“Darkest Africa” #3
Posted By thecircusblog on May 29, 2010
Odd thing about this movie, Republic studio released it in 1936, then later retitled it “King of Jungleland” and re-released it in 1948.
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thecircusblog
My name is Ivan M. Henry and I am the 4th generation of a circus/show business dynasty. I hope you enjoy the blog.Comments
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Other studios were involved in action serials of many genres–westerns, space heros, military, and various crimebusters. Republic started in serials with this one, capitalizing on the promising movie stardom of Clyde Beatty, who had previous hits with THE BIG CAGE (Universal, 1933), and THE LOST JUNGLE (Mascot, 1934). His co-star in both of these was a young Mickey Rooney. Republic paired him with the decorous Elaine Sheppard, shown above, and the youngest cat trainer ever seen in this country, 9-year-old Manuel King, playing “Baru, Son of the Jungle”. A curious sidenote here is that both Beatty and King were schooled as trainers by the same man, John “Chubby” Guilfoyle. Ray “Crash” Corrigan played the gorilla. The 1936 Cole Bros.-Clyde Beatty Circus program advises that DARKEST AFRICA was released both as a 15-chapter serial and as a feature-length film. Ivan notes the re-release in 1949 was titled KING OF JUNGLELAND, and it was cut and released again in 1966 as BATMEN OF AFRICA, evidently in hopes of cashing in on the recent news of Beatty’s death in 1965.