Congo Bill (1948)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Directors:

Spencer Gordon Bennet
Thomas Carr

Writers:

George H. Plympton (screenplay) and
Arthur Hoerl (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 October 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Action

Tagline:

DARING HUNTER AND HIS JUNGLE QUEEN BATTLE DEADLY DANGERS! (original ad - all caps)

Plot:

A girl is about to inherit a fortune, but she is missing in Africa. Only then, family charges Congo Bill, an adventurer, to find her, and bring her back to civilization. He follows a legend about some White Queen, but his path is full of difficulties, by an inhospitable jungle, and the man who will lose the fortune if the girl is found alive. |

Plot Keywords:

Legend | Jungle | Africa | White Queen | Taboo

Cast

Don McGuire	...	Congo Bill
Cleo Moore	...	Lureen / Ruth Culver
Jack Ingram	...	Cameron
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Bernie MacGraw
Leonard Penn	...	Andre Bocar
Nelson Leigh	...	Dr. Greenway
Charles King	...	Kleeg
Armida	...	Zalea
Hugh Prosser	...	Morelli
Neyle Morrow	...	Kahla
Fred Graham	...	Villabo
Rusty Wescoatt	...	Ivan
Anthony Warde	...	Rogan
Stephen Carr	...	Tom MacGraw

Also Known As:

Congo Bill: King of the Jungle (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

(15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1954)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: With no regard for his personal safety, Congo Bill has never hesitated to risk his life to track down and capture even the most ferocious beasts of the jungle with power and speed beyond human conception. Even though trapped, these savage animals must still be trained adding new hazards to Congo Bill's thrill-packed career. A dangerous way of life, he would not trade it for any other.

An Adventure Classic

I feel with this adventure serial , a ground breaking template was struck for such future movie blockbusters as Steven Spielberg's "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and his later film "The Temple of Doom" featuring the character Indiana Jones. Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo" also springs to mind , where the action star is even dressed like Congo Bill. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" features many of the same white knuckle death defying near misses seen at the end of each of the fifteen chapters in Congo Bill. There is also congruity in the protagonists having geographical names : "Congo" Bill/"Indiana" Jones. The "good guys" and "bad guys" in Congo Bill , indistinguishable in their pith helmets and white suits (no black and white hats here as in early cowboy movies) , are reminiscent of a bygone colonial era.

Don McGuire plays a very convincing Congo Bill , a hero and adventurer. He would have been cheered on by scores of kids in packed movie houses back in the late forties and early fifties , myself included ! Cleo Moore as Lureen the "White Queen" is the epitome of a Love Goddess and Beauty Queen , sitting on her throne in darkest Africa. Charles King as Kleeg , proprietor of the infamous "Green Parrot Inn" is great comic relief and a pleasure to watch. I firmly believe Spielberg may have got his inspiration for the Indiana Jones movies from "Congo Bill" , if he had seen the serial as a child (from little acorns giant oak trees grow).

Anyone lucky enough to see "Congo Bill" is in for an adrenalin charged ride ! Ten out of ten and two thumbs up !