Secret Service in Darkest Africa
| Secret Service in Darkest Africa | |
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| Directed by | Spencer Gordon Bennet |
| Produced by | William J. O'Sullivan |
| Written by |
Royal Cole Ronald Davidson Basil Dickey Jesse Duffy Joseph O'Donnell Joseph Poland |
| Starring |
Rod Cameron Joan Marsh Duncan Renaldo Lionel Royce Kurt Kreuger Frederic Brunn |
| Music by | Mort Glickman |
| Cinematography | William Bradford |
| Edited by |
Wallace Grissell Tom Malloy |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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15 chapters (243 minutes) (serial) 100 minutes (TV) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $174,536 (negative cost: $210,033) |
Secret Service in Darkest Africa is a 1943 Republic movie serial. It was Republic's thirtieth serial, of the sixty-six produced by the studio.
It was a sequel to G-Men vs the Black Dragon released earlier in 1943, again starring Rod Cameron as American secret agent Rex Bennett. This time Bennet faces the Nazis rather than the Japanese. As with the earlier installment, Bennet is supported by characters from some of the allied nations in World War II.
The serial is also known by the titles Manhunt in the African Jungles, changed when it was re-released in 1954, and The Baron's African War, when it was edited into a 100-minute film for television in 1966.
In an attempt to control the entire Middle East and defeat the Allies, Nazi agent Baron von Rommler (Lionel Royce) captures and impersonates Sultan Abou Ben Ali (also Lionel Royce), leader of all the Arabs. Opposed to him is Secret Service Agent Rex Bennett (Rod Cameron), along with British reporter Janet Blake (Joan Marsh) and Chief of Police Captain Pierre LaSalle (Duncan Renaldo).
Filming on Secret Service in Darkest Africa took place between 12 April and 27 May 1943. The production budget was $174,536 but the negative cost rose to $210,033 ($35,497, or 20.3%, overbudget compared to a studio average of $8,199, or 5.7%, over all its serial production). Not only did this make the serial the most expensive of 1943 it was also the third most expensive and third most over budget of all the sixty-six serials Republic produced. The only serials that were more expensive were The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939, $213,997) and Captain America (1944, $222,906). While Captain America was also the most overbudget (by $40,283 or 22.1%), the second most overbudget Republic serial was another 1944 serial, Haunted Harbor (by $37,757 or 22.2%).
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