ralphv1
A wonderful early sound chapterplay that scores high on adventure and imagination. It features real-life animal trainer and bring-'em-back-alive specialist Clyde Beatty as a fictional version of himself heading into Darkest Africa. What he discovers is straight out the lost civilization genre that was so popular in the Nineteenth Century, but here the film makers get extra credit for creating a race of men who fly about on bat wings, a technique that would be put to good use in future Republic Studios chapterplay such as "Captain Marvel" and "King of the Rocket Men." Despite its faults, mostly brought about by a tight budget and the re-use of footage from earlier films, such as "The Lost Jungle" (tigers in Africa!), it is saved by energetic direction, an action-packed script, and incredible visuals. It drew thousands of young viewers back to theaters week after week, and still holds up well today as a vintage period piece. More than a generation later the chapterplay can back to amuse and enthrall youngsters as a silent home movie from Castle Film (even without sound the flying batmen looked great) and as a re-edited feature film for theater release and later television, losing a little coherency in translation but not enough to truly dampen the enjoyment.
jmoody166-1
This was my favorite serial when I was a boy and one I especially wanted to see again. While it wasn't quite as great as I remembered it, I still enjoyed it the second time around. It's certainly a fast-moving and action-packed film and the special effects are remarkable considering the year it was made. I was amused at how often the same footage was reused in the film (particularly the bat men flying and the ape swinging through the trees) but that didn't really detract from the action and suspense.Not a whole lot is required of the actors. There's rarely much character development in action serials such as this, but Clyde Beatty is more than adequate in his role as the great white hunter attempting to help Baru (Manuel King) rescue his sister Valerie (Elaine Shepard) from a futuristic city deep in the jungle. The film seemed to have given a brief career spurt to Shepard, who went on to appear or co-star in several movies during the next few years. Beatty appeared in one other serial, The Lost Jungle, which also featured lions and tigers in the same jungle.I believe the "goof" about the tigers being in Africa in this film may have been the result of watching the edited, feature-length version. The presence of the tigers is explained in the opening chapters of the full-length version.
bill-528
many of the indoor scenes featuring big cats were actually filmed in brownsville, texas, at the compound of well-known local animal trainer/collector "snake" king. manuel king was his son and this taste of stardom was his only movie outing. the film is available in an edited, feature version on vhs. manuel king is alive and well and lives in houston, texas. sadly, there is no trace of his father's animal compound to be seen today in brownsville.
tomwal
This was the first serial released by the newly formed Republic Pictures.Photography and special effects are more polished than in previous Mascot efforts.Story lines and plot elements are good and the serial moves at a fast clip.Clyde Beatty is convincing as the hero,ably supported by a good supporting cast.The one dissapointing element[to me] is the lackluster music score.The flying scenes of the Batmen are very effective,and the futuristic city sets are impressive,considering when this serial was made[1936].Over all,a good first effort from Republic.
AD
