Comic Book -- Spy Smasher -- March 21, 2021

 

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I like Spy Smasher. He didn't have fancy powers. He just smashed spies. He had a cool uniform, too. Here we see him smashing a Nazi in front of Mount Rushmore. 

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Spy Smasher and Captain Marvel were both Fawcett Comics characters. Each was also the main character of a Republic serial.

Comic Book -- Captain Midnight -- January 11, 2019

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Seventy-five years ago this month, in January, 1944, Captain Midnight was breaching Hitler's fortress.

Captain Jim Albright was a brave aviator who served in the American Expeditionary Force during World War One. He earned the name Captain Midnight when he returned from a critical mission at the stroke of midnight.

I remember reading about Captain Midnight in Jim Harmon's The Great Radio Heroes. The show began as a fifteen-minute daily radio serial in 1938. Soon after, the Captain and his Secret Squadron were fighting Axis villains. In 1942, the Captain appeared in a syndicated comic strip, a Fawcett comic book, and a Columbia movie serial. The radio show ended in 1949. In 1954-1957, he appeared in a television series.

I heard some episodes played on Gene Nelson's show on KSFO and elsewhere.

When I read Harmon's description of the many premiums available to radio listeners, badges, medals, games and especially decoders, I wanted to get them, but I couldn't figure out how. I think that chapter prompted my interest in cryptography.

El Gran Houdini -- October 5, 2015

Cine-Mundial, August, 1918

Escapologist Harry Houdini wanted to expand his exposure to the public, so he began to appear in movies starting in 1918 with the serial The Master Mystery. It was shown around the world. 

Snoopathon, A Blogathon of Spies -- June 1, 2014

Fritzi at Movies Silently is hosting Snoopathon, A Blogathon of Spies.  My entry for the blogathon is on my new movies-mostly blog, The Big V Riot Squad:  Batman vs Dr. Daka. 

I go over the first chapter of the 1943 Columbia serial in great detail, hoping that people will get interested in seeing the movie.  My opening paragraph:
"Japanese spies, zombies, caped crusaders, a radium gun, an alligator pit and Ming the Merciless -- you can't go wrong with the 1943 Columbia movie serial Batman.  Well, actually, you could go wrong in a few ways.  There is a lot of racism directed at the villain, Doctor Daka and  his countrymen.  Columbia serials are not highly regarded by many serial lovers because of their minuscule budgets.  Every movie serial, especially 15-chapter serials like this one, has moments that drag.  Every movie serial has ludicrous plot elements.  On the other hand, Japanese spies, zombies, caped crusaders, a radium gun, an alligator pit and Ming the Merciless -- that's pretty cool." 

Comic Book #31 -- January 21, 2014

Captain Jim Albright was a brave aviator who served in the American Expeditionary Force during World War One.  He earned the name Captain Midnight when he returned from a critical mission at the stroke of midnight. 

I remember reading about Captain Midnight in Jim Harmon's The Great Radio Heroes.  The show began as a fifteen-minute daily radio serial in 1938.  Soon after, the Captain and his Secret Squadron were fighting Axis villains.  In 1942, the Captain appeared in a syndicated comic strip, a Fawcett comic book, and a Columbia movie serial.  The radio show ended in 1949.  In 1954-1957, he appeared in a television series. 

I heard some episodes played on Gene Nelson's show on KSFO and elsewhere. 

When I read Harmon's description of the many premiums available to radio listeners, badges, medals, games and especially decoders, I wanted to get them, but I couldn't figure out how.  I think that chapter prompted my interest in cryptography. 

The image is from the wonderful site CoverBrowser (http://www.coverbrowser.com/).  

The Master Mystery -- December 4, 2012

Escapologist Harry Houdini wanted to expand his exposure to the public, so he began to appear in movies starting in 1918 with the serial The Master Mystery.  I recently got to see it on a DVD set from Kino.  It doesn't make much sense, but this is typical of serial plots.  I liked the robot, Q the Automaton.  Its gang was called the Emissaries of the Automaton. Great name. William Desmond, star of the accompanying feature, was an early cowboy actor.

The ad is from the 21-October-1919 Bemidji Daily Pioneer.

DVD: The Miracle Rider #2 -- October 11, 2011

A few more thoughts after yesterdays post: http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/2011/10/dvd-miracle-rider-october-10-2011.html

One of Zaroff's henchmen was played by Tom London, who may have appeared in more movies than anyone else, from the mid-Teens to the early 1960s.  Another was Charles "Blackie" King, who was always worth watching.

