JAH: Sounds like you had quite a detour, before you started acting.

WALLACE: After the gigs with Jimmy Fiddler, I took singing lessons. The singing teacher was a friend of Jimmy's, and after about three months, he said to me, "You're going to be a famous singer. Now let's go out and make a lot of money." So the first gig was an amateur night in Glendale, and I laid a bomb. It was terrible! After that evening, the teacher gave up. I started studying with another teacher, named Lillian Sloan. Jan Clayton, who later played the mother in the original Lassie series, and starred in Carousel, was one of her students. I had a great arrangement worked out with her. She knew I had been a greensman at Metro, and at the time her husband was getting on in years and ailing, so she asked me if I would take care of the grounds around their home for two free lessons a week. She said, "I think you have talent, and I'd like to try to bring it out." For four years, I trained. She also recommended that I take drama classes, and find out about acting. So on my GI Bill of Rights, I went to dramatic school at Ben Barnes Dramatic School in Hollywood. Stuart Whitman was in my class, Nicky Blair, who later became the restaurateur. Ross Hunter taught classes there.

JAH: You got into pictures in the early fifties, didn't you?

WALLACE: Yes, I did. Submarine Command was my first picture for Columbia in 1951, with Bill Holden, Nancy Olsen, William Bendix. Holden was a great guy. Our scenes were filmed aboard an actual submarine at the Naval Base in San Diego. Holden was easy to work with, and thoroughly professional. They'd take the sub out about five miles, with the cast and crew and the minimum naval personnel. We shot exteriors out there, as well as doing interiors. One time, the special effects man was supposed to have two Japanese bombers come in on either side of the sub. The effects guy had rigged charges on two booms on either side of the submarine, so when the planes made their descent, and dropped their dummy bombs, there would be explosions. We shot this sequence for a couple of days, and on the last day, the effects guy put such a potent charge on these boom arms, that it shattered glass inside the sub! We had to quit and go back in for the day, so they could make repairs on the sub! There wasn't much time for fun, because we were either on the exterior of the sub, or we were down inside the sub, filming. With the equipment and cameras, and just trying to move around, we were sweaty and hot.

JAH: You did an Esther Williams picture called Million Dollar Mermaid.

WALLACE: Victor Mature was in that. It was a circus type picture, and I played a daredevil pilot, which led me to be cast in The Big Sky with Kirk Douglas, directed by Howard Hawks.  That was fantastic; Howard Hawks was one of the greatest directors who ever worked in Hollywood. My parts were shot at night, out on the old Fox lot. There was an old Western street that was kept muddy. It was all watered down so the wagons and horses had to pull through it. 

Howard Hawks always spoke softly. If there were a thousand people on the set, he would still speak softly. I had a scene in a general store. I was a local tough guy hanging around. Kirk Douglas comes in and orders some supplies. Howard had blocked out the scene for me so while Kirk was at the counter giving his order, I would come up to him and look him up and down, like 'what the hell are you doing in town?'  Just before Howard called "Action" there was a broom hanging down, so I took one of the straws out of the broom and started chewing on it. Howard called "Action," I walked over to Kirk Douglas, and I walked up to him and looked at him with the straw in my mouth, walked away, and " Cut!" So Kirk Douglas went to Howard Hawks, and after that Howard took me aside, and I figured, "Oh, boy, I'm in trouble now!" He said, "The piece you did with the straw, it was just great. Leave it in! It's wonderful! Only this time, take a slow count of three while you're sucking on the straw before you make the turn."

Well, Kirk Douglas had a magnificent wardrobe in that picture, all leather, and he was wearing a tiger tooth or something on a chain around his neck. I go up to Kirk Douglas, and I'm sucking on the straw. I count a three, and he takes the tooth he had hanging around his neck on a chain, and puts it up to his lips. He used my business to dismiss me.

JAH: You were the first actor to portray Commando Cody, Sky Marshall of the Universe, in the Republic serial classic Radar Men to the Moon.

WALLACE: My agent at the time was Maureen Oliver, a sweet little Irish lady who started representing me when I was in dramatic school. She sent me out to Republic for a role as a heavy in some new picture they were doing. So I arrived at 10:00 a.m., and I read for the producer and director. After I read, they asked if I had any footage of myself on me. I had just started in the business, but luckily I had a Fireside Theater episode with Frank Whizbar, Isabelle Jewell, Ann Savage, Jim Mitchum (who was Bob's brother). So I gave them the film and they said "Hang around, we want to take a look at it." So after waiting a couple of hours, I began to get a little upset. I was there till about 3:00, and I was getting ready to go home. Finally they called me in and said, "We saw the film. We're doing a serial called Commando Cody, Sky Marshall of the Universe, and we think you'd be right for the part of Commando Cody."  Now the part I originally auditioned for was the heavy in this serial, that Clayton Moore ended up playing.  After playing the Lone Ranger for four years, Clayton ended up playing the heavy that I auditioned for.

The funny thing about Clayton Moore and the whole Lone Ranger thing was, all the actors I knew, including myself, went out for that part at the time. That was a massive casting call. They had us all do the test in the mask. We'd stand in a corner, with a mask and a cowboy hat on, and we'd go through this dialogue with some guy off camera feeding us Tonto lines like, "We must go to the West now, Kemo Sabe." Damn silly when you think about it now!  I think I went on the audition for The Lone Ranger when they were trying to replace Clayton, and Johnny Hart got it, and did it for one season. You know, I can empathize with Clay on this, because I never got an answer why I was never asked back to reprise my character of Commando Cody in the series of short films which became the television series, two years after it was released to theaters in the East.  I think it was because I was doing a play in New York at the time, and that's how they got Judd Holdren to do Zombies of the Stratosphere and then carry on with Commando Cody. 

JAH: One would imagine that making a Republic serial was a bit more of a physical workout than it was an acting workout.

