
King of the Carnival

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 66th and 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.
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 off 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.
After several false turns, Ringmaster Jess Carter is exposed as the counterfeiters gang leader and Zorn's handler. Carter attempts to flee from the agents but falls from the trapeze swing and breaks his neck. With the criminals ringleader dead, the counterfeit operation is hastily shut down by the US Treasury.
Production.
"King of the Carnival" was budgeted at $172,995 although the final negative cost was $177,050 (a $4,055, or 2.3%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1955.
It was filmed between 8 March and 25 March 1955 under the working title "King of the Circus". At seventeen days this is the joint-shortest, with "Zombies of the Stratosphere", filming period of all Republic serials. The serial's production number was 1800.
Republic liked calling their heroes "King" in order to use the title "King of..." The studio had found success with this naming scheme following the adaptation of Zane Grey's "King of the Royal Mounted".
Special effects.
Special effects created by the Howard and Theodore Lydecker.
Release.
Theatrical.
"King of the Carnival"'s official release date is 27 June 1955, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.
This was the last new serial released by Republic. However the studio continued with a release schedule of re-released serials until 1958, beginning with a re-release of "Dick Tracy's G-Men" and ending with "Zorro's Fighting Legion".
Chapter titles.
Source: