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The King of the Kongo
(1929) United States of America
B&W : Serial / 21 reels / Ten chapters
Directed by Richard Thorpe
Cast: Jacqueline Logan [Diana Martin], Walter Miller [Larry Trent], Richard Tucker [Chief of the Secret Service], Boris Karloff [Scarface Macklin], Larry Steers [Jack Drake], Harry Todd [the commodore], Richard Neill [Tom Trent], Lafe McKee [Trader John], J.P. Leckray (J.P. Lockney) [Father Ricardo], William Bert (William P. Burt) [Mooney], Gordon Russell (J. Gordon Russell) [a derelict], Robert Frazer [Dakka, the native chief], Ruth Davis [Poppy], Joe Bonomo [the gorilla]
Mascot Pictures Corporation production; distributed on State Rights basis by Mascot Pictures Corporation. / Produced by Nat Levine. Scenario by Wyndham Gittens and Harry Sinclair Drago. Assistant director, Bernard McEveety. Stunts by Joe Bonomo, Yakima Canutt and Mel Koontz. Photographed (cinematography) by Ernest Laszlo and Ray Ries. Music score by Lee Zahler. Presented by Nat Levine. / Ten chapters (two reels each): [1] “Into the Unknown,” released 9 August 1929 (three reels); [2] “Terrors of the Jungle,” released 16 August 1929; [3] “Temple of Beasts,” released 23 August 1929; [4] “Gorilla Warfare,” released 30 August 1929; [5] “Danger in the Dark,” released 6 September 1929; [6] “Man of Mystery,” released 13 September 1929; [7] “The Fatal Moment,” released 20 September 1929; [8] “Sentenced to Death,” released 27 September 1929; [9] “Desperate Choices,” released 4 October 1929; [10] “Jungle Justice,” released 11 October 1929. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. Unknown sound-on-disc synchronized sound system. / Silent film, with talking sequences, synchronized music and sound effects.
Drama: Action.
Survival status: Prints exist in the Library of Congress film archive [35mm nitrate camera negative [incomplete, with advanced nitrate decomposition], 35mm nitrate positives [21 reels (incomplete)], 16mm reduction negative, 16nn reduction positive]; in the UCLA Film and Television Archive film archive; in the Museum of Modern Art film archive [35mm positive (incomplete, approximately 1000 feet); and in private film collections [16mm reduction positives (feature version)]. Six of the soundtrack discs are presumed lost (chapter 1, reels 1 and 2; chapter 3, reels 1 and 2; chapter 7, reel 1; and chapter 9, reel 2).
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Serials - Synchronized sound film
Listing updated: 12 April 2025.
References: Film credits : Lahue-Continued pp. 272-273, 286 : ClasIm-223 p. C2 : Website-IMDb; Website-SerSq : with additional information provided by Eric Grayson.
Home video: Blu-ray Disc; DVD.
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