This is a wonderful rediscovery, 12 chapters = 4 hours running time of hilarious entertainment. "The Lost City" begins like a science fiction story when a mad scientist threatens the world from his secret laboratory, but when the hero travels to Africa to find that hiding place, it turns into a jungle adventure with lions, giant spiders and slave raiders. And the inevitable racism of the 1930s, but other reviewers have mentioned that before.
There is a remarkable assortment of villains, not just the ruler of the lost city, Zolok (William 'Stage' Boyd), but also the greedy Butterfield (Gabby Hayes, who is remembered for his westerns mostly), a scantily clad jungle queen who wants to kill the hero's girl, a hunchback with unhealthy ambitions and the clever but merciless leader of the slave raiders. All of them get Bruce Gordon (Kane Richmond) and Natcha (Claudia Dell) into a lot of cliffhanger situations almost impossible to survive. It will give you an idea on how bizarre the whole serial is when I tell you Natcha's father Dr Manyus was forced to develop a machine for Zolok that "enlarges" an average man into a 7 ft giant with a lot more muscles, but less brain than before, so the victims can be used as slaves. Don't let the manager of your local basketball team watch this, but don't hesitate to watch it yourself.
There is a remarkable assortment of villains, not just the ruler of the lost city, Zolok (William 'Stage' Boyd), but also the greedy Butterfield (Gabby Hayes, who is remembered for his westerns mostly), a scantily clad jungle queen who wants to kill the hero's girl, a hunchback with unhealthy ambitions and the clever but merciless leader of the slave raiders. All of them get Bruce Gordon (Kane Richmond) and Natcha (Claudia Dell) into a lot of cliffhanger situations almost impossible to survive. It will give you an idea on how bizarre the whole serial is when I tell you Natcha's father Dr Manyus was forced to develop a machine for Zolok that "enlarges" an average man into a 7 ft giant with a lot more muscles, but less brain than before, so the victims can be used as slaves. Don't let the manager of your local basketball team watch this, but don't hesitate to watch it yourself.