I enjoyed the credits and introduction for each episode.  There was a stirring classical theme, whose name I can never remember.  There was a tracking shot of Tom and Tony Jr riding hell for leather, followed by a tracking shot along a rocky hillside that underlay most of the credits.  Underneath the cast of characters, there was a Native American crouching, then standing and scanning the horizon, then invoking the gods, then squatting, then standing.

The general treatment of Native Americans?  So-so.  Bob Kortman, whom I loved in Laurel and Hardy movies, played Long Boat, who wanted to be chief.  He worked secretly for Zaroff.  Tom Morgan was his great rival.  I liked the way Long Boat kept calling Tom "My brother" with a great sneer.

I lost count of how many times Zaroff said he was going to be "the most powerful man in the world."  I liked the wireless telephones he used to communicate with Long Boat and his cowboy henchmen.  He used what looked like a text terminal to communicate wirelessly with a buyer in Europe.

I first saw this serial on Channel 20's Old Sourdough or Worst of Hollywood.  I managed to stay awake late enough each Friday night to see all 15 chapters.  I had read William K Everson's disparaging comments on the movie.  I didn't agree with him.

DVD: The Miracle Rider -- October 10, 2011

Tom Mix was the biggest cowboy star in silent movies.  He made a series of talkies for Universal, but the Depression prevented other studios from paying his vast salary.  In 1935, Nat Levine of Mascot Studio paid Mix $40,000 to work for four weeks.  This was half the budget of The Miracle Rider, a15 chapter serial. Mix needed the money to subsidize his circus.  This turned out to be his last movie.  I was surprised to learn that it was Mascot's only 15 chapter serial.  I had thought that 15 was the standard length after producers settled on a standard and before they went to 12 as a cheaper standard.

The first episode of The Miracle Rider, "The Vanishing Indian,"  was almost feature length.   It used an animated map to show "Indian Territory" shrinking and the United States growing over the years.  Some of the dates on the map were questionable.  Scenes showed Daniel Boone, then Davy Crockett, then Buffalo Bill Cody, then Sam Morgan trying to get European Americans to stop intruding on the territory of Native Americans.  Who was Sam Morgan?  He was the father of Tom Morgan, Tom Mix's character.

Sam Morgan was trying to defend the reservation of the Ravenhead tribe when he was murdered by a group of men who wanted to squat on their land.  Young Tom promises to join the Texas Rangers and carry on his work.  Twenty years later, Tom has aged considerably.  His hair is dyed black and his teeth are false, but he is still a heroic figure.  I only noticed one scene where he performed with is old mugging humor, when he stopped two kids from stealing a pie and then tried to steal it himself.  The Ravenhead regard Tom as a brother and give him the name "Miracle Rider."

A mysterious flying object, called the Thunderbird by the Ravenhead begins attacking their village.  It turns out to be a "rocket powered glider" controlled by Zaroff, who is secretly mining X-92, a super explosive, from the Ravenhead reservation.  I was sad to see the open cockpit monoplane Thunderbird crash in chapter 2.  Zaroff is played by Charles Middleton, about whom I still have bad dreams from Flash Gordon and Laurel and Hardy movies.  Later in the movie, Zaroff's scientist discovers a way to turn X-92 into a powerful fuel that can replace gasoline.  Image if a Native American tribe controlled all of this country's energy supplies.

Some of the cliffhangers were different compared to what later became standard in Universals.  In one, the chapter ends with a bunch of cowboys holding their guns on Tom.  There are no shots fired.  In the next chapter, Tom's horse, Tony Jr, blows a car horn and allows Tom to escape.  There are some very clear cheaters, chapters ending with Tom falling to his doom or getting shot.  The next chapters begin differently.

Tom Mix was still a convincing hero.  I didn't care that he had trouble with his lines.  He sounded like a real person.

DVD: Adventures of Captain Marvel -- September 17, 2011

Today I finished watching a DVD of Republic's 12-chapter Adventures of Captain Marvel.  Tom Tyler resembled the original lean Captain Marvel rather than the later Big Red Cheese.  As with most mystery serials, I could not tell apart most of the suspects, and I have no idea which one was revealed to be the mysterious Scorpion.  I felt bad for the Scorpion, who had to run around holding up the front of his robe so he wouldn't trip.

When Billy Batson turned into Captain Marvel, it was interesting to see how Captain Marvel was curious about his powers.  He smiled while walking towards hoodlums who were emptying their guns at him.  He threw one villain off the roof of a garage.  When he broke bonds or smashed doors, he looked happy.

I had seen the Lydecker Brothers' flying effects in the Rocket Man serials, but this serial contains their origin.  Knowing that most of them used a dummy, it was possible to see the difference in its features, but the leaps and falls made everything believable.

