''King of the Wild'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, 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 censorshi ...

Mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

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 ...

. The complete serial is available on DVD from Alpha Video. A seven-reel feature version of the serial was later released in South America under the title ''Bimi''.

Plot

Robert Grant, framed for a coup in the Indian country of ''Ranjapur'', escapes from prison to Africa in search of the real villains. Here he meets Sheik Mustapha (Boris Karloff), who has evidence to clear him and the location of a secret diamond mine.

Cast

* Walter Miller as Robert Grant,

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

escapee from ''Ranjapur'' *

Nora Lane Nora Lane (September 12, 1905 – October 16, 1948) was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1927 and 1944. She committed suicide in 1948, one month after her husband died from a heart attack. She was 43. Sel ...

as Muriel Armitage, Tom Armitage's

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

Dorothy Christy Dorothy Christy (born Dorothea J. Seltzer, later Dorothy Rucker; May 26, 1906 – May 21, 1977) was an American actress. She was sometimes billed as Dorothy Christie. Early years Christy was born Dorothea J. Seltzer on May 26, 1906, in Readin ...

as Mrs LaSalle *

Tom Santschi Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

as Harris,

Villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

ous Animal trapper *

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...

as Mustapha, an

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

sheikh Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...

* Arthur McLaglen as Bimi, the Ape man *

Carroll Nye Robert Carroll Nye (October 4, 1901 – March 17, 1974) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1925 and 1944. His most memorable role was Frank Kennedy, Scarlett's second husband, in ''Gone with the Wind''. ...

as Tom Armitage, Muriel's brother who knows the location of a secret diamond mine *

Victor Potel Victor Potel (October 12, 1889 – March 8, 1947) was an American film character actor who began in the silent era and appeared in more than 430 films in his 38-year career. Career Victor Potel was born in Lafayette, Indiana in 1889, and his ...

as Peterson *

Albert DeWinton Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert C ...

as Cyril Wainwright *

Martha Lalande Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...

as Mrs Colby *

Mischa Auer Mischa Auer (born Mikhail Semyonovich Unkovsky (Михаил Семёнович Унковский; 17 November 1905 – 5 March 1967) was a Russians, Russian-born American actor who moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. He first appeared in fi ...

as Dakka, an escaped lunatic *

Lafe McKee Lafayette S. "Lafe" McKee (January 23, 1872 – August 10, 1959) was an American actor who appeared in more than 400 films from 1912 to 1948. Part of his career was spent with Art Mix Productions. McKee also worked as a stage actor from 19 ...

as Officer

Production

The stars of ''King of the Wild'' were originally intended to be

Harry Carey Harry Carey may refer to: *Harry Carey (actor) (1878–1947), American actor * Harry Carey Jr. (1921–2012), American actor * Harry Carey (footballer) (1916–1991), Australian rules footballer See also * Henry Carey (disambiguation) * Harry Car ...

and

Edwina Booth Edwina Booth (born Josephine Constance Woodruff; September 13, 1904 – May 18, 1991) was an American actress. She is best known for the 1931 film '' Trader Horn'', during the filming of which she contracted an illness which effectively ended ...

, but filming on the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

film '' Trader Horn'' (1931) went over-schedule, forcing Mascot to recast the serial with Walter Miller and Nora Lane instead.King of the Wild at the All Movie
retrieved 29/04/07 Also appearing in the serial was real-life explorer Albert DeWinton. He later went after explorer

Percy Fawcett Percy Harrison Fawcett (18 August 1867 during or after 1925) was a British geographer, artillery officer, cartographer, archaeologist, and explorer of South America. Fawcett disappeared in 1925 (along with his eldest son, Jack, and one of J ...

, who had disappeared in Brazil several years earlier. DeWinton also disappeared in the Amazon in early 1934 and was presumed dead. Bimi, the Ape Man, was played by actor Victor McLaglen's brother Arthur, and

plays an escaped lunatic named Dakka. ''King of the Wild'' is sometimes misreported as an alternate title for the serial ''King of the Kongo'', which also co-starred Boris Karloff.

Chapter titles

# Man Eaters # Tiger of Destiny # The Avenging Horde # Secret of the Volcano # Pit of Peril # Creeping Doom # Sealed Lips # Jaws of the Jungle # Door of Dread # Leopard's Lair # The Fire of the Gods # Jungle Justice _Source:

References

External links

* * 1931 films 1930s English-language films 1931 adventure films American black-and-white films Mascot Pictures film serials Films directed by B. Reeves Eason Films directed by Richard Thorpe Films produced by Nat Levine American adventure films 1930s American films {{adventure-film-stub