The Adventures of Captain Africa

Infobox Film
name = The Adventures of Captain Africa


image_size =
caption = Original poster for the first chapter of this serial
director = Spencer Gordon Bennet
producer = Sam Katzman
writer = George H. Plympton
narrator =
starring = John Hart
Rick Vallin
Ben Welden
June Howard
Bud Osborne
Paul Marion
music = Mischa Bakaleinikoff
cinematography = Ira H. Morgan
editing = Earl Turner
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = Flagicon|USA 9 June 1955
runtime = 15 chapters
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by = The Phantom (1943) " original intent"
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:148348
imdb_id = 0047802

"The Adventures of Captain Africa" (1955) is a Columbia serial starring John Hart. It was the third to last serial to be produced by Columbia.

Plot

Trapper Nat Coleman and government agent Ted Arnold come upon a plot to take over an African nation. Its leader, Caliph Abdul el Hamid, has been exiled from his country and replaced by a look-alike usurper allied with an unnamed foreign power. The Caliph intends to return but enemy agents Boris and Greg are out to stop him. Captain Africa a masked jungle lord, appears occasionally to aid Nat and Ted.

The main villain does not actually make an appearance anywhere in the entire serial.

Cast

*John Hart as Captain Africa, masked government agent
*Rick Vallin as Ted Arnold, government agent (and principal hero of the serial despite the title)
*Ben Welden as Omar, the Caliph's servant and Nat Coleman's assistant (since rescuing him in the jungle)
*June Howard as Princess Rhoda, the Caliph's daughter
*Bud Osborne as Nat Coleman, an animal trapper involved in the plot through his assistant Omar
*Paul Marion as Abdul el Hamid, exiled but legitimate Caliph
*Lee Roberts as Boris, agent of a foreign power attempting to take over the Caliph's nation
*Terry Frost as Greg, agent of a foreign power attempting to take over the Caliph's nation
*Edward Coch as Balu, native ally of Captain Africa
*Michael Fox as Prime Minister

Production

It was conceived and filmed as a sequel to "The Phantom" (starring Tom Tyler). [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/148348/Adventures-of-Captain-Africa/overview Review at "New York Times"] ] [ [http://www.bossescomics.com/fantomen.htm Photos of Hart as Phantom: click "På Film"] ] Well into production, Columbia found that its film rights to the comic strip had expired. King Features wanted more money than Katzman was willing to spend and negotiations broke down.cite book
last = Harmon
first = Jim
coauthors= Donald F. Glut
authorlink = Jim Harmon
title = The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury
origyear = 1973
publisher = Routledge
isbn = 9780713000979
pages = pp. 270-271
chapter = 10. The Long-Underwear Boys "You've Met Me, Now Meet My Fist!" ]

Hurried retakes and major re-editing followed, with John Hart now wearing an amended costume that only used "part" of the original Phantom outfit, with the addition of a leather aviator's cap and riding britches.

The new story featured a new hero, Captain Africa, who still bears a strong resemblance to the "The Phantom" in both appearance and behavior.

The serial features heavy use of stock footage from earlier serials "Jungle Menace" (1937), "The Desert Hawk" (1944) and "The Phantom" (1943) itself. Footage from "The Phantom" was reduced when this stopped being a sequel. Only a few minutes of new material were included per chapter.

The serial was produced by legendary Hollywood cheapskate Sam Katzman. Serial producers often economized by including a "cheater" chapter, in which flashbacks to earlier chapters are shown instead of new scenes. "The Adventures of Captain Africa" audaciously uses "four" cheaters within its 15-chapter length. The frequent recaps were possibly necessitated by the hasty rewrites during production.

Adventures of Captain Africa was Columbia's last Jungle serial.cite book
last = Cline
first = William C.
title = In the Nick of Time
origyear = 1984
publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
isbn = 078640471X
pages = pp. 36
chapter = 3. The Six Faces of Adventure ]

Release

Home media

The serial is today available on VHS, but has so far not experienced a DVD release.

Critical reception

Cline writes that The Adventures of Captain Africa is "an obvious remake of The Phantom, it contained many stock shots from the earlier release and at times seemed almost like a repeat run."

Chapter titles

#Mystery Man of the Jungle!
#Captain Africa to the Rescue!
#Midnight Attack!
#Into the Crocodile Pit!
#Jungle War Drums!
#Slave Traders!
#Saved by Captain Africa!
#The Bridge in the Sky! -- Re-Cap Chapter
#Blasted by Captain Africa! -- Re-Cap Chapter
#The Vanishing Princess!
#The Tunnel of Terror! -- Re-Cap Chapter
#Fangs of the Beast!
#Renegades at Bay! -- Re-Cap Chapter
#Captain Africa and the Wolf Dog!
#Captain Africa's Final Move!_Source: [cite book
last = Cline
first = William C.
title = In the Nick of Time
origyear = 1984
publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
isbn = 078640471X
pages = pp. 257
chapter = Filmography ]

See also

*List of film serials
*List of film serials by studio
*The Phantom

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0047802|title=The Adventures of Captain Africa

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Columbia Serial
before=Riding with Buffalo Bill (1954)
years=The Adventures of Captain Africa (1955)
after=Perils of the Wilderness (1956)