Perils of Nyoka

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Perils of Nyoka
Perilsofnyoka.JPG
Theatrical release poster for Chapter 6 of the serial
Directed by William Witney
Written by Ronald Davidson
Norman S. Hall
William Liveley
Joseph O'Donnell
Joseph F. Poland
Edgar Rice Burroughs (character)
Produced byWilliam J. O'Sullivan
Starring Kay Aldridge
Clayton Moore
Lorna Gray
Charles Middleton
William Benedict
Forbes Murray
George Pembroke
Cinematography Reggie Lanning
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release dates
  • June 27, 1942 (1942-06-27)(U.S. serial) [1]
  • April 2, 1952 (1952-04-02)(U.S. re-release) [1]
Running time
15 chapters (261 minutes) (serial) [1]
100 minutes (TV) [1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$169,296 (negative cost: $175,010) [1]

Perils of Nyoka is a 1942 Republic serial directed by William Witney. It stars Kay Aldridge as Nyoka the Jungle Girl, a character who first appeared in the Edgar Rice Burroughs-inspired serial Jungle Girl .

Contents

Plot

Nyoka, with help from Larry Grayson, attempts to discover the golden tablets of Hippocrates. The tablets contain the medical knowledge of the ancients and are being buried along with gold and other treasure. Also hunting for the tablets are Queen Vultura (Ruler of the Arabs) and Cassib.

Cast

Main cast

Supporting cast

Production

Perils of Nyoka was budgeted at $169,296 although the final negative cost was $175,010 (a $5,714, or 3.4%, overspend), making it the most expensive Republic serial of 1942. [1] It was filmed between March 20 and May 2, 1942, [1] with the outdoor action sequences shot primarily at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, California. [1]

The success of the original serial Jungle Girl prompted the sequel, but the studio did not want to pay licensing fees to Burroughs again, so it avoided any repetition of the term Jungle Girl, for which he owned the rights. Nyoka, the name of the main character in the first film, was instead placed in the title of the sequel, as that name was an original creation of Republic's writers, not of Burroughs. [5] The word "jungle" was avoided in the film, with the setting described as an African "desert", though the area shown was not nearly as arid as is the Sahara.

Release

Theatrical

Perils of Nyoka's official release date was June 27, 1942, but that is actually the date upon which the seventh chapter was made available to film exchanges. [1] The serial was re-released on April 2, 1952 under the new title Nyoka and the Tigermen, [6] between the first runs of Radar Men from the Moon and Zombies of the Stratosphere . [1]

Television

Perils of Nyoka was one of 26 Republic serials rereleased for television in 1966 under the Century 66 label. The title of the film was changed to Nyoka and the Lost Secrets of Hippocrates. This version was trimmed to 100 minutes in length. [1]

Reception

Jim Harmon and Donald F. Glut have written that Perils of Nyoka was probably the best jungle-type serial ever made and that it "lavished in increased production values". [5] Cline noted that Perils of Nyoka stood out in the memories of the original serial audiences, despite the strong competition of 1942. [2]

Chapter titles

  1. Desert Intrigue (26:50)
  2. Death's Chariot (17:09)
  3. Devil's Crucible (16:52)
  4. Ascending Doom (16:48)
  5. Fatal Second (16:49)
  6. Human Sacrifice (16:41)
  7. Monster's Clutch (16:47)
  8. Tuareg Vengeance (16:44)
  9. Buried Alive (16:41)
  10. Treacherous Trail (16:51)
  11. Unknown Peril (16:40)
  12. Underground Tornado (16:39)
  13. Thundering Death (16:43)
  14. Blazing Barrier (16:38)
  15. Satan's Fury (16:33)

Source: [1] [7]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Mathis, Jack (1995). Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 62–63. ISBN   0-9632878-1-8.
  2. 1 2 3 Cline, William C. (1984). "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time . McFarland & Company, Inc. p.  37. ISBN   0-7864-0471-X.
  3. ↑ Witney, William (2005). In a Door, Into a Fight, Out a Door, Into a Chase: Moviemaking Remembered by the Guy at the Door. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   978-0-7864-2258-6.
  4. ↑ Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "5. Shazam and Good-by" . Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. p.  132. ISBN   978-0-8061-0927-5.
  5. 1 2 3 Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "1. The Girls "Who Is That Girl in the Buzz Saw?"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. pp. 12, 14. ISBN   978-0-7130-0097-9.
  6. ↑ Mayer, Geoff (2017). Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 299. ISBN   978-0-7864-7762-3.
  7. ↑ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time . McFarland & Company, Inc. pp.  233–234. ISBN   0-7864-0471-X.
Preceded by
Spy Smasher (1942)
 Republic Serial
Perils of Nyoka (1942)		Succeeded by
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