The King of the Kongo


The King of the Kongo is a Mascot film serial, and was the first serial to have sound, although only partial sound rather than the later "All-Talking" productions with complete sound. The first episode was a "three reeler" with the remaining nine episodes being "two reelers".

Plot

Independently, the two protagonists, Diana Martin and Secret Service agent Larry Trent are searching the jungle for missing relatives, her father and his brother. Tied up in this plot are ivory smugglers and a lost treasure hidden in the jungle.

Cast

The King of the Kongo was the first film serial to have any sound element. Larger serial-producing studios were reluctant to change away from silent production while smaller studios could not afford to do so. Legend has it that producer and studio-owner Nat Levine carried the sound discs in his lap from Los Angeles to New York City, by train and aeroplane, for them to be safely developed. For financial reasons, these discs could not have been repaired or replaced if anything had gone wrong. This was two years after the first Part-Talking film, The Jazz Singer, had been released and a year after the first "All-Talking" film, Lights of New York.
Despite an announcement that two versions of this serial would be released,, no evidence for a silent version ever being released exists. Some of the video bootlegs of the film are the sound version with the sound credits excised.
King of the Kongo is sometimes misreported as an alternate title for the 1931 serial King of the Wild, which also starred Boris Karloff.

Stunts

  1. Into the Unknown
  2. Terrors of the Jungle
  3. Temple of Beasts
  4. Gorilla Warfare
  5. Danger in the Dark
  6. The Fight at Lions Pitt
  7. The Fatal Moment
  8. Sentenced to Death
  9. Desperate Choices
  10. Jungle Justice

    Preservation status

Updated status as of 6/2014. The complete picture for this serial exists, but the sound does not. This is a current listing of the sound known to survive.
Chapter 1Into the Unknown
Chapter 2 • Terrors of the Jungle
Chapter 3 • Temple of Beasts
Chapter 4 • Gorilla Warfare
Chapter 5Danger in the Dark restoration was finished in 2013
Chapter 6 • The Fight at Lions Pit National Film Preservation Foundation project began Fall 2014
Chapter 7 • The Fatal Moment
Chapter 8Sentenced to Death
Chapter 9 • Desperate Choices
Chapter 10 • Jungle Justice
In 2011, collector/historian Eric Grayson, owner of a 16mm silent print, restored the sound to several scenes of the film, using discs from Ron Hutchinson's Vitaphone Project. These reels were Chap 5 r1, Chap 5 r2, and Chap 6 r2. The results of some of the talking scenes have been posted on YouTube.
In 2012, a Kickstarter successfully helped fund a restoration of Chapter 5. National Film Preservation Foundation grant is underway for Chapter 10. A grant for Chapter 6 was issued in June 2014.