WALLACE: In those days, we accepted these parts for what they were. We didn't question story, script, motivation or continuity, that's for sure. To us, it was a job, and we were thankful to have a job. Radar Men to the Moon was a physical challenge. All the moon scenes were shot in Red Rock Canyon, and it was 111 degrees, and here I am in a big leather jacket, with an aluminum helmet, some kind of rocket packs on my back, and regular woolen slacks. It seemed interesting to me that they would costume this character in regular woolen slacks, which could have caught fire in the first take-off, rather than devise some special fireproof pants for their hero. 

It was something I was happy to do. I was just starting in the business, I had a job, and it was a lead, everybody was great in it, everybody treated me beautifully.

There were some difficult special effects sequences, like when they put me on a platform in front of the production screen. The platform they built was about four feet high, and there was a 2x4 that laid flat. I would lay down on the 2x4, and then the crew would put the Rocket Man suit on me, and zip up the jacket around me and the board, so it wouldn't show. As I recall, we did all of that in one day. I believe this rear screen projection system was a process called techna-process.  The same process probably still exists now, under a different name. They took footage of clouds that had been shot from a plane—I believe they do it with helicopters today—stock shots, if you will, and they rear-projected it onto a cyclorama, and put me on a platform in the Rocket Man costume in front of it, and I did the flying sequences. 

JAH: What was Roy Barcroft like?

WALLACE: Roy was a big, wonderful, moose of a guy! A total sweetheart. If we were sitting around the set after a long day, he'd just sit beside you and massage your neck, and tell you, "Hey George, you're a little tense today." Roy had a long career at Republic. He did everything from heroes to heavies to looping voices, the consummate character man. And he was just great to be around. Always interested in how YOU were doing—and that's a rarity these days.

That huge ray gun I steal from Rettick's laboratory was heavy as hell out there in that Red Rock sun. The other thing I remember is the special effects guys rigging a gun with twine and pulling it out of my hand in one of the episodes. The Lydecker Brothers were great to work with. They knew the score. I remember the miniature of Commando Cody's rocket ship which is about 3 or 4 feet long, that you see in its actual size at the end of the show, when it plows through the window and hits Billy Bakewell in the stomach. That miniature rocket was flown on sets that were made to scale by the Lydecker brothers. The Lydecker brothers had everything down to a science. If you shot a certain explosion on land or sea, their techniques would vary between both situations, right down to how many frames per second would be shot on a particular gag. Those two guys were amazing.

I did a good amount of the takeoffs and landings on the moon surface myself. I started off doing them in front of the actual Republic Administration offices. I did that exactly the way David Sharp did it, by having them bury a spot trampoline right in front of my intended takeoff position. Then they had charges wired in the tanks, with some mattresses on the other side so I didn't break my neck. I would run, hit the dials, hit the trampoline and go sailing past the camera, and land on mattresses on the ground on the other side. The director said, after we had done a good amount of these takeoffs, "George, I need to see you more at an up angle." So I said, "Great, put a rocket up my ass and I'll see if I can get up that high for you!" So they incorporated a parallel bar, so after I hit the trampoline I'd catch the parallel bar, and give the cameramen the right angle.

These things were shot out of continuity, so we would have a takeoff day, and that's all we would shoot, is takeoffs—my takeoffs and Tom Steele's takeoffs. In those days, those pictures were put together quicker than any schedules these days. 

I never wore the stunt helmet for Commando Cody. I wore the full-on helmet. So when there'd be a fight scene and I'd take a punch, or I'd fall, or something would collide with that helmet, I'd hear "Boionnnggg!" The sound of the blow was magnified inside the helmet. There would always be a loud ringing in my ears after any blow to the helmet.

JAH: You worked with legendary stuntman David Sharp on other shows?

WALLACE: I knew Davey from so many other films we worked on together. He was the best stunt man in the business. He was sensational. He was a wonderful guy, and a great athlete and acrobat. I heard a story about him that took place in World War II. He was a bombardier, and his plane took a hit, and one of the engines was disabled—it was smoking. The pilot was trying to take it in for a crash landing out in the desert somewhere. Davey opened the bombay doors, precisely judged his jump from the plane, hit the ground and rolled and tumbled on the ground, and he was fine. The plane went on ahead of him and crashed.

JAH: Tell us about Dale Van Sickel.

WALLACE: The thing I remember about Dale, is Dale would choreograph the fights. I did most of my own fights, under Dale's supervision. In today's terminology, Dale was the Stunt Coordinator, or at least the fight stunt coordinator. I had a fight scene with Clay Moore without the helmet, in a restaurant or something. Dale set the whole fight up like a ballet. Well, either Clay threw one when he shouldn't or I didn't duck in time, but he popped me in the nose, and laid it over to one side. I kept right on going, and the director called "Cut!" After realizing my nose was swelling, they piled me into the company station wagon and took me over to St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank. The doctor gave me a shot of Novocain, popped my nose back in place. I was driven back to the lot, and was given a cup of coffee and a sandwich. After the short lunch, they told me the remainder of the day's scenes would be done in the helmet so they wouldn't have to worry about shooting my proboscis. We did scenes with me with the helmet on for the next four or five days, so we wouldn't lose any time because of my swollen nose.

Tom Steele and I were also in the James Garner/Lou Gosset, Jr. picture Skin Game. That just shows you Tom's longevity in the business.  

JAH: What was it like working with the late Bob Mitchum?

WALLACE: I did two features with Bob. One was Night of the Hunter. Charles Laughton directed, Shelley Winters was in it. Bob Mitchum was the same at home as he was when the camera rolled. Bob Mitchum was Bob Mitchum. 

I heard a great story about another picture Bob was on. There was a director on there who gave the cast and crew a bad time—he was a screamer. Mitchum comes in one morning, and the director tells Mitch the scenes they're going to do first thing that morning. So Mitch asks him again which scenes they're doing, and the director says, "Scenes 43, 44, 45." Mitch says, "OK, I'll go study my sides."  The director says, "Study it!? "  Bob says, "Yeah!" The director says, "Wait a minute! You're supposed to know your lines when you come to work in the morning.  You study at home the night before!" Mitch says, "Wait a minute, wait a minute!  Nobody pays me to work at home! I get paid when I come on the set! That's when I learn the dialogue!" He already knew the dialogue, and he just took a half hour to teach the director to behave himself!  Mitch had a photographic memory.

