King of the Congo (1952)

Directors:

Spencer Gordon Bennet
Wallace Grissell

Writers:

Royal K. Cole (writer)
Arthur Hoerl (writer)

Release Date:

1 May 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Darkest Africa's most daring hero!

Plot:

An Air Force captain is assigned to find some missing top-secret microfilm.

Plot Keywords:

Jungle | Serial

Cast

Buster Crabbe	...	Thunda / Roger Drum
Gloria Dea	...	Princess Pha
Leonard Penn	...	Boris
Jack Ingram	...	Clark
Rick Vallin	...	Andreov
Nick Stuart	...	Degar
William Fawcett	...	High Priest
Neyle Morrow	...	Nahee
Bart Davidson	...	Alexis
Rusty Wescoatt	...	Kor
Bernie Gozier	...	Zahlia
Lee Roberts	...	Lt. Blake
Alex Montoya	...	Lipah
Frank Ellis	...	Ivan

Also Known As:

The Mighty Thunda
Thunda

Runtime:

(15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

This is Buster Crabbe's last appearance in a serial in a loincloth. He was playing the part of Thunda, a character owned by Magazine Enterprises. Thunda is the only Tarzan clone to ever feature in a serial; Frank Frazetta did the art for his origin story, a story that appeared in "Thun'da, King Of The Congo #1". Ironically, Thun'Da's comic book run only lasted six issues.

The 'King' of the serials, in one of the best.

'King of the Congo' is my favorite Columbia serial, I remember it was screened many times over the years in the 1950's, at the Saturday Afternoon Matinees, in my local picture theater here in Bentleigh, Australia, was always received with great applause by the kids,me included. Buster Crabbe, the ultimate serial hero, looked spectacular in the loin cloth, although he was in his forties by then. Like all serials, it was magnificent nonsense, and we loved it. Columbia serials were my favorites, I loved their style, Knox Manning's voice overs at the beginning and end of each chapter were always more exciting than the 'slides' put up to read in other serials. I live in hopes that this serial will someday be released on DVD by Columbia. It has all the elements of a great serial, action in the jungle , the usual confusing plot, villains who can't get anything right, a hero who keeps walking into the same trap, and at least one unexpected surprise when veteran serial 'bad guy' Jack Ingram, turns out to be a good guy after all. Come on Columbia, I know you have just released 'Batman and Robin' another fun serial, on DVD, but this one beats it hands down. In fact, if you can put this one, and Mysterious Island' out on DVD,I can die happy. 'King of the Congo' contains all the elements that go to make up a great serial, all in one terrific package. Until the next smashing Chapter............