King of the Carnival is a Republicmovie serial. It contains a substantial amount of stock footage from the earlier Republic serial Daredevils of the Red Circle. This was the 66th and last serial ever made by Republic and is often considered to be one of the worst produced by that company. The plot concerns Treasury Agents investigating a Cold War counterfeiting operation believed to be connected to a circus.
Plot
Agents Art Kerr and Jim Haynes are investigating a global counterfeiting operation believed to be linked to the circus. AcrobatBert King agrees to help his old friend Art in searching for the counterfeiters; his acrobatic partner "June Edwards" assists him actively. From the start of their involvement, they find themselves repeatedly threatened by two thugs, "Daley" and "Travis". Early evidence leads Bert and June to a cave which leads to an isolated beach, and contains gear belonging to the gang. They are unaware, however, that in a minisub off this beach's shoreline hides Zorn, the counterfeiter who is printing the phoney bills. Ultimately, however, the evidence points to an unknown, higher authority directing the operations of these men, and apparently indeed someone connected with the circus. Among the most suspicious-acting of the circus staff are Burton the clown, and any of three "rubes", at least one of whom seems to be lurking by when something threatens the life of Bert or June.
King of the Carnival was budgeted at $172,995 although the final negative cost was $177,050. It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1955. It was filmed between 8 March and 25 March 1955 under the working titleKing of the Circus. At seventeen days this is the joint-shortest, with Zombies of the Stratosphere, filming period of all Republic serials. The serial's production number was 1800. Republic liked calling their heroes "King" in order to use the title "King of..." The studio had found success with this naming scheme following the adaptation of Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted.
Stunts
Tom Steele. Whereas Republic serials traditionally employed a small army of stuntmen, Steele was the only stuntman required for "King of the Carnival."
King of the Carnival's official release date is 27 June 1955, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. This was the last new serial released by Republic. However the studio continued with a release schedule of re-released serials until 1958, beginning with a re-release of Dick Tracy's G-Men and ending with Zorro's Fighting Legion.