I heard there was another incident when he was up in Colorado doing a Western. He was at a bar after the shoot one day, with the crew, and some local comes up to him and says, "Oh, you're the tough guy from Hollywood." Mitch says, "Go away, I'm trying to have a drink and relax." The guy kept baiting Mitch, saying stuff like, "Let's see how tough you are!" So finally Robert turned around and cold-cocked him. Next day the headlines of the local paper read, "Hollywood Actor Assaults Local!" Two days later, in the same paper, on the back page, was a small blurb that the guy Mitch decked was a heavyweight boxing champ in the Army.

JAH: You did a picture with Jane Russell—Drums Across the River.

WALLACE: Yes, that picture drew a lot of controversy because of the dance sequence. It had to be heavily edited because of the wardrobe. But wardrobe was always a problem when you had a Jane Russell picture—and I mean that in the nicest of ways. My wife and I did a show on Broadway with Jane Russell called Company. Jane Russell replaced Elaine Stritch. The play ran for 6 months—the New York audiences loved her. There was that period in the history of film making right around the time that Jane had done The Outlaw, where they'd really hassle you about wardrobe and provocative dances. 

JAH: You were in the remake of Destry over at Universal, weren't you?  How was Audie Murphy to work with?

WALLACE: We shot Destry up in Lone Pine. Audie Murphy was a very quiet young gentleman.  He kept to himself, didn't make friends. He was dedicated to acting, always there on time, knew his dialogue. He always had a thin piece of rope with him, a piece of rope about two feet long.  He'd walk around and tie knots in this piece of rope, and you could tell he was going over his dialogue in his head. I got to know him a little better when we had a scene together. After the scene, I'm standing there and he's looking down, tying the rope in knots. He said, "George," and I said, "Yes, Audie." He said, "The scene that we just rehearsed—is that the way you're going to do it in the take?" I said, "Yes, sir," realizing the whole time that I'm talking to the star of the show and getting a little flustered. And then I muttered, "Yes, I think so." He said, "Uh, just wanted to know," as he continued tying knots in the rope. He was putting me on, and as he walked away he was smiling.  It was just his way of having fun. 

While out on location, some of the guys in the cast and crew found out that you didn't dare knock on his door after a night of revelry at 2:30 in the morning or so. If you did, you could bet on some hot lead coming through the door! He had a bit of a temper. When I worked with him, it was hard for me to grasp the fact that he had killed something like 160 or so of the enemy during World War II. He did superhuman things like jump on top of an enemy tank, turn the gun around and annihilate the enemy crew in their own tank. From my point of view, I saw this quiet man, just walking around the set, doing his job.

JAH: Tell us how you got involved in Forbidden Planet (1956).

WALLACE: There was a man named Leonard Murphy who was one of the top casting guys at MGM. He remembered that I was a chief boson mate in the Navy. The character in Forbidden Planet was the boson. Because of that, I was called into his office, and that’s how I got the part.

JAH: The original ending of Forbidden Planet was a marriage scene, with you conducting the wedding between Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen.

WALLACE: That’s right. We shot that first, as the conclusion of the picture. Later, the studio heads felt that it didn’t play well, and cut the scene. They went back and shot the ending again.  It was my understanding that the wedding scene was not somber enough for the ending of the picture.

JAH: That film had a great group of actors in it.

WALLACE; Most people today think that Leslie Nielsen has always been a comedian—a comedic actor, that is. When we did Forbidden Planet, he was a serious actor—very straight. He did loads of straight roles after that, both on television and in the movies, everything from heroes to heavies. He was excellent at what he did, but when I saw him doing the comedy things, I couldn’t believe it! It opened up a whole new career for him.

Walter Pidgeon was a very distinguished gentleman. He had the air of an aristocrat and was very nice. He was one of the reasons why I later appeared on Broadway. (Composer) Richard Rodgers was on the lot doing Oklahoma. He came over to visit Walter—they were friends—and Rodgers mentioned that he was going to do a Broadway musical called Pipe Dream based on John Steinbeck’s book Sweet Thursday. Walter told him, “Well, you should hear George sing! He’s great!” So one day during my lunch break, I went to Rodgers’ office—with my Forbidden Planet costume on—and auditioned for him. I got the part and, when they finished the movie, I started in Pipe Dream.

JAH: Frankie Darro played Robby the Robot.

WALLACE: In the morning, until the lunch break, Robby the Robot was great. After lunch, Robby would do his scenes a little slower. He’d hit his marks, and finally he’d start falling over.  They put up with that for about three days, then they replaced (Darro). Frankie Carpenter finished the picture as Robby. (Marvin Miller provided the voice for Robby.)

JAH: You appeared with Dean Martin and Joey Bishop in 1966 on a show called Texas Across the River.

WALLACE: Our call would be 6:30 a.m. We were on location, and the cast and crew would be sitting around waiting. Around 9:30, Dean would appear, he would take a golf bag out of the back of his car, remove a mess of golf balls, get his driver from the bag and start hitting them into the middle of nowhere. He's fooling around and taking his time getting his makeup done during his golfball hitting ritual, and around 11:00 a.m. we'd actually start shooting. 

There was one scene with Joey Bishop, who played a character called Cronk. He had a black wig on. During rehearsal, a guy is supposed to get shot by an Indian's arrow, and someone was supposed to come to this guy's aid, and pull out a knife and cut his pants and take the arrow out of him so he didn't bleed to death. So during rehearsal, the guy would make a sound like tearing cloth, instead of actually cutting the guy's clothes. When the cameras rolled on the first take, he made the cutting sound instead of doing the actual cutting! In the meantime, there's 100 Indians coming down the hill. So after the poor guy blew the take, everyone had to go back up the hill, and that took an hour. 

