Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Serial Posters-8


Serial Posters-8, originally uploaded by bucklesw1.

4 comments:

Eric said...

Although logical was never a prerequisite for scripting a serial, the writers apparently knew that tigers were not native to Africa and used it as a plot device: when news reaches Clyde that tigers have been seen in the jungle, he organizes a safari in Chapter I to go and investigate. It turns out that the tiger (only one is seen) is kept in a pit by a tribe of tiger worshipers. (Although it is never explained where they got their tiger from, they might very well have bought it from Frank Buck!)

Ole Whitey said...

There was a trainer on the west coast who had a wrestling tiger that they wanted to use in a picture and this one came up.

I remember that the tiger was named Bobby but I'm not sure at this late date who the trainer was. Possibly Roth?

A little help here?

Eric said...

In his book JUNGLE PERFORMERS, Beatty talks about Bobby the wrestling tiger, who was indeed owned by Louis Roth. During the filming of DARKEST AFRICA, he wrestles with Bobby during the cliffhanger ending of Chapter 2. As related by Beatty, he made the mistake of not wrestling with Bobby until the cameras were actually rolling. Things soon got out of hand and it was by sheer luck that he was not seriously injured. (Not realizing what had almost happened, the director wanted to Beatty to go back and wrestle Bobby again for a second take!) On August 4, 2009, Buckles posted some frame enlargements from DARKEST AFRICA showing Beatty wrestling with Bobby.

Roger Smith said...

Just as I was about to reach for my (ahem) signed First Edition of JUNGLE PERFORMERS to answer Whitey, I see Eric beat me to it.

Director B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason, who helmed DARKEST AFRICA, in the hardscrabble days of early stunt work, was notorious for disregarding exceptional risk in the interests of realism. Truth be told, his relentless demands resulted in life-threatening injuries to both animal and human actors, before the effective stunt disciplines developed by Yakima Canutt.

Leave us not forget Beatty's co-star was Manuel King as Baru the jungle boy. He was broken in by Beatty's 2nd mentor, Chubby Guilfoyle, and claimed the title of World's Youngest Wild Animal Trainer.