''King of the Zombies'' is a 1941 American
zombie comedy film directed by
Jean Yarbrough
Jean Yarbrough (August 22, 1901 – August 2, 1975) was an American film director.
Biography
Jean Yarbrough was born in Marianna, Arkansas on August 22, 1901. He attended the University of the South located in Sewanee, Tennessee. In 1922 ...
and starring
Dick Purcell,
Joan Woodbury
Joan Elmer Woodbury (December 17, 1915 – February 22, 1989) was an American actress beginning in the 1930s and continuing well into the 1960s.
Early life
Woodbury was born in Los Angeles, California on December 17, 1915. Her father was Elmer ...
, and
Mantan Moreland
Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 – September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actress in several films.
E ...
. The film was produced by
Monogram Pictures, and was typical of its
B film
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...
s produced by the
Pine-Thomas team. Along with flying scenes, the use of zany characters and slapstick efforts were juxtaposed with a spy and zombie story.
[Weaver 1993, pp. 36-45.]
Plot
In 1941, a
Capelis XC-12 transport aircraft flown by pilot James "Mac" McCarthy (
Dick Purcell) flying between Cuba and Puerto Rico runs low on fuel and is blown off course by a storm. McCarthy, unable to pick up any radio transmissions over the Caribbean, hears a faint radio signal. After crash-landing on a remote island, his passenger Bill Summers (
John Archer) and his black manservant/valet, Jefferson Jackson (
Mantan Moreland
Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 – September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actress in several films.
E ...
) take refuge in a mansion owned by Dr. Miklos Sangre (
Henry Victor
Henry Victor (2 October 1892 – 15 March 1945) was an English-born character actor who had his highest profile in the film silent era, he appeared in numerous film roles in Britain, before emigrating to the US in 1939 where he continued ...
) and his wife Alyce (Patricia Stacey).
The quick-witted yet easily frightened manservant soon becomes convinced the mansion is haunted by
zombies
A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...
and confirms this with some of Dr. Sangre's hired helps. With the assistance of Barbara Winslow (
Joan Woodbury
Joan Elmer Woodbury (December 17, 1915 – February 22, 1989) was an American actress beginning in the 1930s and continuing well into the 1960s.
Early life
Woodbury was born in Los Angeles, California on December 17, 1915. Her father was Elmer ...
), the stranded group begins to find out what mysterious events are taking place in the mansion.
Whilst exploring, the group stumbles upon a
voodoo ritual in the cellar. It is being conducted by the doctor, who is in reality a foreign spy, trying to acquire war intelligence from a captured US Admiral whose aircraft had also crashed on the island. McCarthy comes under the doctor's spell but Summers comes to his aid. Information is being transmitted to Barbara, but Summers stops the ritual. The interruption causes the zombies to turn on their master. Sangre shoots the pilot but falls into a firepit and dies. With Sangre dead, all the zombies are released from his spell.
Cast
*
Dick Purcell as James "Mac" McCarthy
*
Joan Woodbury
Joan Elmer Woodbury (December 17, 1915 – February 22, 1989) was an American actress beginning in the 1930s and continuing well into the 1960s.
Early life
Woodbury was born in Los Angeles, California on December 17, 1915. Her father was Elmer ...
as Barbara Winslow
*
Mantan Moreland
Mantan Moreland (September 3, 1902 – September 28, 1973) was an American actor and comedian most popular in the 1930s and 1940s. He starred in numerous films. His daughter Marcella Moreland appeared as a child actress in several films.
E ...
as Jefferson "Jeff" Jackson
*
Henry Victor
Henry Victor (2 October 1892 – 15 March 1945) was an English-born character actor who had his highest profile in the film silent era, he appeared in numerous film roles in Britain, before emigrating to the US in 1939 where he continued ...
as Dr. Miklos Sangre
*
John Archer as Bill Summers
* Patricia Stacey as Alyce Sangre
*
Guy Usher
James Guy Usher (May 9, 1883 – June 16, 1944) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1932 and 1943.
Born in Mason City, Iowa, Usher acted on stage before venturing into films. Billed as James Guy Usher, h ...
as Admiral Arthur Wainwright
*
Marguerite Whitten as Samantha, the Maid
*
Leigh Whipper
Leigh Rollin Whipper (October 29, 1876 – July 26, 1975) was an American actor on the stage and in motion pictures. He was the first African American to join the Actors' Equity Association, and one of the founders of the Negro Actors Guild of ...
as Momba, the Butler
*
Madame Sul-Te-Wan
Madame Sul-Te-Wan (born Nellie Crawford; March 7, 1873 – February 1, 1959) was the first black actress to sign a film contract and be a featured performer.Lowe, Denise. ''An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films'', Hawo ...
as Tahama, the Cook and High Priestess
* James Davis (credited as Jimmy) as Lazarus, a Zombie
*
Laurence Criner
Laurence Criner (19 July 1898 - 8 March 1965) born John Laurence Criner, occasionally credited as J. Lawrence Criner, was an actor in the United States. An African-American, he had numerous film roles including as the male lead and star.
