DARKEST AFRICA SERIAL TRAILER CLYDE BEATTY 1936

Theatrical trailer for the first Republic Pictures' serial, starring Clyde Beatty and Manuel King. Republic was formed in 1935 through a merger of independent studios Mascot, Monogram, Liberty, Majestic, Chesterfield and Invincible, all of whom had carved out audiences in various genres, but, arguably, the most important of which were Monogram -- which had John Wayne as the star of its Lone Star western series -- and Mascot, which had become a force to be reckoned with in motion picture serials, had newcomer Gene Autry under contract and possessed the former Mack Sennett lot, a compact, but state of the art facility in the San Fernando Valley.

Republic wasted no time in establishing itself as the leader in both the western and serial genres, with Wayne and Autry starring in box-office hits whose technical excellent belied their meager budgets/ They simply looked better than the competition. So did Republic's serials. Thanks in large part to imaginative scripting, efficient production values and the special effects genius of resident visual wizards, Howard and Theodore Lydecker, soon became the best in the field. In its initial cliffhanger, DARKEST AFRICA, the studio took audiences on a perilous trek to the lost jungle city of Joba. It was just the stuff of popular pulp fiction of the time with Edgar Rice Burroughs others having tred the well-worn path in print as well as other films and chapterplays of the 1920s and 30s. Who better to lead this serial safari thaty popular wild animal trainer, Clyde Beatty, whom had starred in Mascot's THE LOST JUNGLE cliffhanger two years earlier, and Manuel King, another real-life circus cage attraction, billed as "The World's Youngest Animal Trainer." Most fondly remembered by many were the flying sequences of the winged palace guards, the Bat Men, who took to the air in squadrons to patrol and prtotect the mythical kingdom. Utilizing a combination of live footage, models and a full-size, costumed dummy, the Lydecker Brothers were able to create awesome visions of man in flight. It was a technique they would later perfect in THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL and KING OF THE ROCKET MEN. Their special effects expertise would also earn them Academy Award nominations for their work in WOMEN IN WAR (1940) and FLYING TIGERS (1942).

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Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• retro
• serial
• trailer
• jungle
• fantasy
• civilization
• cliffhanger
• Republic
• animal
• tiger
• kigdom
• batmen

[2face15]

Tigers don't live in Africa, but they imported from Asia during the colonial periods and recent times.

[crazyredhead525]

lawl thats so cool! my grandma married clyde beattys second cousin. XD 

[jankovicbojan]

If this trailer does not show how  "far" human race has gotten over the last few thousand years nothing does.

[georgeburns80]

Hey, this trailer took me back to being a kid again. Love it! Thanks!