Dean would crack up during the takes, he'd just look over at Joey Bishop and start to laugh, so take after take went by, with 100 Indians going back up the hill again! This went on for hours and hours! The director had a big white circle around his mouth, from all the antacid tablets he ate, because he was so upset that they were doing take, after take, after take! They had sequences they had to shoot of cattle who were thirsty, going to a pond and drinking water. And the cattle, who were anything but thirsty, wouldn't go near the pond! They tried to throw feed on top of the water to get the cattle to drink, and the cattle couldn't have cared less. The poor director was going out of his mind!  The cows just stood there, and instead of drinking, just mooed at the wranglers! 

JAH: You worked with James Garner and Louis Gosset, Jr., on a classic 70's film called Skin Game.

WALLACE: That was a classic flim-flam con artist comedy. The premise of that film was a white guy and a black guy used the emancipation of the blacks to do certain shady dealings with slave traders, with both of them profiting, and cooking up the scams. Lou and Jim were just great to work with. I played a slave auctioneer. I had a big handlebar mustache. There I am, the skin scalper, raffling off Lou Gosset. So I'm taking bids, and 'round the corner comes John Brown (a historical character who went around the country freeing the slaves), with all of his men, and whips the hell out of me with a horsewhip. 

Wallace, at the time of this interview had just completed work on a new Warner Brothers sitcom, All Right, Already, and it would seem that there is no end to the high-flying adventures of the screen's original Commando Cody.

In 2005, this writer had the pleasure of spending time with Mr. Wallace at the Hollywood Collectibles Show. He was hale and hearty, but unfortunately things would change quickly.  While on holiday in Pisa, Italy, he was injured in a fall, and succumbed from complications of this injury on July 22, 2005.

George was a great guy, a person you would want to have met and spent time with. He should always be remembered as a great character actor, and a great friend, and of course above all else, the original Commando Cody, Sky Marshall of the Universe, in a universe that we have no control over.

A Republic Serial in 12 Chapters, 1941

Starring Tom Tyler, Frank Coghlan, Jr.,

Louise Curry, William Benedict

Now if I were stranded on a desert island and I could only see a flick from each genre of Hollywood's Golden Age, when it came to the serial department this is the one I'd reach for every time. This could be the best sound serial ever made, and I know some would be willing to debate this point, but CAPTAIN MARVEL has everything a serial should have, and a little more.

The story is a simple one: An archeological expedition in Siam locates the tomb of the Golden Scorpion, who was a symbol of the god Scorpio. This golden idol had the power to transform mere granite to solid gold, as well as wielding a mean death ray that could melt mountains, and cause small explosions and earthquakes. Each member of the expedition except for the wise but youthful Billy Batson (effectively played by Frank Coghlin, Jr.), is given a lens from this curio to safeguard. Soon after, the party is attacked by the dastardly Scorpion, and his Siamese/Arabic henchmen. 

Back in the tomb, Billy Batson was paid a visit by a wiser-than-wise man, Shazam (Nigel DeBrulier), who pronounces him the new Captain Marvel, whose duty it is to protect the Golden Scorpion from evil-doers. This origin of Captain Marvel of the films is far different than the comic book origin of Captain Marvel, which took place in an abandoned subway tunnel.

The camp, after taking flaming spears and a wicked machine gun barrage, evacuates, leaving Billy to try out his new powers, showing the Scorpion's henchmen who's the boss by generally putting on a one-man annihilation expedition. This is some of the most thrilling serial footage ever shot, and the flying sequences (staged by the legendary Lydecker Brothers), mixed with the stunt work by the amazing Dave Sharpe, have never been duplicated, either by the ROCKETEER or the modern day Christopher Reeves SUPERMANs. 

Some of CAPTAIN MARVEL's methods may be considered too violent for today's politically correct audiences. The fact that Captain Marvel thinks nothing of picking up his enemies' machine gun and using it to mow them down, holding his antagonist over a bed of nails, or throwing them off cliffs, through doors (preferably closed!), or pulling their escaping elevator back up to the top floor of a multilevel garage and terrorizing them, might offend some.  For action/adventure hounds, this is the lure. 

William Benedict and Louise Curry are effective yet restrained in their portrayals of Captain Marvel's sidekicks. John Davidson adds Eastern intrigue in his portrayal of the archeological expedition's only Siamese member.

Each of these twelve chapters never fails to thrill. This is well photographed, beautifully directed, serial fare at its best. If you've never seen a movie serial, we would recommend that this be your first outing into the genre. 

The irony of this is that of all the people in the universe that this could have happened to, it was Steve Hodel, who just happens to have had an extensive career in law enforcement (over 23 years as a homicide detective at Hollywood Division, as well as a patrol officer on robbery detail for the LAPD, and a private investigator). If the saying is true that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, the saying is wrong in Mr. Hodel’s case because the object of his search is none other than his most revered father, Dr. George Hodel! At this point, most folks would have had a mega-meltdown and would seek out the nearest mental health care professional, but not Steve Hodel.  Instead, he began a cathartic quest which produced one of the most compelling true crime tomes of the new millennium. Meticulously researched (both visual evidence and documentation), Black Dahlia Avenger was not only a compelling page-turner but an obsessive read for this reviewer. This is due to the fact that each revelation was so shocking that the reader assumes that the information is so horrible that it can’t be topped, and that’s where the literary rug gets pulled out from under them.

This reviewer read the first edition of Black Dahlia Avenger (in hardback from Arcade Books 2003) several years ago and was thoroughly mesmerized. But this Harper paperback edition has so many additions and updates and corrections, that this is the version that true crime fans will want in their libraries.

Steve Hodel’s writing style is both informative and innovative, and the reader will feel that they are a part of the investigation as they are propelled through the seedy streets of Los Angeles of the late 1940s.

