Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Overlooked Films: Adventures of (ALMOST the Phantom) Captain Africa


Last week I yakked about the 1943 Columbia serial The Phantom starring Tom Tyler. That’s HERE.

Well, recently Mr. Richard Prosch (who hangs out on Meridian Bridge) tipped me to the fact that Columbia was in the process of filming a sequel, with part-time Lone Ranger John Hart in the title role. But things went sour when the studio lost the rights to the character. Their solution was to create a pseudo-Phantom called Captain Africa.

I haven't seen this serial, but based on what I see in these lobby cards, the studio didn’t change much. Hart’s mask looks identical to Tom Tyler’s. Instead of a cloth hood he has a leather aviator’s cap. And instead of the Phantom’s gray long johns, he wears a turtleneck and riding britches. Though he’s now a government agent instead of a jungle god, he still appears to be worshipped by the natives. And the natives, as in the first serial, are white. And though I haven’t seen a lobby card with Devil (or a reasonable facsimile) on it, one of the later chapters is titled “Captain Africa and the Wolf Dog!”

So, now that I know that Adventures of Captain Africa (1955), was ALMOST another Phantom serial, it’s on my to-be-seen list. 

BILL CRIDER TAKE NOTE! Chapter 4 is titled "Into the Crocodile Pit!"

More Overlooked Films at SWEET FREEDOM.

Here's a pic of Hart in the Phantom suit, before the franchisee pulled the plug.













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9 comments:

  1. Deka BlackAugust 7, 2012 at 1:51 AM

    The first card with the Ph... i mean, Captain Africa choking the gorilla is proceless!

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  2. Charles GramlichAugust 7, 2012 at 7:49 AM

    Captain AFrica and the white natives. Lol.

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  3. Richard MooreAugust 7, 2012 at 9:29 AM

    I need to order the DVD on this one as Bud Osborne has a substantial role. Bud was married to my Great Aunt June when this was filmed. Have to say Uncle Bud looks good in the jungle explorer garb.

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  4. Scott CuppAugust 7, 2012 at 9:35 AM

    Did not know this one existed. I really enjoyed THE PHANTOM serial so this will be a must see. Thanks

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  5. Richard MooreAugust 7, 2012 at 9:43 AM

    I need to order the DVD on this one as Bud Osborne has a substantial role. Bud was married to my Great Aunt June when this was filmed. Have to say Uncle Bud looks good in the jungle explorer garb.

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  6. shonokinAugust 7, 2012 at 10:19 AM

    Sometimes a franchise change during production can be a good thing. For instance MYSTERIOUS DR. SATAN was going to be a Superman serial but Republic was unable to get the license for Supes by then so they changed the hero into The Copperhead. I think The Copperhead and how the whole serial turned out is far better than a normal Superman serial. (Though after what they did with Capt Marvel it would have been neat to see what the Lydeckers could do with making Superman fly.)
    Suffice to say, I think Capt Africa did not fair so well.

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  7. AnonymousAugust 7, 2012 at 6:04 PM

    A lot of serials in the 1950's had low budgets and used a lot of stock footage. Since the big action scenes were the same as in the older movies, the plots had to be basically the same, too, so the later serials were really unofficial remakes. "Captain Africa" ended up as a remake of the Phantom. "The Man with the Steel Whip" was cobbled together from Republic's Zorro serials, and the Commando Cody serials used a lot of scenes from "King of the Rocketmen" and other serials.

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  8. AnonymousAugust 7, 2012 at 6:07 PM

    According to an essay by Chris Steinbrunner in the book "All in Color for a Dime," Republic tried to make a deal with DC to do a Superman movie serial, but the deal fell through. So Republic made a deal with Fawcett, and produced a Captain Marvel serial.

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  9. MatthewSeptember 3, 2012 at 9:35 AM

    They re-used Gilbert Roland's costume from "The Desert Hawk" ,A 1944 serial, also.
    The chapter title"Tunnel of Terror" was used lots of times in serials "Zorro Rides Again"', the Batman serial and others all had chapters with that name.

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