The King of the Kongo (1929) Review: Karloff and the Carpet-Gorilla

A dusty trek through the 1920s jungle

If you have about four hours to kill and a high tolerance for people in pith helmets pointing at things, you might actually get a kick out of this. It is mostly for the people who want to see where adventure serials started, but modern audiences will probably find it mind-numbingly slow.

If you hate static shots and people over-acting with their eyebrows, stay far away. I’m serious, just go watch The Americano if you want something with actual energy.

I watched this on a rainy Tuesday because I’m on a bit of a kick with these old serials. There is something about the way they used to build 'jungles' on a Hollywood backlot that feels weirdly cozy.

It’s basically just a bunch of potted ferns and some very dry-looking dirt. You can almost smell the dust coming off the screen when the characters start scuffling.

The story follows a Secret Service guy named Larry who is looking for his brother. He meets Dorothy, who is looking for her father, and they decide to look for them together because that is how movies worked back then.

They end up at this 'temple' which is the secret hideout for ivory smugglers. The smugglers are led by a guy who looks like he hasn't slept in three weeks.

Boris Karloff is in this, which is the main reason I even clicked play. This was a few years before he became the big star we know, and he plays a guy named Scarface Macklin.

Even here, you can see he has this presence that the other actors just don't have. He doesn't have to do much; he just stands there and looks slightly menacing, and he steals the whole scene.

The rest of the cast is... fine, I guess. Jacqueline Logan spends a lot of time looking worried, which she is very good at.

The big draw back in 1929 was that this was a 'part-talkie.' That means some scenes are silent with those black text cards, and other scenes have actual sound.

It is incredibly jarring. One minute you are reading dialogue, and the next, someone starts talking in a very loud, wooden voice that sounds like it's coming from the bottom of a well.

The technology was so new that the actors had to stand perfectly still near the hidden microphones. It makes the 'talking' scenes feel like a middle school play where everyone is afraid to move their feet.

I noticed one scene where a guy is talking and his voice just gets quieter and quieter as he walks away. They clearly didn't have a boom mic back then, or if they did, the guy holding it was taking a nap.

Then there is the gorilla. Oh boy, the gorilla.

It is very clearly a man in a suit, and not even a particularly good suit. It looks like he’s wearing a very heavy, very itchy carpet that was found in a dumpster.

The way it moves is hilarious because it’s trying to be scary, but it just looks like a guy trying to find his car keys in the dark. It 'guards' the temple, which mostly involves it waving its arms around and occasionally pushing a rock.

The ivory smugglers are surprisingly boring for a group of criminals. They spend a lot of time sitting around talking about 'the secret' and 'the treasure' without actually doing much of anything.

If you like old-school melodrama, you might enjoy the way the plot circles back on itself every ten minutes. It reminded me a bit of the pacing in The Jailbird, where everything feels slightly stuck in place.

There is a prisoner in the temple who supposedly knows everything. He just sits there looking mysterious for about four chapters before he actually says anything useful.

The 'King' of the Kongo isn't even a person, really. It’s more of a title, or a legend, or... actually, I'm still not entirely sure what the title refers to after watching the whole thing.

I did like the part where they find the 'hidden' entrance to the temple. It’s just a big slab of rock that moves if you push it the right way, which seems like a terrible security system for a group of international smugglers.

The action scenes are pretty clunky. People sort of fall over before they are even hit, and the gunshots sound like someone popping a paper bag.

It has that same low-budget charm you find in stuff like Dizzy Daddies, even though this is supposed to be a serious adventure. You have to appreciate the effort they put into making a 'giant' adventure on what was clearly a tiny budget.

One thing that bothered me was how clean the characters stayed. They are supposed to be trekking through the deep, damp jungle, but their clothes stay perfectly pressed and white the whole time.

Dorothy’s hair doesn't even get frizzy. That’s the real mystery of the Congo, honestly.

The ending is exactly what you expect. Everything gets wrapped up in a neat little bow, and the bad guys get what’s coming to them.

It’s not a movie that is going to change your life. It’s more like a museum piece that you can laugh at a little bit while appreciating the history.

I wouldn't recommend watching it all in one sitting like I did. It’s meant to be seen in chapters, and the repetition starts to grate on your nerves after the third hour.

But hey, if you want to see a very young Boris Karloff deal with a man in a rug-suit, this is the only place to go. Just don't expect it to make much sense.

It’s a weird slice of film history. It’s clumsy, it’s loud in the wrong places, and the 'jungle' looks like a florist shop exploded, but it’s got heart.

Anyway, I'm going to go watch something from this century now. My eyes need a break from the flickering. 🐒