''Jungle Mystery'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

12-chapter

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 ...

directed by Ray Taylor. The serial was based on a book called "The Ivory Trail" by

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as the ...

. A 1935 feature version was also released, edited down to 75 minutes.

Plot

Various expeditionary parties head to

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

to search for a legendary cache of ivory and a missing explorer named Jack Morgan. Tom Tyler played the hero, Kirk Montgomery, and Cecilia Parker played the heroine, Barbara Morgan, who is searching for her missing brother Jack. Boris Shillov and his henchman Comrade Krotsky are also searching for the ivory. The "jungle mystery" pertains to a half-man, half-ape creature named Zungu.

Cast

Tom Tyler Tom Tyler (born Vincent Markowski; August 9, 1903 – May 1, 1954) was an American actor known for his leading roles in low-budget Western films in the silent and sound eras, and for his portrayal of superhero Captain Marvel in the 1941 ...

as Kirk Montgomery * Noah Beery Jr. as Fred Oakes *

Cecilia Parker Cecilia Parker (April 26, 1914 – July 25, 1993) was a Canadian-born American film actress. She was best known for portraying Marian Hardy, the sister of Andy Hardy in eleven of the Andy Hardy film series. Early life and career Cecilia ...

as Barbara Morgan * William Desmond as John Morgan (Barbara's father) *

Philo McCullough Philo McCullough (June 16, 1893 – June 5, 1981) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1914 and 1969. He was born in San Bernardino, California, and died in Burbank, California. McCullough's film debut came in 1 ...

as Georgie Coutlass * Carmelita Geraghty as Belle Waldron *

James A. Marcus James A. Marcus (January 21, 1867 – October 15, 1937) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1915 and 1937. He was born in New York City. On October 15, 1937, Marcus died in Hollywood, California from a myocardi ...

as Boris Shillov * Anders Van Haden as Comrade Krotsky (Shillov's chief henchman) * Frank Lackteen as Kazimoto * Peggy Watts as Azu (Barbara's servant) * Sam Baker as Zungu (the title character; half-man, half-ape) *

Onslow Stevens Onslow Stevens (born Onslow Ford Stevenson; March 29, 1902 – January 5, 1977) was an American stage, television and film actor. Early years Born in Los Angeles, California, Stevens was the son of British-born character actor Houseley St ...

as Jack Morgan (Barbara's missing brother; uncredited) *

Ralph Morgan Raphael Kuhner Wuppermann (July 6, 1883 – June 11, 1956), known professionally as Ralph Morgan, was a Hollywood stage and film character actor, and the older brother of Frank Morgan. Early life Morgan was born in New York City, the eig ...

as Recap Narrator (voice; uncredited)

Production

The film is noteworthy for its extensive use of stock footage of various jungle animals, many of them repeated frequently throughout the serial. (There's even a shot of tigers, which are not native to Africa.) Apart from one sequence filmed in

Bronson Canyon Bronson Canyon, or Bronson Caves, is a section of Griffith Park in Los Angeles that has become known as a filming location for many films and television series, especially Westerns and science fiction, from the early days of motion pictures to th ...

, it was shot entirely on the Universal backlot and soundstages. Although it had been believed lost for many years, the original nitrate negative was in fact still in the Universal vaults. It was preserved in 2016 (along with the edited 1935 feature version which ran only 75 minutes) and officially re-premiered at the Cinecon Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, CA during the 2016 Labor Day weekend.

Chapter titles

# Into the Dark Continent # The Ivory Trail # The Death Stream # Poisoned Fangs # The Mystery Cavern # Daylight Doom # The Jaws of Death # Trapped by the Enemy # The Jungle Terror # Ambushed! # The Lion's Fury # Buried Treasure _Source:

References

External links

* * 1932 films 1932 adventure films 1930s rediscovered films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films based on American novels Universal Pictures film serials Films directed by Ray Taylor Films set in Tanzania American adventure films Rediscovered American films Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton 1930s American films {{adventure-film-stub