I don’t think there has ever been a serial as talked about in the fan community as this one. Some feel it is one of the best made serials of the thirties and shouldn’t be maligned for it’s attitudes toward minorities, which were no worse than other films from the era. Personally I think that is a crock. Is it well made? Yes. Are the racist attitudes in line with other films from the time? Yes and no. While other jungle films have held racist attitudes toward minorities, they are not even close to what goes on in this serial. The Lost City (1935) is more in line with Birth of a Nation (1915) than Trader Horn (1931), a technically excellently made film that has an embarrassingly insulting racist attitude throughout, which I will get into later on.
The serial opens with the planet being buffeted by terrific electrical storms. Electrical engineer Bruce Gordon (Kane Richmond) invents a machine to trace the source of the disturbances. His theories are scoffed at by scientists Reynolds (Ralph Lewis) and Colton (William Millman). Their derision is short lived when Bruce traces the cause to a remote area in Africa. Representatives from different nations immediately back Bruce in an expedition to try and find out what is causing the storms and put an end to it. Bruce and his buddy Jerry (Eddie Fetherstone) plan to leave right away. Reynolds and Colton join the group in the hopes of finding a way to cash in on Bruce’s discovery.
The trail leads to an isolated trading post run by Butterfield (George “Gabby” Hayes). Bruce sets up his machine and learns that the source of the disturbance is coming from a place called Magnetic Mountain. Butterfield immediately warns the group not to go to Magnetic Mountain. Suddenly trader Andrews (Milburn Moranti) stumbles in saying his carriers were attacked at Magnetic Mountain by giants. Bruce decides to continue on anyway and his expedition heads out.
Underneath Magnetic Mountain are the remains of an ancient scientifically advanced city. Zolok (William “Stage” Boyd) is the last of the city’s original inhabitants. He rules over a slave population made up of mutated natives he grabs from passing safaris and turns the captured natives into mindless giants who obey his every command. Helping him in this is the handsome Appolyn (Jerry Frank) and the hunchback albino pygmy Gorzo (William Bletcher).
Zolok also has captured scientist Manyus (Joseph Swickard) and his daughter Natcha (Claudia Dell). Manyus does Zolok’s bidding in return for Zolok not harming his daughter. It is his scientific knowledge that Zolock uses to create his giants and the inventions that are causing the storms as part of Zolok’s scheme to take over the planet.
When Bruce turned on his machine in Butterfield’s, it caused an interference with Zolok’s machines. Zolock traces the disturbance to Bruce, and using an advanced form of television, sees them coming toward the mountain. Dispatching Gorzo and his head slave Hugo (Sam Baker) to take care of the expedition, Zolok also forces Natcha to scream into a microphone.
Bruce and Jerry hear the scream come from a small hut (infamous line “That sounds like a white woman!”). Investigating the hut, Bruce and Jerry are dropped through a trap door into a dark pit. Colton and Reynolds are grabbed by Hugo while Gorzo laughs maniacally….
While the serial is pushed as a sci-fi extravaganza, the sci-fi is only utilized in the first few chapters and in the climax. After Bruce and Jerry fall into the Lost City they spend a couple of chapters seeing all the scientific wonders then they escape with Natcha in pursuit of Reynolds and Colotn who have abducted her father. From that point Butterfield becomes the main villain, wanting to grab Manyus for his own schemes while Natacha becomes the amorous target of slave trader Ben Ali (Gino Corrado) and Bruce has inadvertently caught the eye of rival slave trader Queen Rama (Margot D’Use), Reynolds and Colton are quickly dispatched with at this point. While this is going on, Appolyn follows behind watching for his chance to grab them and reporting back to Zolok who waits impatiently in front of his TV for the man to get the job done. After all of the minor villains have been taken care of, and Butterfield and Gorzo both have a change of heart to become good guys, everyone ends up back in the Lost City toward the end of Chapter Eleven to set up the big explosive climax.
The plot is a bit disjointed, with the jungle story working a little better than the sci-fi part. Perhaps if the writers had kept most of the action in the city with only occasional forays outside (like Phantom Empire) it might have worked better. As it is, with only three and a half chapters taking place in the city, there isn’t enough time to really get enjoy all the gadgets that get bandied about, except for the ray gun Appolyn uses a few times in the jungle before it is destroyed.
The acting is all pretty good. Kane Richmond gives an assured performance full of that laid back charm he always exuded so effortlessly. Fetherstone makes a good sidekick. He is dependable in a fight, shows some real smarts in rescuing the hero and, as he would do in his Horne serials at Columbia, shows that great comic timing of his with a wisecrack for every occasion.
Boyd plays his part like a Warner’s gangster, barking out lines in a rat-a-tat style more associated with Edward G. Robinson than Bela Lugosi. Supposedly he was drunk during most of the shoot, but it isn’t evident until his final scenes where he stumbles around the set and seems to be trying to remember what he is supposed to be doing.
Hayes is excellent as the scheming Butterfield. He exhibits ruthless cunning mixed with a sleazy charm as he tries to kill the heroes and play the two slave traders against each other so he can have Manyus’ knowledge for himself. Later when he is rescued from certain death and changes sides, comes one of the campiest exchanges of dialog ever. Hayes says, “I’ve been a terrible rotter,” and Richmond replies, “That’s all right old man,” and then they shake hands.
William Bletcher steals the serial as the conflicted Gorzo. He wants to be loyal to Zolok because he has been promised that his disfigurement will be corrected. He helps Natacha escape because he is in love with her, which causes him to hate Bruce since she is obviously attracted to him. And at times he voices thoughts of taking over control of the city for himself. When he finds out he has been lied to and there is no cure for his disfigurement it is almost heartbreaking.
Swickard is a little too hammy as the long suffering Manyus, constantly moaning about how his inventions are being misused, “Oh woe is me”. Dell gives an amateurish performance, but it isn’t as bad as some books report.
Well I’ve put it off as long as I can. Time to discuss the really bad. The main part that gives this serial it’s deserved reputation is in it’s treatment of natives. After several shocking scenes in the first chapter detailing the way they are turned into mindless slaves, along comes Chapter Six where a tribe of disfigured albino pygmies is discovered. Turns out they were all natives who wanted to become white and so Manyus came up with a chemical that does it, causing them to be disfigured and shrink as a result.
Think about that statement for a minute. Let that sentence sink in. Has there ever been a more insulting concept? While most thirties films try to promote the concept that all natives really want is a white man to tell them what to do, this one pushes the theory that all natives want really just want to be white, and are willing to let themselves be disfigured to achieve it. And that, more than anything else, is why this serial is the biggest turkey in the genre.
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