of this serial, that "some of the finest photography of Beatty's animal training techniques ever seen were numbered in this production." He criticizes the performance of Prival as Dagna as less than nothing, consisting of "rapid, shrill delivery of lines in a monotone." Prival's only redeeming quality is a "mean and treacherous cast to his features."

Chapter titles

#BARU – Son of the Jungle ''(29 min 37s)'' #The Tiger-Men's God ''(18 min 13s)'' #Bat-Men of Joba ''(17 min 59s)'' #The Hunter Lions of Joba ''(17 min 27s)'' #Bonga's Courage ''(16 min 33s)'' #Prisoners of the High Priest ''(18 min 34s)'' #Swing for Life ''(17 min 47s)'' #Fang and Claw ''(17 min 9s)'' #When Birdmen Strike ''(16 min 49s)'' #Trial by Thunder-Rods ''(16 min 42s)'' #Jars of Death ''(16 min 35s)'' #Revolt of the Slaves ''(16 min 18s)'' #Gauntlet of Destruction ''(16 min 48s)'' #The Divine Sacrifice ''(15 min 48s)'' #The Prophecy of Gorn ''(17min 3s)'' _Source: This was the only 15-chapter serial produced by Republic in 1936 (the others were two 12-chapter serials and one 14-chapter serial). The next 15-chapter serial was '' Dick Tracy'' in 1937, itself the only 15-chapter serial of its year.

Cliffhangers

volcanic eruption Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are oft ...

and resultant

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

causes a landslide to fall on the heroes. #Clyde is forced into a pit containing a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

. #The heroes hide from the chasing bat-men in an empty sarcophagus only for it to be stabbed repeatedly with their

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

s. #Clyde is punched off a platform by Craddock, lands unconscious in a mine shaft and is attacked by a pack of hunter lions. #Clyde is tied to a tree and attacked by a lion. #Dagna sets a pack of hunter lions on Clyde. #Clyde hides behind a curtain but he's spotted and the curtain is riddled with a hail of bullets. #An unconscious Baru is attacked by a

; The

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...

Clyde is climbing is cut by Durkin. #A patrol of bat-men attack Clyde from the air, catching him with two thrown

s. #A bat-man cuts the rope on which Clyde is swinging to freedom. #The heroes are enveloped in a cloud of

poison gas Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal dose) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious or perman ...

. #Swinging to rescue Valerie, Clyde's rope is cut by a slave and they fall into a crowd of armed rebels. #An explosion showers two heroes in rocks. #Valerie commits suicide by jumping from Pinnacle Rock.

References

External links

* * {{Joseph Kane 1936 films 1936 adventure films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films set in Africa Republic Pictures film serials Films directed by B. Reeves Eason Films directed by Joseph Kane Lost world films Films produced by Nat Levine American adventure films 1930s American films