Panther Girl of the Kongo
| Panther Girl of the Kongo | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Franklin Adreon |
| Produced by | Franklin Adreon |
| Written by | Ronald Davidson |
| Starring |
Phyllis Coates Myron Healey Arthur Space John Daheim Mike Ragan Morris Buchanan Roy Glenn |
| Cinematography | Bud Thackery |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
12 chapters (167 minutes (serial) 100 minutes (TV) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $172,793 (negative cost: $179,341) |
Panther Girl of the Kongo is a 1955 Republic movie serial. It used a lot of from the 1941 Republic serial Jungle Girl. This was the penultimate (sixty-fifth of sixty-six) serial produced by Republic.
Panther Girl of the Kongo mixes several stock serial plots including the "land grab", exotic location, and mad scientist.
Mad Scientist Morgan wants sole access to secret diamond mines in the local area of Africa. In order to accomplish this he breeds giant crayfish ("Claw Monsters") to scare away any other inhabitants. Jean Evans, the Panther Girl, and friend Larry Sanders encounter this plot while on a photo safari in the region.
Panther Girl of the Kongo was budgeted at $172,793 although the final negative cost was $179,341 (a $6,548, or 3.8%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1955.
It was filmed between 16 August and 4 September 1954 under the working title Panther Woman of the Kongo. The serial's production number was 1939.
In order to make it possible to use significant from the earlier Jungle Girl, and cheaply pad out Panther Girl of the Kongo, a duplicate costume was used. As a result, Republic's last female lead wore the same costume as its first.
Special effects created by the Lydecker brothers.
Panther Girl of the Kongo's official release date is January 3, 1955, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.
This was followed by a re-release of Jesse James Rides Again instead of a new serial. The last new serial, King of the Carnival, followed in the summer.
Panther Girl of the Kongo was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to The Claw Monsters. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.
Cline believes that the greatest problem that faced the writers was how to lead the heroine from one piece of stock footage to the next.
...
Wikipedia