Darkest Africa (1936) User Reviews

Curious Mixture of Jungle and Fantasy Movie

[gazineo-1 · 6/10 · 4 August 2011]

'Darkest Africa' is a curious and somewhat very creative effort of Republic Pictures. This serial - one of the first in this nostalgic and tongue-in cheek forgotten genre - mixtures a bit of jungle adventure bringing up to memory movies like 'Tarzan' and and others serials as 'The Phantom' and 'Captain Africa' and fantasy movies, with the themes of lost cities, flying bat men and others stuffs, in a time when fantasy genre was still still in its birth time was prod

For a serial realized in 1936 the special effects are really quite good especially concerning the well done conception of the bat-men. The city of Joba is a great scenario realization. But the story is a bit

repetitive, especially concerning the 'cliffhangers' proposed; more than half of the critical situation dividing chapters have some some relation with attack of lions and tigers. But Mr. Beatty is at home with that! Anyway, for serials fans as I am 'Darkest Africa' is a good example of what was going on in the Saturday matinée in the thirties and forties. It's like to wrap up a very old curtain and see another time pass by your nostalgic eyes.

review of serial

[tomwal · 7/10 · 14 February 2002]

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.

A blast from my past

[jmoody166-1 · 6/10 · 13 June 2009]

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.

stars the son of a brownsville, texas, animal collector/dealer

[bill-528 · 28 August 2002]

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.

"Turn the lions loose!"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 8 September 2021]

An animal trainer Clyde Beatty assists a jungle boy Baru in rescuing said boy's sister who happens to be the goddess of the hidden city of Joba, named Valerie. Not a bad serial, Republic's first, but tends to get repetitive with escape and capture followed by escape and capture in and around the palace, not to mention constant poking and prodding of lions and tigers galore. Clyde Beatty plays Clyde Beatty reasonably well and Elaine Shepard as Valerie is suitably gorgeous but the villains are colourless. The most plausible character was Bonga the gorilla played by Ray Corrigan in a suitable suit. The best parts were the flying Bat Men, the design of the city itself and the volcanic eruption at the end destroying Joba courtesy of those resourceful special effects maestros the Lydecker brothers.

The cataclysm at the end killed the villains Dagna, Durkin and Craddock not to mention the slaves working in the diamond mine and at least one Bat Man and the animals presumably. Bonga the intelligent gorilla and comic relief Hambone just disappear confusingly by the end so did they perish too in the destruction? One hopes not.

Batmen Over Africa

[ralphv1 · 8/10 · 1 September 2015]

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.

The Start Of Something Really Good

[StuOz · 24 January 2020]

Wild animals, a mysterious city and flying batmen in Darkest Africa.

Firstly, I don't think the very limited number of IMDb reviews suggest a lack of interest in his production, but rather a lack of worldwide screenings - nobody has seen it! I started getting into old time B&W serials in about 1997 but only found Darkest Africa in January 2020.

With the odd exception (Things To Come, the Buck Rogers serial, etc), I am not too big on 1930s science fiction. Frankly, I find this material just so hard to connect with as it is just so old looking and sounding. But, to my surprise, I had a ball with Darkest Africa!

Fantasy or science fiction? Call it what you will. I guess the batmen could be called science fiction.

This is the first Republic serial ever made and the true stars get no credit - the Lydecker brothers! For the next 34 years, the Lydecker pair would do outstanding flying effects (in real blue sky daylight) in serials and Irwin Allen TV like Voyage to the bottom of the Sea and Lost In Space! (only Howard worked for Irwin Allen). Granted, the Lydeckers did do work before 1936, but Darkest Africa is the start of something really good.

Outside of the effects, the casting is not too bad at all. The actors don't behave in that traditional 30s way (if you know what I mean by that?) and this serial could pass as something made ten or 15 years later. Some of the wild animal Vs human footage might look a bit too creepy to kids of this century?

The only negative about the serial as a whole, once we get to chapter eight some of the spark was beginning to go. At this point everything was repeating itself too often and I found myself looking at my watch a few times. But eight chapters is a LOT of footage, a lot of good footage! So Darkest Africa does indeed stand as a mighty important turning point in screen fantasy (or sci-fi) history! Enjoy!