There’s a Who’s Who list of Los Angeles and Hollywood heavyweights, and a James Ellroy Forward that proclaims “Now we know who killed her and why.” Even Thad Stefan (a former LAPD, LASD, and private investigator who Helen Bessolo hired to find out who killed her son George Reeves) makes an appearance in the Dahlia fable.

There aren’t enough words to recommend this highly acclaimed book. I can only say for this writer…it blew the top of my head off!

The best thing in the serial is Ray "Crash" Corrigan’s ape portrayal, and all the mad lab equipment. Robert Lowery, George MacReady, Ralph Morgan, Carole Mathews, and Jack Ingram fare better than the script, and the pace is moderate, not anywhere near the pulse-pounding Republic serials of the day. In the end, the terrorists either watching or in this show fell asleep in the third episode.

No video availability

The Crimson Ghost

Republic 1946, 12 chapters

The Cyclotrode, an anti-nuclear device, is at the center of this Republic chapter play. A highly entertaining, atmospheric romp, with a guy in bitchin’ ghost (Crimson, that is) costume, that resembles a 1970's Don Post mask.

Why the stills of The Crimson Ghost shooting up a hapless Kenne Duncan were so popular is anybody’s guess. Maybe it was a case of Holmes asking Watson for the needle.

A better than average mid 40s Republic serial, with all the thrills one would expect from Hollywood’s most accomplished thrill factory. While soft on the foreign terrorist angle, the domestic fiddle is well played, with shadowy figures with microphones dispensing orders from remote hideouts. Henchmen, high jinx, and special effects are the focus of this serial. The post-war paranoia is almost a given, which makes this show less than terrifying. The usual serial format is employed (a group of contemporaries is plagued by a saboteur in their midst). Still, jam-packed with action, and definitely worth a look.

Out of print, on Republic Home Video.

Brick Bradford

Columbia 1947, 15 chapters

The U.N. hires Brick Bradford (traveler of space and time) to thwart an evil genius from swiping an anti-missile device, in this typical Sam Katzman serial. Bradford, officially known as "The Amazing Soldier of Fortune," transports himself to the moon and the 18^th century, throughout the not-so-steady course of 15 chapters.

The question is, did the United Nations get their money’s worth in the last reel? Probably not! Especially when time and space are being manipulated by Sam Katzman. Serial star Kane Richmond does an admirable job keeping a straight face.

Not available on commercial video.

Jack Armstrong, The All American Boy

Columbia 1947, 15 chapters

Another offering from Sam Katzman’s serial universe, but a marked step up in story and content. John Hart plays America’s favorite high schooler, who gets tangled up with a mad scientist, his ray gun, and cartoon space ship. No one then or now is going to believe John Hart was anywhere near high school age when this was made, but to Hart’s credit, his performance is thoroughly convincing (despite Katzman's cheapo production values).

Wallace Fox, who directed The Corpse Vanishes five years prior, is at the helm for these 15 chapters of mayhem.

Charlie (Ming the Merciless) Middleton has an unbilled (a clerical error) villainous role in this show, and walks away with it. Ming without makeup!

Available on V.C.I. DVDs.

Bruce Gentry—Daredevil of the Skies

Columbia 1948, 15 chapters

This third flying soldier of fortune serial is one of the better Katzman efforts. Centered around a plot to destroy the Panama Canal, Tom Neal is in top form, equaling his performance in Republic’s cliffhanger classic Jungle Girl (Republic 1941). Directed by the team who brought Superman to life on the serial screen (Spencer Bennet and Thomas Carr), and featuring animated flying saucers which were re-used in Katzman’s Atom Man vs. Superman (Columbia 1950), this is one of the more realistic of the Columbia serials.

No video availability.

Dick Barton—Special Agent

Hammer 1948

An early offering from the budding Hammer films. This picture lends no insight to the great heights that Hammer would gain in the late 50s to the mid 60s, and comes nowhere near the late 50s science fiction films such as The Creeping Unknown (Quatermass I), Enemy from Space (Quatermass II), let alone their Gothic color series of classic Universal remakes.

Routine at best, it’s connection to terrorism, old and new, is germ warfare, aka bio-terrorist attacks. Unseen germs are more terrifying today than yesterday, but this hearkens to the attacks on the Japanese subways in the 1990's

No video availability.

King of the Rocket Men

Republic 1949, 12 chapters.

It’s a sure bet that most everyone can identify with Old Bullethead. The great-grandfather of The Rocketeer was created in this 12 chapter science mystery that once again entertained Saturday matinee audiences. Set in the middle of post war paranoia, King of the Rocket Men provides a hero who needs the rocket suit for his heroics. In some ways like the Batman character, the science must outweigh the physical ability of the mortal man.

Jeff King, aptly played by veteran character man Tristram Coffin, battles with the mysterious Doctor Vulcan (I. Stanford Jolley) in what without the super-duper rocket suit, would have been a boring generic non thrilling thriller. I. Stanford Jolley’s Dr. Vulcan is a revamp of his "Crimson Ghost" in the serial of the same name, including the shadowy figure issuing orders to his subordinates.

Special effects are the selling point. Watching the Rocket Man perform aerial feats, which had only been seen in The Adventures of Captain Marvel eight years previous, is a delight for fans of antiquated scotch tape fishing line analog special effects.

Out of print on video and laser disc; available on DVD.

The Next Voice You Hear

MGM 1950

Ever wonder what the voice of God would sound like? Isn’t that what everybody is interested in? The Next Voice You Hear is a film that seems to examine all of these possibilities, and comes up with no answers. The plot is kind of simple: God decides to broadcast ambiguous messages at 8:30 p.m. on every night for 6 days. The messages were peace and love, and vague. We get one reaction from a family, aptly portrayed by James Whitmore, Nancy Davis, with a nice supporting role awarded to Jeff Corey.

This picture gives powerful implications of professing divine wisdom, but in the end it becomes a diatribe of 50s morality. An interesting look back in time, but could be offensive to some members of contemporary audiences. The terror lies in the fact God bothered to talk to the people of Earth in the first place. I wonder who paid for the airtime?