He was ...
as Dr. Couillie
Production
''King of the Zombies'' was announced in January 1941 as a vehicle for
Bela Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in ''S ...
. It was inspired by the success of ''
The Ghost Breakers
''The Ghost Breakers'' is a 1940 American mystery/horror comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. It was adapted by screenwriter Walter DeLeon as the third film version of the 1909 play '' The Ghost Bre ...
'' (1940).
Lugosi was meant to play the role of Dr. Sangre.
[Dendle 2001, pp. 96–97.] When he became unavailable, negotiations ensued to obtain
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
for the part, but a deal could not be reached. Veteran character actor Henry Victor was signed just prior to the date of filming.
Principal photography by Sterling Productions, Inc. began on March 28, 1941 and wrapped in early April, being primarily filmed on a studio back lot.
"Original print information: 'King of the Zombies'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: August 18, 2016. The transport aircraft used in ''King of the Zombies'' was a Capelis XC-12, built in 1933 by Capelis Safety Airplane Corporation of California. The aircraft was a 12-seat, low-wing cabin monoplane with two 525 hp Wright Cyclone
Wright Cyclone was the name given to a family of air-cooled radial piston engines designed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation and used in numerous American aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s.
Background
The Wright Aeronautical Corporation wa ...
engines.
Release
In the press kit for ''King of the Zombies'', Monogram advised exhibitors to sell "it along the same lines as Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
's ''The Ghost Breakers
''The Ghost Breakers'' is a 1940 American mystery/horror comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard. It was adapted by screenwriter Walter DeLeon as the third film version of the 1909 play '' The Ghost Bre ...
'' (1940)." The Bob Hope horror/comedy was a runaway hit at the time.[Hallenbec]
2009, pp. 32–34.
/ref>
Reception
Writing in ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia'', academic Peter Dendle
Peter Dendle is a professor of English at Penn State Mont Alto, teaching classes on folklore, 20th and 21st century representations of the Middle Ages, Old and Middle English (language and literature), and the monstrous (in film, folklore, and s ...
called ''King of the Zombies'' "... utterly absurd and delightful".[ Bruce G. Hallenbeck, who wrote ''Comedy-Horror Films'', said that the film's politically incorrect humor comes off as innocent due to Moreland's delivery.][
]
Awards
''King of the Zombies'' was nominated for an Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Best Music (Music Score of a Dramatic Picture) (Edward Kay).[
]
Sequel
Two years later, ''King of the Zombies'' was followed by a sequel, of sorts, called ''Revenge of the Zombies
''Revenge of the Zombies'' is a 1943 horror film directed by Steve Sekely, starring John Carradine and Gale Storm. Dr. Max Heinrich von Altermann (John Carradine), is a mad scientist working to create a race of living dead warriors for the Thir ...
'' (1943) that included two of the original cast members. Mantan Moreland reprised his role as Jeff. Madame Sul-Te-Wan
Madame Sul-Te-Wan (born Nellie Crawford; March 7, 1873 – February 1, 1959) was the first black actress to sign a film contract and be a featured performer.Lowe, Denise. ''An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films'', Hawo ...
was cast as Mammy Beulah, the housekeeper.
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Dendle, Peter. ''The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2001. .
* Hallenbeck, Bruce G. ''Comedy-Horror Films: A Chronological History, 1914-2008''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009. .
* Weaver, Tom. ''Poverty Row Horrors! Mongram, PRC and Republic Horror Films of the Forties''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 1993. .
External links
*
*
*
*
Review of film
at ''And You Call Yourself a Scientist!''
{{DEFAULTSORT:King Of The Zombies
1941 films
1941 horror films
1940s comedy horror films
American black-and-white films
American comedy horror films
American zombie comedy films
1940s English-language films
Films about Voodoo
Films directed by Jean Yarbrough
Films produced by Lindsley Parsons
Films set in country houses
Films set in the Caribbean
Films set on islands
Monogram Pictures films
Mad scientist films
Nazi zombie films
1941 comedy films
1940s American films