'Darkest Africa' is a curious and somewhat very creative effort of Republic Pictures. This serial - one of the first in this nostalgic and tongue-in cheek forgotten genre - mixtures a bit of jungle adventure bringing up to memory movies like 'Tarzan' and and others serials as 'The Phantom' and 'Captain Africa' and fantasy movies, with the themes of lost cities, flying bat men and others stuffs, in a time when fantasy genre was still still in its birth time was prodFor a serial realized in 1936 the special effects are really quite good especially concerning the well done conception of the bat-men. The city of Joba is a great scenario realization. But the story is a bitrepetitive, especially concerning the 'cliffhangers' proposed; more than half of the critical situation dividing chapters have some some relation with attack of lions and tigers. But Mr. Beatty is at home with that! Anyway, for serials fans as I am 'Darkest Africa' is a good example of what was going on in the Saturday matinée in the thirties and forties. It's like to wrap up a very old curtain and see another time pass by your nostalgic eyes.

This was my favorite serial when I was a boy and one I especially wanted to see again. While it wasn't quite as great as I remembered it, I still enjoyed it the second time around. It's certainly a fast-moving and action-packed film and the special effects are remarkable considering the year it was made. I was amused at how often the same footage was reused in the film (particularly the bat men flying and the ape swinging through the trees) but that didn't really detract from the action and suspense.Not a whole lot is required of the actors. There's rarely much character development in action serials such as this, but Clyde Beatty is more than adequate in his role as the great white hunter attempting to help Baru (Manuel King) rescue his sister Valerie (Elaine Shepard) from a futuristic city deep in the jungle. The film seemed to have given a brief career spurt to Shepard, who went on to appear or co-star in several movies during the next few years. Beatty appeared in one other serial, The Lost Jungle, which also featured lions and tigers in the same jungle.I believe the "goof" about the tigers being in Africa in this film may have been the result of watching the edited, feature-length version. The presence of the tigers is explained in the opening chapters of the full-length version.

many of the indoor scenes featuring big cats were actually filmed in brownsville, texas, at the compound of well-known local animal trainer/collector "snake" king. manuel king was his son and this taste of stardom was his only movie outing. the film is available in an edited, feature version on vhs. manuel king is alive and well and lives in houston, texas. sadly, there is no trace of his father's animal compound to be seen today in brownsville.

This was the first serial released by the newly formed Republic Pictures.Photography and special effects are more polished than in previous Mascot efforts.Story lines and plot elements are good and the serial moves at a fast clip.Clyde Beatty is convincing as the hero,ably supported by a good supporting cast.The one dissapointing element[to me] is the lackluster music score.The flying scenes of the Batmen are very effective,and the futuristic city sets are impressive,considering when this serial was made[1936].Over all,a good first effort from Republic.