Kongo w/Special Feature: Untamed Africa

This is technically a remake of the silent film, West of Zanzibar, but stands on its own. Walter Huston is a paraplegic in the wilds of Africa. He has taken control of a warlike tribe by means of what amount to party magic tricks, so they believe him to be a mighty sorcerer. He has enslaved several Europeans and Americans by addicting them to opiates, which only he can supply. And he has a truly terrible revenge plot, which he has been cultivating for 20 years.It's pre-Code so don't expect the pablum that followed in the later 1930s. Lupe Velez wears almost nothing but rags and a glistening sheen of sweat. Everything seems sleazy and dangerous. When Huston drags himself along the hut floor, his evil chimpanzee acolyte gurning and gibbering alongside him, it's one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen. The natives aren't portrayed as stupid or subhuman - but they are cruel, savage, and deadly, which actually makes sense given that their culture has been subverted and malformed by the misrule of Huston's malignant imp.Great drama, with elements of horror. Magnificent acting.

Attention Horror Fans!! Warner Archive has released a rare obscure gem from the early thirties , Director William Cowen's 'KONGO'-1932, an unclassifiable tale of revenge, sadism and jungle thrills boasting awesome performances and incredibly atmospheric images packed into its 86 minute running time. Basically a remake of Director Tod Browning and star Lon Chaney Sr.'s silent film 'WEST OF ZANZIBAR'-1927, this reboot outshines it by having the main character this time played by Walter Huston taking back stage to the other characters in the film thereby increasing the tragedy and maudlin atmosphere of the jungle surroundings. Huston plays 'Dead Legs' Flint, a depraved, revenge ridden megalomaniac who lives to fulfill a two decade grudge against Grant played by C. Henry Gordon who was responsible for stealing away his wife and causing his wheel chair bound paralysis. Ruling his jungle terrain by performing voodoo rituals and magic tricks, he keeps the surrounding cannibalistic native tribes one spear away at every turn. It would not be fair to continue a synopsis of the film, it should be experienced in all of its humid, torrid glory. Huston gives a blistering performance right up there with his characters of Old Scratch in Director William Dieterle's classic 'THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER'-1941 and his Oscar winning performance of Howard in his son Director John Huston's masterpiece 'THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE'-1948. Joining him are actress Lupe Velez as Flint's girl Friday Tula dripping eroticism and sultriness in every frame of the film that she encapsulates; an early performance by actress Virginia Bruce and one of her best roles steering away from the fainting flower hysterics that were embellished by many actresses at that time; and Conrad Nagel who gives his leading man a cutting edge rare for this early sound excursion. The film is beautifully photographed by Harold Rossen actually capturing the heat and humidity of the environment. Rossen would go on to lens such classics as Director Victor Fleming's 'THE WIZARD OF OZ'-1939 and Director King Vidor's 'DUEL IN THE SUN'- 1946 among others. Rarely screened save for sporadic appearances on Turner Classic Movies, Warner Archive releases it as a DVD-R with a grainy feel showing that the negative is in need of a digital restoration. The only extra is a 56 minute documentary entitled 'UNTAMED AFRICA'-1933, a you-are-there excursion predating the 'MONDO' films which emerged from Italy in the Sixties and centering around the Hubbard family who are showcased by rare jungle footage(not staged) surrounding their safari. It is inconceivable that a prestigious studio such as MGM would produce a film like 'KONGO' for it resembles its pre-code distant cousin releases from Paramount Pictures: Director Erle C. Kenton's 'ISLAND OF LOST SOULS'-1932 and Director A. Edward Sutherland's 'MURDERS IN THE ZOO'-1933. Never would MGM ever stoop to such depravity as in this film, even Director W.S. Van Dyke's 'TARZAN, THE APE MAN' and Director Charles Brabin's 'THE MASK OF FU MANCHU' pull in the reins although Director Tod Browning's 'FREAKS' comes awfully close and they were all made the same year -1932. Rarely seen and never appearing in any film encyclopedias , 'KONGO' deserves a resurrection and hopefully with this important release, it will get the audience it deserves. The film emerges as a masterpiece from the early sound era and I love every sultry frame of it.

Great movie. Sadly, not burned on M-DISCI completely understand that obscure movies like this do not economically justify pressing a disc. However, I would've gladly paid a dollar more for a disc that would last forever. Instead, they burned the movie on the old-fashioned, purple dye type disc that are only good for around 5 - 7 years. M-Disc last 100s of years.Rather scary. Great Movie !!

