''The Lost City'' is an independently made 12 chapter

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

serial created and produced in 1935 by

Sherman S. Krellberg Samuel Sherman Krellberg (1892 - 1979) was a film distributor and producer in the United States. The Library of Congress has a collection of his papers. He distributed films nationally under various corporate names including Regal Talking Picture ...

and directed by

Harry Revier Harry Jack Revier (16 March 1890 – 13 August 1957) was an independent American director, producer and first generation exploitation film maker best known for his sound films '' The Lost City'' (1935), '' Lash of the Penitentes'' (1936), an ...

Plot

Scientist Bruce Gordon comes to a secluded area in Africa after concluding that a series of electrically induced natural disasters had originated from in the area. There he finds the crazed Zolok, last of the Lemurians, in a secret complex inside a mountain. Zolok had created the natural disasters as a prelude to his attempt to take over the world, holding a brilliant scientist, Dr. Manyus, there hostage, along with his daughter, Natcha. He had forced Manyus to create mindless "giant" slaves out of the natives as a private army and as the serial progresses we learn Manyus also turned another tribe, the spider-worshipping Wangas, into thin, impotent whites. Gordon helps Manyus and his daughter to escape Zolok, but they encounter Ben Ali, a malignant slave trader; meet the sexy native Queen Rama, who tries to help them; and survive harrowing jungle adventures before returning to the Lost City and stopping Zolok's plan.

Cast

* William "Stage" Boyd as Zolok *

Kane Richmond Kane Richmond (born Frederick William Bowditch, December 23, 1906 – March 22, 1973) was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s, mostly appearing in cliffhangers and serials. He is best known today for his portrayal of the character La ...

as Bruce Gordon *

Claudia Dell Claudia Dell (born Claudia Dell Smith; January 10, 1910 – September 5, 1977) was an American showgirl and actress of the stage and movies. Early years Dell was born in San Antonio, Texas on January 10, 1910. She attended school in San ...

as Natcha Manyus *

Josef Swickard Josef Swickard (26 June 1866 – 1 March 1940) was a Prussian-born veteran stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America. Career Swickard emigrated to the United States from Ger ...

as Dr. Manyus *Eddie Fetherston as Jerry Delaney * George F. Hayes as Butterfield *

Billy Bletcher William Bletcher (September 24, 1894 – January 5, 1979) was an American actor. He was known for voice roles for various classic animated characters, most notably Pete in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short films and the Big Bad Wolf in Disney' ...

as Gorzo *Jerry Frank as Apollon *

Gino Corrado Gino Corrado (born Gino Liserani; 9 February 1893 – 23 December 1982) was an Italian-born film actor."Obituaries." ''Variety'' (Archive: 1905-2000); Los Angeles. Vol. 309, Iss. 10, (Jan 5, 1983): 78-79. Via Proquest. He appeared in more ...

as Ben Ali *Margot D'Use as Queen Rama * Sam Baker as Hugo.

Chapter titles

#"Living Dead-Men" (27 min, 51 s) #"The Tunnel of Flame" (20 min, 42 s) #"Dagger Rock" (19 min, 52 s) #"Doomed" (18 min, 30 s) #"Tiger Prey" (19 min, 31 s) #"Human Beasts" (18 min, 25 s) #"Spider Men" (17 min, 4 s) #"Human Targets" (17 min, 36 s) #"Jungle Vengeance" (23 min, 4 s) #"The Lion Pit" (18 min, 21 s) #"Death Ray" (20 min, 31 s) #"The Mad Scientist" (18 min, 23 s) _Source: (Chapter titles only)

Production

The film took the premise of that year's ''

The Phantom Empire ''The Phantom Empire'' is a 1935 American Western serial film directed by Otto Brower and B. Reeves Eason and starring Gene Autry, Frankie Darro, and Betsy King Ross.Magers 2007, p. 21. This 12-chapter Mascot Pictures serial combined the Wes ...

'' but transferred the lost civilization motif from the west to another popular serial locale, the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

Feature-length versions

Sherman S. Krellberg had the serial edited into four different feature versions over time, perhaps setting a record for feature versions of a serial. The first feature consisted of the first three episodes of the serial and the first reel of the fourth episode edited together, and supplemented with footage not part of the serial itself which drew the adventure to a loose conclusion; and the second was compiled from material in the first and last four chapters of the serial, omitting the adventures with the slave traders, the spider people and Queen Rama, but ending as did the serial. Both these features were made and released in 1935 and both were also called The Lost City. The first of these was also designed so that it could be followed over successive weeks by the remaining chapters in the serial. In the early '40s Krellberg created a new feature version that incorporated material from the adventures with the slavers, spider people and jungle queen, and released this under the title ''City of Lost Men''. Finally, in the 1970s, he took the first feature version and clumsily edited in, at the end, most of the footage from the last chapter, creating what goes beyond a continuity gap and is rather a continuity ''abyss'', and attached the City of Lost Men title to this feature. It's not clear whether the last feature had an actual theatrical release or went directly to television. The first City of Lost Men appears to be lost, and videos and DVDs being sold under that title are sourced from film prints of this final feature. Since it incorporates the entire first feature version entitled Lost City, that film cannot fairly be said to be lost, although no separate video issue of that version under its own titles, is known. Video/DVD offerings of The Lost City as a feature are from prints of the second feature version described.

References

External links

* *
Dr Hermes Review of ''The Lost City''
(archived)
Collection of movie posters

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