King of the Carnival

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King of the Carnival
Directed by Franklin Adreon
Produced by Franklin Adreon
Written by Ronald Davidson
Starring Harry Lauter
Fran Bennett
Keith Richards
Robert Shayne
Gregory Gay
Rick Vallin
Robert Clarke
Cinematography Bud Thackery
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release date(s) 27 June 1955
Running time 12 chapters (167 min)
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
Budget $172,995 (negative cost: $177,050)
IMDb profile

King of the Carnival (1955) is a Republic movie serial. It contains a substantial amount of stock footage from the earlier Republic serial Daredevils of the Red Circle. This was the last serial ever made by Republic and is often considered to be one of the worst produced by that company. The plot concerns Treasury Agents investigating a Cold War counterfeiting operation believed to be connected to a circus.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Treasury Agents Art Kerr and Jim Haynes are investigating a global counterfeiting operation believed to be linked to the circus. Acrobat Bert King agrees to help his old friend Art (they were both paratroopers in the war) in searching for the counterfeiters; his acrobatic partner "June Edwards" assists him actively. From the start of their involvement, they find themselves repeatedly threatened by two thugs, "Daley" and "Travis". Early evidence leads Bert and June to a cave which leads to an isolated beach, and contains gear belonging to the gang. They are unaware, however, that in a minisub of this beach's shoreline hides Zorn, the counterfeiter who is printing the phoney bills. Ultimately, however, the evidence points to an unknown, higher authority directing the operations of these men, and apparently indeed someone connected with the circus. Among the most suspicious-acting of the circus staff are Burton the clown, and any of three "rubes", at least one of whom seems to be lurking by when something threatens the life of Bert or June.

[edit] Principal players

Harry Lauter as Bert King, acrobat and former paratrooper
Fran Bennett as June Edwards, acrobat
Keith Richards as Daley, Henchman
Terry Frost as Travis, Henchman
Robert Shayne as Jess Carter, Circus ringmaster

[edit] Supporting players

Rick Vallin as Agent Art Kerr, a T-Man (Treasury Agent) and former paratrooper
Robert Clarke as Agent Jim Hayes, a T-Man (Treasury Agent)
Gregory Gay as Zorn, agent of a foreign power
{{Lee Roberts]] as Hank

[edit] Small role players

Mauritz Hugo as Sam, Sideshow barker and Henchman
Chris Mitchell as Bill
Stuart Whitman as Mac, Acrobat
Tom Steele as Matt Winston, Acrobat
George DeNormand as Garth

[edit] Chapter titles

  1. Daredevils of the Air (20 min)
  2. Death Takes the Wheel (13 min 20s)
  3. The Trap that Failed (13 min 20s)
  4. Operation Murder (13 min 20s)
  5. The Mechanical Bloodhound (13 min 20s)
  6. Undersea Peril (13 min 20s)
  7. High Hazard (13 min 20s)
  8. Death Alley (13 min 20s)
  9. Cave of Doom (13 min 20s)
  10. The Masked Executioner (13 min 20s) -- Re-Cap Chapter
  11. Undersea Warfare (13 min 20s)
  12. Vengeance Under the Big Top (13 min 20s)

[edit] Stunts & effects

Stunts by Tom Steele
Special effects by the Howard and Theodore Lydecker

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955)
Republic Serial
King of the Carnival (1955)
Succeeded by
none