Overly written, less effective remake of Lon Chaney/Todd Browning classic "West of Zanzibar" which also includes some stock shots inserted from the original.

The case was for Kongo. So far, so good. The movie inside was something called "Fosse Verdon". How do you screw that up? No good.

This movie is absolutely horrible. If you loved "Freaks", you'll like "Kongo". It's rather depraved - no one bathes. You have to see it to believe that it came out of Hollywood.

This is a rare classic.

Brilliant! Untamed Africa before Tarzan.

A stunning pre-code madness of a film. This reeks of heat, sweat and perversion in almost every frame. A lack of censorship is obvious from the start and just develops throughout with Walter Huston's searing performance of rage and hatred for just about everything and everyone in a tale of revenge and sleaze. By today's standards we are still talking relatively tame, but any students of Classic Hollywood will find this mind-boggling.Picture quality is fine, although the vintage sound at times was a little muffled. Perhaps a bit of re-mastering needed.Overall, highly recommended. Just sit back and enjoy.

Good quality and extras.

This was not as well done as the Lon Chaney original. Having said that, it is a startling movie for its time.

if you have read or heard about this film, and wondering if it's as horrifying as it sounds, i found it tobe even more shocking than i had expected. very good film. DVD picture qua;ity and sound quality is alsovery good. supplemental africa-themed Docu-drama is Ok, but KONGO alone is worth the price. excellent.

1930年代を中心にハリウッドで流行し、一ジャンルになった「アフリカ秘境もの」。そのジャンルの劇映画『情炎のコンゴ』に、特典としてドキュメンタリー"Untamed Africa"を1枚に収めた映画ファンには嬉しいDVD-R。18年前、友人グレッグ(C・ヘンリー・ゴードン)に妻を奪われた上、半身不随の身体にさせられたフリント(ウォルター・ヒューストン)は、コンゴの密林の奥深くで自分の王国を築き、怪しげなマジックで、原住民を服従させていた。グレッグへの復讐だけを胸に生きているフリントは、ケープタウンの修道院にいる、グレッグの娘アン(ヴァージニア・ブルース)を騙しておびき寄せ、折檻と恥辱の限りを尽くすのだが…。トッド・ブラウニング監督、ロン・チャニー主演の『ザンジバーの西』(1928)のトーキー版リメイク。アフリカの底しれぬ怖さを背景に(セットではあるが、雰囲気たっぷり)、主人公の強烈な造形と非情な復讐劇で描いた、悪の華とでも形容したい妖しく黒い輝きを放つ作品だ。何と言っても、フリントを演じた名優ウォルター・ヒューストンの演技が、この作品を黒く覆い、支配していると言っていいだろう。凄まじいまでの憎悪が、肉体に転移してしまったかのような相貌(顔を覆う醜いキズ、這って車イスに乗る不気味さ)、人間的な情を一切見せない造形など、映画史上類を見ない悪役―と言うより、人間の業そのものの塊と言う方が正確か―は、ヒューストンの独壇場。全く共感出来ない唾棄すべきモンスターながら、そのヒューストンの説得力ある演技のアプローチで、圧倒的な悪魔的魅力に惹きつけられてしまう。映画ファンとしては、息子の監督ジョン・ヒューストンが、後の『 白鯨 』のエイハブの造形に(もちろん、メルヴィルの原作があるにしても)、この父親のフリントを投影したのではないかと勝手な夢想もしたくなるほどの存在感だ。このヒューストンの存在の前では、正直、他の俳優は霞んでしまっているのだが、そんな中では、ヴァージニア・ブルースが汚れ役を体当たりで演じ印象深い。地獄のような野蛮の地で、かろうじて文明と美を体現していて、まさに掃き溜めに鶴。後の『 巨星ジーグフェルド 』のような煌びやかな洗練された女性とは対極にある役は、彼女にとっても挑戦的なものだったはずだ。本DVD-Rは、米Warner Archiveによるオン・デマンド・DVD-R。リマスター、レストアされていない米TCMの放映用素材をマスターにしているが、全体的にディテール表現が甘いものの、時代を考えると美しい白黒撮影を堪能できる画質。特典の"Untamed Africa"は、平均的なアフリカ探検ものながら、動物や原住民を捉えた映像が魅力。ただし、原版がヴィデオ時代のものなのか、アナログ・ヴィデオ特有のノイズが目立つ画質。北米盤だが、R-0(=All)なので、日本のR-2プレーヤーで視聴可能。英語字幕は未収録。 白鯨巨星ジーグフェルド