Watch Darkest Africa For Free

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Awesome Movie

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

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.

'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 prodFor 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 bitrepetitive, 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.

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.

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.