I was confused about the part of the world in which this was supposed to be taking place.  At first, based on the tomb, I thought it might be Egypt.  Later, it seemed more like Afghanistan, except that the locals, led by Rahman Bar, were not Muslims.  They worshiped a scorpion deity and a volcano.  I liked Rahman Bar.  He blew up all sorts of things and at the end (SPOILER), killed the Scorpion.

I can see why this is considered one of the best serials next.  Next up:  The Miracle Rider with Tom Mix.

DVD: Houdini the Movie Star #1 -- May 27, 2008

While I was home sick, I took advantage of the opportunity to watch the first film on Kino's set Houdini the Movie Star. I have wanted to see The Master Mystery, a serial, for many years. I probably first read about it in a biography of Harry Houdini. At some point I realized that I didn't have the manual dexterity for sleight of hand, so I became interested in escapology. That led me to read everything I could find about Houdini. Since I was also interested in silent movies, I paid attention to the many references to his film career.

I thought The Master Mystery sounded particularly interesting because of the robot which it featured. The movie was made in 1919, before Čapek coined the term robot. It was called Q, the Automaton. Its gang was called the Emissaries of the Automaton. Great name.

The plot makes no more sense than that of any other movie serial. It may have been a little harder to follow because about one hour of the footage is missing. A few observations:

-- I like the image. The automation looks like a Muppet automaton. My daughter thought the acutal robot was cheesy looking. I liked the way he walked, especially the way he moved his arms. If the movie had been release in the 1980s, someone would have created a dance called "The Automaton".

-- In two different episodes, the people with Houdini used him as a battering ram to break down a door. I've never seen that done outside of a cartoon. They did not use his head.

-- The subtitles used a wonderful font. Whenever a lowercase "g" appeared on the bottom line, it had a huge, curling tail.

-- The images on some of the art titles were funny. I liked the view of the cave with eyes looking out from the dark.

-- One of the titles which explains a missing part of the movie says that Houdini used his "escapist" skills to get out of a trap. Wrong word, I think.

-- The tinting was appropriate.

-- The books always said Houdini was stiff. I think he was restrained, but not stiff. Some of the actors were considerably less restrained, especially Doctor Q.

-- It was unusual to see a serial where no cliffhanger involved an automobile or an airplane. The cliffhangers focused on Houdini getting restrained (ropes, chains, barbed wire, a strangling machine) and getting loose.

-- I don't think I have ever seen another fiction movie that mentioned Madagascar so many times.

Sydney Pollack died. I enjoyed Three Days of the Condor. I was surprised to discover that I haven't seen very many of his other movies.

DVD: Batman and Robin -- January 15, 2007

I've enjoyed movie serials ever since a Saturday-night television show ran Zombies of the Stratosphere one episode a week back in the 1960s.

My latest serial is Columbia's 1949 Batman and Robin, which was a sequel to The Batman from 1943. I've also been a fan of Batman since I first saw the television show and read the comic books, also back in the 1960s. Superman has his powers because he was born on another planet. Spiderman has his because he was bitten by a radioactive spider. Batman is a self-made man.

Columbia serials aren't as well regarded as Republic serials. My daughter noticed the lack of production values. When I pointed out that many sets and supporting actors were shared with the Three Stooges, she was even less impressed. Despite all that, I enjoyed it. I think I liked The Batman better -- I know I missed Doctor Daka -- but this one was all right.

The actors who played Batman and Robin, Robert Lowrey and Johnny Duncan, played the roles differently. Lowrey was very diffident and bored as Bruce Wayne. Many reviewers have complained that his cowl did not fit properly and he often had to tilt his head back to see what was going on. I only noticed that a few times, especially after vigorous running. Many reviewers have pointed out that Duncan was a tough looking Robin, tougher than anyone else who played the role. I didn't have a problem with that. I'd want a tough guy backing me up if I was fighting crime.

There was no Batmobile, only a Mercury convertible, which people sometimes recognized as Bruce Wayne's car. That was disappointing. Wayne Manor was a suburban ranch house.

There were nice views of Southern Pacific locomotives in two episodes.

The villian, called The Wizard, was not impressive, especially when his invisibility device blew a fuse and he was left running around in broad daylight. He stole a device which was capable of controlling any moving machine remotely. I'm not sure how that would work with a machine like a steam locomotive. His henchmen, who I could not tell apart, reached his hideout in a remote-controlled or automatic submarine. That seemed to be awfully complicated.

In the end, though, everything kept moving along. I was sad to see The Wizard get foiled and the whole thing grind to a halt.