''King of the Carnival'' (1955) is a

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

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 ...

that contains a substantial amount of

stock footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

from the earlier Republic serial ''

Daredevils of the Red Circle ''Daredevils of the Red Circle'' (1939) is a 12-chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Charles Quigley, David Sharpe, Herman Brix (better known under his subsequent stage name, Bruce Bennett), Carole Landis, Miles Mander (in a dual role) an ...

''. It is the 66th and final serial produced by Republic and is often considered to be among the studio's worst. The plot concerns treasury agents investigating a

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

ing operation believed to be connected to a circus.

Plot

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

agents Art Kerr and Jim Haynes are investigating a global

ing operation believed to be linked to the circus.

Acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

Bert King agrees to help his old friend Art search for the counterfeiters, and his acrobatic partner June Edwards assists him. They are repeatedly threatened by two thugs, Daley and Travis. Early evidence leads Bert and June to a cave that leads to an isolated beach and contains gear belonging to the gang. They are unaware that in a minisub off the shoreline hides Zorn, the counterfeiter who is printing the phony bills. However, the evidence points to an unknown, higher authority directing the operations, and indeed someone connected with the circus. Among the circus staff who act suspiciously are a clown named Burton and three rubes. After several false turns, ringmaster Jess Carter is exposed as the counterfeit gang leader and Zorn's handler. Carter attempts to flee from the agents, but falls from the

trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...

swing and breaks his neck. With the criminals' ringleader dead, the counterfeit operation is hastily shut down by the U.S. Treasury.

Cast

Principal players

Harry Lauter Herman Arthur "Harry" Lauter (June 19, 1914 – October 30, 1990) was an American character actor. Early years Lauter was born in White Plains, New York. He worked as a model for a professional photographer and was a rodeo rider before m ...

as Bert King,

acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

and former

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

Fran Bennett Fran Bennett (August 14, 1937 – September 11, 2021) was an American actress, known for her works in theater and on television. She portrayed the role of Mother Olivia Jefferson in a re-creation of the pilot episode of ''The Jeffersons'' in ' ...

as June Edwards,

*Keith Richards as Daley,

henchman A henchman (''vernacular:'' "hencher"), is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organization: minions whose value lies pri ...

Terry Frost Sir Terence Ernest Manitou Frost RA (13 October 1915 – 1 September 2003) was a British abstract artist, who worked in Newlyn, Cornwall. Frost was renowned for his use of the Cornish light, colour and shape to start a new art movement in ...

as Travis,

Robert Shayne Robert Shayne (born Robert Shaen Dawe, October 4, 1900 – November 29, 1992) was an American actor whose career lasted for over 60 years. He was best known for portraying Inspector Bill Henderson in the American television series '' Adven ...

as Jess Carter,

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

ringmaster

Supporting players

Rick Vallin Rick Vallin (born Eric Efron; September 24, 1919 – August 31, 1977) was an actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1938 and 1966. Early years Born in Feodosia, in the Crimea, Russia, Vallin came to the United States at age there ...

as Agent Art Kerr, a T-man (Treasury agent) and former

Robert Clarke Robert Irby Clarke (June 1, 1920 – June 11, 2005) was an American actor best known for his cult classic science fiction films of the 1950s. Early life Clarke was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He decided at an early age that h ...

as Agent Jim Hayes, a T-man (Treasury agent) *

Gregory Gay Gregory Gaye (born Grigoriy Grigoryevich Ge; October 10, 1900 – August 23, 1993) was a Russian-American character actor. The son of an actor, he was born in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the uncle of actor George Gaynes. He was a cade ...

as Zorn, agent of a foreign power *

Lee Roberts Lee Roberts (June 17, 1913 – April 24, 1989) was a film actor during the Hollywood Golden Age. Sometimes he is credited as Robert Allen or Lee J. Roberts. Career Little is known about this man who appeared in over 100 films between 1943 a ...

as Hank

Small role players

Mauritz Hugo Mauritz Hugo (January 12, 1909 – June 16, 1974) was a Swedish-born American film and television actor. Selected filmography * ''Wanted by the Police'' (1938) * ''Criminal Investigator'' (1942) *''The Crime Smasher'' (1943) * ''Outlaws of Sta ...

as Sam, Sideshow barker and

*Chris Mitchell as Bill *

Stuart Whitman Stuart Maxwell Whitman (February 1, 1928 – March 16, 2020) was an American actor, known for his lengthy career in film and television. Whitman was born in San Francisco and raised in New York until the age of 12, when his family relocated to ...

as Mac, acrobat * Tom Steele as Matt Winston, acrobat *

George DeNormand George DeNormand (1903 – 1976) was an American actor and stuntman. DeNormand was an amateur middleweight boxer in the 1920s. He was a prolific though often uncredited actor and stunt double in movies such as ''The Raven'' and ''Bride of Fran ...

as Garth

Production

''King of the Carnival'' was budgeted at $172,995 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 h ...

was $177,050 (a $4,055, or 2.3%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1955. 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 ...

''King of the Circus'' (production number 1800), the production was filmed between March 8 and 25 of 1955; its 17 days of production marked the shortest duration of all Republic serials. Republic would often name its films' heroes King in order to use the title "King of..." The studio had found success with this approach following the adaptation of

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

's ''

King of the Royal Mounted ''King of the Royal Mounted'' is an American comics series which debuted February 17, 1935 by Stephen Slesinger, based on popular Western writer Zane Grey's byline and marketed as ''Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted''. The series' protagonist i ...

''. Though Republic serials traditionally employed many stuntmen, Tom Steele was the only stuntman required for the film. The film's special effects were created by the team of Howard and Theodore Lydecker.

Release

Theatrical

''King of the Carnivals official release date was June 27, 1955, although that is actually the date when the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. This was the last new serial released by Republic. However, the studio continued with a release schedule of rereleased serials until 1958, beginning with a rerelease of ''

Dick Tracy's G-Men ''Dick Tracy's G-Men'' (1939) is a 15-Chapter Republic movie serial based on the ''Dick Tracy'' comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by William Witney and John English. This serial was the fifteenth of the sixty-six produced by Repu ...

'' and ending with ''

Zorro's Fighting Legion ''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters starring Reed Hadley as Zorro and directed by William Witney and John English. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against t ...

''.

Chapter titles

#Daredevils of the Air ''(20:00)'' #Death Takes the Wheel ''(13:20)'' #The Trap that Failed ''(13:20)'' #Operation Murder ''(13:20)'' #The Mechanical Bloodhound ''(13:20)'' #Undersea Peril ''(13:20)'' #High Hazard ''(13:20)'' #Death Alley ''(13:20)'' #Cave of Doom ''(13:20)'' #The Masked Executioner ''(13:20)'' ( recap chapter) #Undersea Warfare ''(13:20)'' #Vengeance Under the Big Top ''(13:20)''

References

External links

* * {{Republic serials 1955 films 1950s crime films American comedy thriller films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials Circus films Films directed by Franklin Adreon 1950s American films