From MGM/UA Home Video on cassette.

Destination Moon

George Pal Productions 1950

While the majority of the story concentrates on the rigors of building a moon rocket, launching it, getting to the moon, and then getting back, the beginning of this show is brimming with paranoia about your-know-who and you-know-what’s getting to the moon before our Amerika. It also boasts the idea of cooperation between corporate America and the United States government, with a bit of an Orwellian spin. The astronauts don’t trust government, so they do it themselves. The start of multi-national corporations?

The space voyage and adventures on the moon more than make up for the paranoid pontifications at the start of the film, although being stuck on the moon is terrifying in and of itself.

Available on cassette and DVD.

The Flying Saucer

1950

Much ado about nothing in this show. The Russians are accused of having developed the UFOs that America is deep in hysteria over. Here is another film that is a flight of fancy, and not much else.

A secret agent tracks down a flying saucer factory somewhere in Alaska, run by a mad scientist who hopes to sell the technology of the flying disc to the American government. (And we wonder why we have such gaping state and local deficits!) Flying saucers, indeed!

An interesting curio, and available on DVD and videocassette.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Fox 1951

In today’s hip-hop culture, most of the inhabitants of Washington, D.C., would think a true landing of a UFO was most probably staged by a fast-food chain as a publicity stunt. But in 1951, Robert Wise brought to life in some ways the second coming of Christ. Or, in this case, Klaatu.

Loaded with atmosphere, superb dialogue and delivery, there is not one dead frame of film in Day the Earth Stood Still. The message is as contemporary as it was in 1951, and it would be reassuring if a Klaatu type landed in Washington, D.C. in 2004, and maybe delivered half the message of this powerfully well-crafted film.

Available on 20^th Century Fox Video and DVD.

The Thing from another World

Winchester Pictures 1951

As inspirational an entry of sheer paranoia as Day The Earth Stood Still, but for completely different reasons. Day the Earth Stood Still sported an alien who landed in the middle of the United States of America’s capitol, and walked freely among its inhabitants. The Thing from another World is the reverse—based in a remote, icy retreat. A visitor from another world who wishes not to be found is unearthed by prying military men and an obsessed scientist hell-bent on communicating with a vegetable from beyond our galaxy.

The claustrophobia and taut acting and directing make this entry a classic pixel of Red Menace Fifties paranoia. Was the carrot from Mars due to be a star witness at the House of Un-American Activities? Not likely.

Available on videocassette and Warner Brothers DVDs.

Superman and the Mole Men

Lippert 1951

This is the first Superman offering that was ever taken in a serious, adult manner. Clark Kent and Lois Lane are assigned to cover the deepest oil well in the world, in Silsby, Texas. It quickly becomes apparent that something more than oil is migrating northward from this geological expedition. Paranoia is rife as the townsfolk and the interloping reporters engage in verbal jousting matches that are camp today, and biting within their own time.

If you are a Superman fan, it is essential. If you’re a fan of the witch hunts of the McCarthy era, it could lend an interesting point of view, which most mainstream consciousness ignores. Check out the 1951 season of The Adventures of Superman (shows like "The Monkey Mystery," "Double Trouble," "The Human Bomb") for super examples of 50s paranoia resolved by the planet Krypton’s favorite son.

The Forties, the Fifties, the Sixties, and beyond the new milloonium, what’s the difference? The message is the same, yet delivered in different guises and accouterments. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and paranoid get crazier, and we pay three times as much as we did a year ago to put up with this crap. What are we to do? Learn better anger management skills? Watch more movies and become anesthetized? Or, do we take a moment and take a look inside to see who we really are, who we could be, and what is real at the end of the day. There is nothing new about terrorism, international, national, statewide, citywide, or the most terrifying of all, in between our ears, let alone the schoolyard bully who started us all on the road of terror. You be the judge. After all, we all have to live in our own realities.

I’m sitting next to John Agar, pondering my umpteenth cup of coffee, when a young girl walks up to the table and begins asking questions about John’s ex, Shirley Temple.  This is a subject that none of us have ever broached with John, because everyone in the group knows that it’s a painful subject for him. With grace, charm, and a smile, John answered all her questions without one negative comment about the former child star.  It was more than I could take; I said to the girl (trying hard not to lose my temper), “Why don’t you ask John about all the great work he’s done?  Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Revenge of the Creature, The Mole People, Sands of Iwo Jima, Tarantula.” I turned to John, who shot me an all-knowing wink and quickly shut my big mouth. Later John told me it was OK, and the girl had not offended him, but that it wasn’t easy to be in a marriage with one’s in-laws sitting on your shoulder.

Flash Forward—April 2002, Riverside National Cemetery.

Legendary movie producer A.C. Lyles is delivering John’s eulogy. Before the mourners is a large urn containing John’s and his wife’s ashes. Loretta was the love of John’s life, and the marriage lasted almost forty-nine years when she died suddenly in 1999. My mind is racing through the sixteen years of friendship John and I shared. The good times, the hard times, and everything that life has to offer in between.

One image that popped into my mind was John’s birthday party a short time after his beloved Loretta had passed away. All his friends and family were there when John stood up and announced that he lost Loretta, but he knew it would have been her wish to carry on with his birthday party. Needless to say, there wasn’t a dry eye in that room.

I remembered the first time I met John and the handshake that could bring any man to his knees.

John and his friends had some great times, and he told lots of stories of his glory days in Hollywood. Now thanks to L.C. Van Savage and John’s son, Martin. John’s story in his own words is available for all to enjoy. Generously illustrated with photos from all phases of his career and plenty of personal snapshots, this is John’s story of his journey through Tinseltown and beyond. To add another perspective is an article about John by his good friend Ed Lousararian, the editor and publisher of Wildest Westerns magazine, and two interviews with top flight science fiction scribe Tom Weaver.

