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Panther Girl of the Kongo starring Phyllis Coats was the most expensive serial Republic Pictures produced in the 1950s. A great deal of footage used to make this film had been originally shot in 1941 for the movie Jungle Girl. Frances Gifford, the star in Jungle Girl, was the first female lead in a Republic serial, and Phyllis Coats was the last female lead in a Republic serial. In fact, Phyllis Coats wore the same outfit in Panther Girl that Frances Gifford wore in Jungle Girl.

The plot of Jungle Girl was simple.

Dr. John Meredith, ashamed of the crime spree of his evil twin brother, Bradley, travels with his daughter, Nyoka, to Africa. There his skills as a doctor displace Shamba, the resident witch doctor of the Masamba. Years later, Slick Latimer and Bradley Meredith arrive looking for a local diamond mine and team up with the disgruntled Shamba. Bradley kills his brother John and takes his place. They also bring along Jack Stanton and Curly Rogers, who promptly joins Nyoka in trying to stop the villains.

Jungle Girl was the first sound serial to have a female lead.

The director of Jungle Girl was studio favorite William Witney. From 1935 to 1956, Witney practiced the philosophy Herbert Yates, head of Republic Pictures, taught which was “make ‘em fast and make ‘em cheap.” Witney was a specialist in outdoor action and stunt direction. He directed or co-directed more Republic serials than any other company hire. He is considered the greatest action director in B movies.

Among Witney’s fans are directors Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino gave Witney high praise for his rough and believable action scenes and visual style. Witney’s Republic serials served as the inspiration for Spielberg’s Indiana Jones movies.

To learn more about William Witney and Jungle Girl read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classic: The Story of Republic Pictures

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Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures

Republic Pictures made a number of ridiculous horror films. The Catman of Paris was the studio’s version of the successful motion picture Werewolves in London

In April 1946, thrill seekers were looking forward to the release of The Catman of Paris. The gruesome mystery melodrama involved a man suffering from a loss of memory who was accused of being a feline filler operating in Paris.

The tagline read: “Walks like  man. Attacks like a cat. Who is the Catman of Paris.” The plot involved author Charles Regnier returning to 1896 Paris after exotic travels, having written a best seller that the Ministry of Justice would like to ban. That very night, an official is killed on the dark streets…clawed to death! The prefect of police suspects a type of cat, but Inspector Severen thinks there is nothing supernatural about the crime and thinks Regnier is responsible for the murder. Regnier denies he had anything to do with the crime but begins to doubt himself when he has a hallucinatory blackout during a second killing.

Vienna-born stage actor Carl Esmond played the troubled author Regnier. Lenore Aubert, the female lead in the movie, was also from Vienna. The press packet Republic Pictures circulated to theaters and media across the country contained plenty of information about the film as well as background information about the picture’s stars. Aubert’s story of how she made it from Vienna to Hollywood could have been a movie on its own.

To learn more about cliffhanger horror films made by Republic Pictures read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures.

On behalf of Women Writing the West, congratulations on your book The Widowed Ones: Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn being selected as a 2023 WINNER in the WILLA Literary Awards Scholarly Nonfiction category. We are pleased to honor you and your work with this prestigious award.

I’m humbled and honored.

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Cowboys, Creatures, and Classic: The Story of Republic Pictures

Drums of Fu Manchu premiered in the spring of 1940.  The creepy chapter play featured a race of bald-headed, fanged slaves known as “Dacoits” who had been lobotomized into doing the bidding of the immortal and insidious Doctor Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu hopes to conquer Asia and subsequently the world but needs specific artifacts from the tomb of Genghis Khan to achieve his goal.

In Los Angeles, California, he convenes a meeting of the S-Far, an international conspiracy group that helps him draw up his plans. When archeologist Dr. James Parker is killed so Fu Manchu can obtain rare scrolls in his possession, his son Allan joins forces with Sir Denis Nayland Smith of the British Foreign Office to avenge his father’s death.

The sixteen frightful-looking “Dacoits” who contributed many of the thrills to Drums of Fu Manchu were a product of the makeup artists Bob Mark’s wizardry. The normal-looking people became grotesque monsters in Mark’s hands.

Rubber caps entirely covered  their hair, giving them the impression of baldness. These caps, which could be worn only once, were specially manufactured at the cost of five dollars each. They were fitted tightly over the “Dacoit’s” heads, and heavy, theatrical grease paint was applied over them. The scars, which represented the incisions where Dr. Fu Manchu had removed the frontal lobes of their brain, were made of a special rubber composition and were held in place by rubber cement. The makeup of Fu Manchu himself, an elaboration of the “Dacoit’s” makeup, took exactly 2.5 hours each day to apply.

The fifteen-part Fu Manchu series was directed by William Witney. He considered Fu Manchu to be his finest work.

To learn more about the Drums of Fu Manchu read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures.

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Daredevils of the Red Circle was a twelve-part serial that included a cape-wearing villain. The suspenseful, spin-tingling, mystery film told the tale of diabolical mastermind Harry Crowel, a.k.a. Prisoner 39013. Crowel escapes from prison and, aided by a seemingly endless supply of henchmen, sets out to destroy all holdings of industrialist Horace Granville, the man who put in him prison. One target is an amusement park, home of three Daredevils of the Red Circle who perform death-defying stunts.

When head Daredevil Gene’s kid brother is killed in Crowel’s attack, the three heroes swear to capture Prisoner 39013. Unbeknownst to them, he is holding the real Granville captive and, with a near perfect disguise, has taken his place. A mysterious cloaked figure known as the Red Circle aids the daredevil in their crusade.

Shot in five weeks on a budget of $1,500 an episode, Daredevils of the Red Circle, directed by William Witney, who was one of Republic Picture’ best directors, consistently appears on lists of all-time greatest serials. Audiences referred to the serial as the “greatest thrill show on earth!”

To learn more about Daredevils of the Red Circle and other exciting cliffhanger serials read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures

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Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures

Moviegoers throughout the 1930s and 1940s enjoyed film adventures, from heroes on exotic animals to those in spacecrafts. Such was the case with The Purple Monster Strikes, the original Republic Martian invader serial.

The Purple Monster was actually not a monster at all, nor was he purple. The villainous character was in reality a Caucasian, Martian space soldier. He was part of the advance guard preparing a vast invasion of earth, dressed in a blue, tight-fitting outfit, trimmed with scaly gold metallic material, and wearing a matching gilded hood. Among the Purple Monster’s alien abilities was the power to become a transparent phantom and enter the body of another, controlling his actions, thereby donning the ultimate disguise.

The Purple Monster Strikes was the first post-war serial of 1945. Republic was prohibited from using the term “rocket ship” when referring to the spacecraft the Purple Monster used in the film. Universal Studio had a copyright on the word which was used quite extensively in their serial Flash Gordon.

To learn more about the Purple Monster and other fascinating serials produced by Republic Pictures read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures.

Tune in tomorrow for another exciting tale about the

ghouls, freaks of nature, and the walking dead made famous by Republic Pictures.