Spanish title: Los Tambores de la Muerte (The Drums of Death)
Stars: Clay Moore, Phyllis Coates, Johnny Spencer, Roy Glenn
Directed by: Fred C. Bannon
Distributed by: Distribuidora Sotomayor, for Republic Pictures

"Jungle thrills and voodoo madness in the heart of the dark continent – a Republic super-series!"

We don’t see a whole lot of Distribuidora Sotomayor lobby cards around, but more’s the pity, as this is one high quality piece of promo art. Nice thick card stock, dramatic comic book-style art, stark colors (even if they only budgeted for one in this case)… you can just imagine kids lining up for hours to get their ‘jungle thrills’.

This series was directed by Fred C. Bannon, who enjoyed a lengthy career as a maker of pulp film. With titles such as Zombies of the Stratosphere, Radar Men from the Moon, Flying Disc Man from Mars, and Federal Agents vs Underworld Inc, you just know the guy was hired for his willingness to work on the cheap, rather than what skills he brought to the table.

The story in this series, which had a working title of Robin Hood of Darkest Africa, focuses on a group of nice upstanding people who go to an African territory looking to win a mining concession so they can pull uranium out of the ground. Only, they’re constantly foiled in their attempts by a trading post operator who just won’t leave well enough alone and seeks the uranium for an unnamed evil government. Cliffhangers ensue. 

The entire 12-part series was shot over three weeks for a budget of around $160,000, as was the way with Republic serials, and though the Saturday morning matinee fare usually featured copious amounts of stock footage and woeful cliffhangers, this one actually shows a little commitment to quality… at least compared to others of its ilk.

The card art is fantastic – it’s done in a comic book style with nothing more than black and white with a splash of red to fill out the design. As a result, it’s a real eye-catcher… though the ‘native’ in the still image seems to resemble a corn-fed Mississippi boy more than a Masai warrior.

For those interested in Distribuidora Sotomayor, their address is listed as Reforma 503, S.A. – that’s all I’ve got.