King of the Wild is a 1931 American pre-CodeMascotmovie serial. The complete serial is available on DVD from Alpha Video.
A seven-reel feature version of the serial was later released in South America under the title Bimi.
Plot
Robert Grant, framed for a coup in the Indian country of Ranjapur, escapes from prison to Africa in search of the real villains. Here he meets Sheik Mustapha (Boris Karloff), who has evidence to clear him and the location of a secret diamond mine.
The stars of King of the Wild were originally intended to be Harry Carey and Edwina Booth, but filming on the MGM film Trader Horn (1931) went over-schedule, forcing Mascot to recast the serial with Walter Miller and Nora Lane instead.[1]
Also appearing in the serial was real-life explorer Albert DeWinton. He later went after explorer Percy Fawcett, who had disappeared in Brazil several years earlier. DeWinton also disappeared in the Amazon in early 1934 and was presumed dead.[2] Bimi, the Ape Man, was played by actor Victor McLaglen's brother Arthur, and Mischa Auer plays an escaped lunatic named Dakka.
King of the Wild is sometimes misreported as an alternate title for the serial King of the Kongo, which also co-starred Boris Karloff, but they are two different serials.[3]
