King of the Zombies

King of the Zombies (1941)

Runtime: 67 minutes

Directed by: Jean Yarbrough

Starring: Dick Purcell, John Archer, Mantan Moreland, Joan Woodbury, Henry Victor

From: Monogram

Here is a random movie I saw earlier tonight. I literally did not know of its existence until about 10 minutes before it showed on TCM. It's not a must-see but it is a curio. I mean, where else will you see a "zombie" have an existential crisis? I talk all about it below: 

I was able to squeeze in a viewing of this film when it played on TCM earlier tonight. It was something I hadn't heard of before I noticed it on the TCM schedule with the plot description: “A mad scientist raises the dead to fight for Hitler in World War II.” Now how can I NOT see a movie with such a scenario? Regrettably, that was not what actually happened. This horror/comedy is at least watchable, although I do have to give the warning that the three leads are two pilots... and one of the pilots' servants... who is black, and he speaks in what I'll call “the stereotypical Negro dialect” and he's comic relief.

The thing is, it was not as offensive as I first feared. You have to put up with the way he speaks (not to mention the other black people that are present speak the same way) but this servant is actually more of a hero than the two lunkhead white people, who are made to be buffoons. A nice bit of subversion, at least if that was done on purpose. It's also almost constantly amusing and sometimes pretty funny. I should explain that the actual plot is an airplane with our three leads crashes on a random Caribbean island, where they encounter this mad scientist (who is more than he first seems), a spooky old mansion, and various & sundry characters that are around.

Like I said, this wasn't as cringe-worthy as I first thought it was going to be. It's more funny than scary but that is alright. Mantan Moreland-as Jefferson, the servant-was the definite highlight, being entertaining despite all the handicaps of the character and of Hollywood at the time. I know that Moreland was an actor for a few decades and I'll presume that he rarely got the chance to be a big part of a movie like he was here. If given a chance, I am sure more people would know of his talents. Alas... this movie is public domain meaning it can easily be found online and it's only 67 minutes long, meaning it's not something that requires a lot of time if you so desire to check this out.