Adventures of Captain Africa, Mighty Jungle Avenger! (1955)

Filled from front to back with stock footage taken from the Columbia serials "The Phantom-1943" and, primarily, "The Desert Hawk-1944", with John Hart and the always-dull Rick Vallin making... See full summary »

Director:

Spencer Gordon Bennet

Writers:

George H. Plympton (screenplay), George H. Plympton (story)

Stars:

John Hart, Rick Vallin, Ben Welden

Cast

Cast overview:
John Hart	...	Captain Africa
Rick Vallin	...	Ted Arnold
Ben Welden	...	Omar
June Howard	...	Princess Rhoda
Bud Osborne	...	Nat Coleman
Paul Marion	...	Abdul el Hamid
Lee Roberts	...	Boris - Henchman
Terry Frost	...	Greg - Henchman
Edward Coch	...	Balu (as Ed Coch)
Michael Fox	...	Prime Minister

Storyline

Filled from front to back with stock footage taken from the Columbia serials "The Phantom-1943" and, primarily, "The Desert Hawk-1944", with John Hart and the always-dull Rick Vallin making less-than-adequate substitutes for Tom Tyler and Gilbert Roland, this Sam Katzman "production" finds the mighty jungle avenger and legendary Captain Africa - A "Phantom" rip-off that side-stepped the need to pay King Features another fee for using the character - pledging to see that the legitimate Arabian caliph, Hamid, is restored to the throne which a tyrannical rival has usurped. He is joined in this enterprise by adventurer Ted Arnold, wild-animal trapper Nat Coleman, and his assistant Omar and, to cover all bases, the Arabian princess Rhoda. This rambles on for fifteen chapters as they are beset by guards of the tyrant caliph, desert outlaws, wild beasts of the jungle, and a pair of white adventurers, Boris and Greg, (doing the work of dozens for budgetary reasons) who have a vested interest ...

---

Plot Keywords:

jungle | serial | character name in title

---

Taglines:

MIGHTY JUNGLE AVENGER!

---

Genres:

Adventure

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 June 1955 (USA)

Also Known As:

Capitão África

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch - 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

225 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chapter Titles:

• 1. Mystery Man of the Jungle!
• 2. Captain Africa to the Rescue!
• 3. Midnight Attack!
• 4. Into the Crocodile Pit!
• 5. Jungle War Drums!
• 6. Slave Traders!
• 7. Saved by Captain Africa!
• 8. The Bridge in the Sky!
• 9. Blasted by Captain Africa!
• 10. The Vanishing Princess!
• 11. The Tunnel of Terror!
• 12. Fangs of the Beast!
• 13. Renegades at Bay!
• 14. Captain Africa and the Wolf Dog!
• 15. Captain Africa's Final Move!

---

Connections

Features The Desert Hawk (1944)

User Reviews

Brilliant for kids !!

I have only seen this series once - for 15 (I think) consecutive Saturday mornings in an English cinema back in the 1950s.

I absolutely loved it!!

The cliffhanging endings fired my imagination. One that particularly impressed me was the one in which Captain Africa was lying senseless under a descending portcullis which was threatening to impale him. I could hardly bear to wait the seven days until the next episode to see whether (or rather, how) he would escape from that one!!

I also developed a great longing to own a pith helmet - an ambition sadly unfulfilled to this day!

At the time I was not aware that this serial took footage from other, more illustrious, features (as a reviewer here suggests). But from my childish perspective it was a terrific series and thoroughly entertaining. I would love to see it again.

Best wishes to John Hart (still with us in 2003) and any other survivors of the series.

bob