There’s a complete filmography, as well as a comprehensive listing of all of John’s television credits, as well as miscellaneous projects.

It’s been five years since John passed away, and I’m sure all of his friends miss him the way I do. But with On the Good Ship Hollywood, we all can relive John’s life through his eyes.

Good night, sweet prince!

THE ANCESTORS OF TODAY’S TERRORISTS?

By Jan Alan Henderson 

According to Webster’s Dictionary, “Terror” is from Latin “terreo,” to frighten. “Terrorist”: one who rule by intimidation. “Terrorize”: to impress with terror; to repress or domineer over by means of terror. “Terrorism”: a system of government by terror; intimidation.       

Everywhere we go, in everything we do today, we are confronted with terror! Switch on the television for your daily dose of news, paranoia, and sports, and like it or not, you’ll get a dose of foreign, domestic, and technological terrorism. The question this column poses is: are the latter day mad doctors. Maniacs, and madmen the great grandfathers of today’s terrorist paranoia? Or, has everything remained the same?  Has the passage of time merely changed the accouterments through technology? Or, were Osama bin Ladin and Saddam Hussein raised on Chiller Theater, Creature Features, Weird, Weird World, and Shock Theater in the late night of their desert minds?  Could these Western cinematic delicacies have driven them to a life of crime with religious sanctuary either here or in the afterlife as the ultimate reward?  How many of our modern day domestic terrorists, many of whom probably had wet dreams and zombie fetishes over the late night shockers, actually acted on these impulses, or ended up blowing up government buildings and shooting up high schools? Could they be suffering from indigestion of the imagination? Or maybe just delusions!

Since the beginning of popular culture (cinema, records, books, plays, etc.), strong warnings have been voiced against what each generation (or its government) considered deviant, morbid, and unsuitable material. Despite the warnings, some social observers believe that horror, science fiction, and fantasy lead consumers and its creators into the devil’s domain. Many such critics have social, religious, and political backgrounds which are the origins of their criticism. In short, does media (or lack of it) influence (even if in an unconscious way) the wrongs that men do? If so, what part do the antics of our ancestors play in any of all of this? Here is a baker’s dozen checklist of wild and wacky flicks that (if stretching the imagination to the limit) could have a slender thread between the terrorists of yesterday and today. Judge for yourself!

Creeps From World War II!

1. Black Dragons (Monogram 1942)

Here is a film that is over 60 years old, that reflects World War II schizophrenia. Here, poster boy Bela Lugosi appears in a movie that seems to, and in reality does, make absolutely no sense.  (Or could make perfect sense in a convoluted netherworld such as we live in in the present day).  Lugosi is in fine form in this hair-brained monster drama, as he waxes philosophical about the world condition that is as strangely ironic and cryptic as our present day headlines. Clayton Moore, known to most on the celluloid range as the Lone Ranger on television and in the movies, has one of his most visible supporting roles in a forgotten horror—which in the present day one still comes away with a different meaning after each viewing.  Released on DVD by Alpha Home Video, Black Dragons is a tour de force of Poverty Row propaganda featuring Nazi Agent Lugosi’s quickie facelift in a Japanese prison.  Even better, the Black Dragons were a real Japanese spy ring.  This film must be seen to be believed!

2. The Mad Monster (PRC 1942)

This is a war time delicacy from the cinema of the absurd files. There is no other movie (well, maybe 10 or 12) that in the first seven minutes has a mad scientist hallucinate his former colleagues/enemies and give them a lecture on his new werewolf serum, as his helpless handyman struggles on a psychiatrist’s couch after world famous bad man George Zucco injects him with his lycanthropy juice and delivers a diatribe (to his audience of hallucinations) on how his werewolves will win World War II (with fanatical fury). What if there was an individual in the wilds of suburbia who, as we speak, was breeding a horde of werewolves to conquer our terrorist enemies in the new millooneyum? 

The problem with this film is, after Zucco’s hallucinatory speech, Glenn Strange as the hapless blond werewolf of Oshkosh does nothing more for the war effort than run around the swamps and whack out the neighbors. So much for WWII propaganda. But it’s Zucco’s performance that puts this show over the top. Johnny Downs as the long-suffering boyfriend and Anne Nagel as Zucco’s daughter are suitably terrorized. Available on Alpha DVD and Retro-Media DVD with bonus material.

3. Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (Universal 1942)

The first of the twelve Sherlock Holmes films produced by Universal, after acquiring the rights to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s master detective from 20^th Century Fox. Originally titled Sherlock Holmes Saves London, this first adventure is close to our modern day terrorism insofar as the terrorists communicate by sound recordings (records as opposed to audio and video tapes). The difference is that the messages warn of specific acts of violence, as opposed to today’s messages which are vague threats, and monologues laced with zealot ideology.

Universal’s reigning scream queen Evelyn Ankers turns in a stand-out performance as the doomed Kitty, who spies on the Nazi spies who are sabotaging prime locations in the U.K.  Henry Daniell is wasted in this show, as a member of the British Council.  His talent for villainy is better served in his other Holmes films. Playing a good guy doesn’t give Daniell much room to shine.

Based on the Conan Doyle Holmes story His Last Bow and updated to the World War II era, this flick has an ample helping of patriotism, some of which is taken directly from Conan Doyle’s pen.

Voice of Terror has been restored and released on MPI DVDs along with all the other Holmes films.

4. Sherlock Holmes in Washington (Universal 1943)

The weakest of the three World War II Homes mysteries, and not based on a Conan Doyle story, Washington is a predictable but enjoyable picture. Here the mystery revolves around missing microfilm hidden in a Victory match folder, passed around in a train and in the wilds of wartime Washington, D.C. (Lighting half the cigarettes in the nation’s capital). A good amount of footage is devoted to a motor tour of D.C. via Universal’s stock footage library. The dialogue is at times routine, and the comic relief is a bit dated.

