Consume All Media! Congo Bill: "Chapter One: The Untamed Beast"

Joe Heath is a big fan of comic books and watching things in order. So they made this spreadsheet containing every serial, short, film, television episode, commercial, motion comic, and web series based on a comic book. Now they're watching them all. Previously, Joe watched the 1948 Superman serial. This time, they watch another serial from 1948.

Congo Bill

Film Info

Release date: October 28th, 1948

Studio: Columbia Pictures

Written by Lewis Clay, Arthur Hoerl, & George H. Plympton

Based on the DC Comics character Congo Bill created by Whitney Ellsworth & George Papp

Produced by Sam Katzman

Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet & Thomas Carr 

Writer Highlights

Lewis Clay (1909-1995)

Other comic book media credits: The Vigilante (1947) & Superman (1948)

Arthur Hoerl (1891-1968)

Other comic book media credits: The Vigilante (1947) & Superman (1948)

George H. Plympton (1889-1972)

Other comic book media credits: Hop Harrigan (1946), The Vigilante (1947), Superman (1948), Batman and Robin (1949), Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), & Blackhawk (1952)

Creator Highlights

Whitney Ellsworth (1908-1980)

Other comic book media credits: Ellsworth was a creative consultant on Batman (1943), Superman (1948), Batman and Robin (1949), Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), & the 1966 Batman television series. He was also a script supervisor, story editor, & writer (sometimes under the pseudonym Richard Fielding) on Superman and the Mole Men (1951) & the Adventures of Superman television series (1952-53). In addition to writing multiple episodes of Adventures of Superman, he wrote the failed spinoff pilots The Adventures of Superpup (1958) & The Adventures of Superboy (1961) as well as being a producer for all three. Finally, he wrote for the animated 1966 show The Adventures of Superboy.

George Papp (1916-1989)

Other comic book characters adapted: Green Arrow, Bizarro, General Zod, & Pete Ross.

Producer Highlights

Sam Katzman (1901-1973)

Other comic book media credits: Hop Harrigan (1946), The Vigilante (1947), Superman (1948), Batman and Robin (1949), Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), & Blackhawk (1952)

Director Highlights

Spencer Gordon Bennet (1893-1987)

Other comic book media credits: Superman (1948), Batman and Robin (1949), Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), & Blackhawk (1952)

Thomas Carr (1907-1997)

Other comic book media credits: Superman (1948) & multiple episodes of Adventures of Superman (1952-58)

Congo Bill was introduced in More Fun Comics in 1940 before moving to Action Comics in 1941. William “Congo Bill” Glenmorgan was an adventurer, trapper, and insurance investigator who operated primarily in Africa. In 1959, Bill was given a magical ring that gave him the ability to swap bodies with a gorilla. He was now Congorilla.

Congorilla most recently (and briefly) appeared in the Creature Commandos episode "Chasing Squirrels" voiced by Jason Konopisos.

There’s also a mercenary named William Glenmorgan (Edward Foy) in the season 7 episode of Arrow, “My Name is Emiko Queen.” However, the name seems to be the only real connection to the comic character.

He doesn’t even turn into a gorilla.

Then again neither does the Congo Bill in this 1948 serial, but at least he has the excuse of that not having happened yet in the comics.

This Congo Bill is played by Don McGuire. McGuire was not only an actor, but also a writer, producer, and director. He was even nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the 1982 film Tootsie.

This bit of trivia is possibly more interesting than the entirety of the Congo Bill serial.

Let’s dive in further to find out.

Congo Bill: “Chapter One: The Untamed Beast” - 21:14 (Available on YouTube)

As you will be able to tell from my screencaps, the only copy I could find of this serial was very low quality and weirdly cropped. Also, it had Spanish subtitles for some reason (that were also badly cropped). So right off the bat, there are factors against me enjoying it (unintended as that may be).

Over a montage of stock footage animals, a narrator informs us that Congo Bill is a hunter. As you may know, I’m keeping track of every time a gorilla appears in the course of this project, so you can imagine my excitement when I realized that the very first animal we see Bill capture is… a gorilla!

Or maybe it’s Bigfoot? I don’t know, this video is blurry as hell. And again, Bill does not swap bodies with this gorilla. He just captures it.

This upsets some African natives who proceed to try and kill Congo Bill!

So he punches them a whole bunch and gets away.

So our hero is a white guy who captures animals and beats up Africans. I quickly realize I have to watch almost 3 hours of this. Fun!

Bill takes the gorilla to a circus run by Bernie MacGraw (I. Stanford Jolley) and Tom MacGraw (Stephen Carr).

Actor Highlights

I. Stanford Jolley (1900-1978)

Other comic book media credits: Brett in Batman (1943), a sheriff in Superman (1948), & various roles in Adventures of Superman (1953-57)

Stephen Carr (1906-1986)

Other comic book media credits: Morgan in Superman (1948), Eddie in Superman and the Mole Men (1950), & various roles in Adventures of Superman (1952-53) as well as a script supervisor & dialogue director on Superman and the Mole Men & Adventures of Superman

The MacGraw brothers are the trustees of the Culver fortune and are charged with finding the fortune’s true heir, Ruth Culver, who went missing after a plane crash in Africa.

However, Bernie doesn’t want to find her because he wants the fortune for himself. So he attempts to kill his brother Tom by leaving him alone with a lion. But luckily Congo Bill comes to the rescue. Congo Bill is unsure of whether it was an accident or a murder attempt.

Bernie and his partner-in-crime, Morelli (Hugh Prosser), discuss an African princess of a lost tribe that might be Ruth Colver.

Actor Highlights

Hugh Prosser (1907-1952)

Other comic book media credits: Flight 4 Squadron Leader in Spy Smasher (1942), Police Captain Riley in The Vigilante (1947), a henchman in Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), & a Colonel in Blackhawk (1952)

Bernie and Morelli discuss what should be done about this potential heir to the fortune and they decide to contact someone they know in Africa to get rid of her.

Meanwhile, at the Green Parrot Inn in Africa, we meet an all-around shady guy named Andre Bocar (Leonard Penn). He will be filling the role of the villain.

Actor Highlights

Leonard Penn (1907-1975)

Other comic book media credits: Electronics Store Henchman in Superman (1948), Carter in Batman and Robin (1949), & various roles in Adventures of Superman (1952-54)

One of Bocar’s men returns empty handed from a meeting with a witch doctor. The witch doctor was supposed to give them gold, but he was afraid of upsetting the leader of his tribe, The White Queen. This upsets Bocar, so he punches his henchman in the face.

Then we briefly meet Queen Lureen (Cleo Moore).

So it’s immediately clear that this is the missing Ruth Culver. How she became a Queen of a tribe is unclear. It’s also unclear if the tribe is formed of other members of the plane crash? So it could just be a bunch of white people who decided to become a tribe in Africa. The plot was a little hard to follow. No matter what, though, this seems incredibly problematic.

Back at the circus, Bernie tries to kill his brother again by having him knocked out and left outside of the gorilla’s cage. The gorilla immediately grabs him and starts thrashing him around.

Congo Bill goes to check out the commotion and is attacked by someone.

Should you watch it, though? It’s definitely racist and uncomfortable. Plus it’s just badly written and boring. How did the same people who made Superman make this?

Tune in next time for Congo Bill: "Chapter Two: Jungle Gold" (Available on YouTube.)

A version of this article was previously published on The Dipp.

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