New to View: King of the Kongo

A well-done restoration of the first part-talkie serial from 1929 featuring Boris Karloff in an important supporting role. Read all about it in New to View at ReelBob.

King of the Kongo (Blu-ray + DVD)
Details: 1929, Dr. Film‑Mascot Pictures
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: For movie buffs and film collectors nothing is more exciting than the discovery and/or restoration of what was once considered a “lost” or incomplete movie.
That is the case with “King of the Kongo,” a 10-chapter Mascot serial that was the first chapterplay to have sound. The movie contains at least one dialogue sequence in each chapter with the rest of the film utilizing intertitles and a musical score.
The work to restore the serial, which features Boris Karloff in a major supporting role, was a decade‑plus long passion project of film collector‑historian Eric Grayson. His dedication is evident throughout the entire movie.

When possible Grayson, known as Dr. Film, used 35mm footage and some 16mm inserts as well as surviving shellac discs to create the most complete version of the serial to date.
And when a disc could not be used, Grayson recruited fellow film enthusiasts to dub dialogue in the serial’s sound portions. But you also hear Karloff speak — two years before his classic performance as the inarticulate creature in “Frankenstein.”
As Grayson explains, the shellac discs containing the soundtrack were found in four private collections. In total, he recovered 15 of the 21 discs — a major accomplishment for a 95-year‑old movie.
As in most early uses of sound, the dialogue sequences are static with actors most standing in one spot so the microphone can pick up their lines.
The movie’s leads are Walter Miller as Secret Service agent Larry Trent, Jacqueline Logan as Diana Martin, a young woman raised in Africa and searching for her missing father. Besides Karloff, the cast also includes Larry Steers, Harry Todd, perennial old-timer Lafe McKee, Richard Tucker and stuntman-actor Joe Bonomo, donning a gorilla suit to portray a rather intelligent simian.
This is a movie that not only serial fans, but movie collectors in general will welcome. It also is a tribute to an individual’s dedication to a cinematic mission that has resulted in an entertaining experience he is sharing with the world.
The set features the serial on both Blu‑ray and DVD discs. It also includes two commentary tracks — a historic one featuring film historian‑author Ed Hulse, Karloff’s daughter,, Sara, and Kelly Robinson and a restoration one with Grayson, Bruce Lee, Greg Dunn, Thad Komorowski and Glory‑June Greiff.
“The King of the Kongo” can be ordered at www.drfilm.net.