A fine cast, again featuring the talents of George Zucco, Henry Daniell, Marjorie Lord (pre-Danny Thomas), John Archer (who played The Shadow on radio for a brief time), and Holmes Herbert.  Fun World War II fodder with little similarities between the terrors of the second World War and today’s War on Terrorism.

5. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (Universal 1942)

Here is the last of Homes’ great battles of good vs. evil during World War II. Holmes is pitted against his most dastardly enemy, Professor Moriarty, in a wartime drama based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Dancing Men. Calligraphy plays a large part in this mystery. Could Saddam and Osama be using calligraphy? Or better yet, coded messages in their audio tapes? Body language in their videos?  This movie proves that Saddam and Osama aren’t really innovators, but merely recycling ideas that maybe even they read as small children, like the rest of us.  Or maybe due to their belief systems, these materials were off limits, and they snuck a read when their parents weren’t looking.

Lionel Atwill is superb as Professor Moriarty. His reptilian eyes during his speech, where he is setting Holmes up for a reverse blood transfusion that will rob Holmes of his last drop of blood, are as exhilarating as his performance in the Universal classic Son of Frankenstein (where he portrays the one-armed Inspector Krog who as a child had his arm “torn out by the roots” by the Frankenstein monster); or Dr. X in the midst of a two-strip technicolor pile of “synthetic flesh;” or better yet, the crazed, crippled wax sculptor in Mystery at the Wax Museum.

Holmes and the Secret Weapon is one of the best entries of that series, and conveys the paranoia of World War II.

6. The Superman Cartoons (produced by Max and Dave Fleischer 1941-1943)

These animated seven to ten minute shorts from the Man of Steel’s golden age reflect the furor and intensity of today’s contemporary news reports regarding terrorism—possibly because the news reports are the same lengths and with as much exaggerated information as these Superman cartoons. In the three years since Superman’s comic book debut, the world around him, as documented in these seventeen Super Adventures, had become out of control and riddled with sloth and the paranoia of World War II.  With titles like The Bulleteers, Terror on the Midway, The Japoteurs, Destruction, Inc., and The Secret Agent, it is certain that Superman in his early years through WW II was barely a shade left of a vigilante.  Mad scientists, mechanical monsters, iron plated cars, reanimated dinosaurs, domestic terrorists, threats from outer space, threats from inner space (as in earthquakes), and mummies, oriental enemies, and a Nazi or two inhabited the First Citizen of Metropolis’s life on Earth in these lushly animated Technicolor adventures.

Restored and re-released on Bosko Video and distributed by Image Entertainment.

7. The Invisible Agent (Universal 1942)

Fifty-nine years before the Twin Towers fell, Universal took the war to the enemy. They sent contract player Jon Hall to foil a planned attack on New York City. While one can visualize the parallel universe possibilities, the emphasis of this film is war time heroics, rather than the Invisible Man legend. It’s a grand showcase for special effects wizard John P. Fulton, none the less.

Ilona Massey plays a double agent who fools Jon Hall up til the show’s climax, and Hall fools Third Reich officers Sir Cedric Hardwicke and J. Edward Bromberg. Peter Lorre has a choice character role as a high ranking Japanese official who takes the honorable way out after failing to defeat Jon Hall’s Invisible One. All this from the imaginative brain and screenplay of famed storyteller Curt Siodmak.

Available on DVD from Universal Home Video on the Legacy Invisible Man Collection.

8. The Batman (A Columbia Serial in 15 Chapters, 1943)

The Batman makes his cinematic debut among Japanese spies and horrendous racism. In its day, this was hardcore propaganda, but today it plays as antiquated silliness. When it was re-released in 1966 to hype the Adam West Batman TV show, it was shown under the banner of An Evening with Batman and Robin (all 15 Bat Chapters at one sitting). 

Running over four hours in length, the audiences hooted, howled, and rolled in the aisles as Batman and Robin made hilarious attempts to battle the (over emphasized) oriental evil of villain Doctor Daka, played by J. Carrol Naish (an Irishman, not from the Irish section of Tokyo).  Some of the fights are amateurish to say the least.  In one, Batman steps on his cape, tears it off, and continues fighting sans cape, as if nothing had happened. Holy Continuity, Batman! It looks as if these fights were free-for-alls instead of the gloriously choreographed fights featured in Republic serials.

Naish, while participating in this lowest of low art forms (movie serials), was nominated for an Academy Award for his work in Sahara, the same year as Batman.  Naish essayed Charlie Chan for television in the early 50's, and was a member of the Devil’s Brood as the hunchback Daniel in Universal’s eternally popular House of Frankenstein.

In a semi-logical subplot, veteran bad guy Charles Middleton pays Batman and Robin a visit.  Rich from a Radium strike, Ken Colton (Middleton) dies doing battle with Dr. Daka’s thugs, providing viewers with some of the best Batman action in this serial, which over the decades has been labeled everything from laughable to racially offensive.

What does this have to do with terrorism of the present day?  Doctor Daka’s operation was run from an innocent-looking Tunnel of Love ride in plain sight!  A World War II terrorist cell in Gotham City.  Holy Paranoia!, Batman, the Tunnel of Love!

Available on Columbia DVDs

9. The Return of the Vampire (Columbia 1943)

This film has to be high up on Lugosi fiends’ top ten lists. Here is one of the first examples of the teaming of two titans of terror under one cinematic awning. While the year before, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman pit mechanical monster (Frankenstein) against mythology (the Wolfman), Return of the Vampire might be the first teaming of a lycanthrope and a vampire. This far-out scenario revolves around two civil defense workers cleaning out a bombed-out London graveyard, and reanimating Lugosi, who in turn re-lychanthropes the protagonist’s assistant, making this a most unique World War II horror flick. It’s hard to imagine that any readers haven’t seen Return of the Vamp but if you haven’t, the blend of the Columbia backlot’s London and this werewolf and vampire tale is sure to amuse, if not become a favorite.

The propaganda is kept at a low profile, while the lighting, art direction, and cinematography are top-notch.  Some Lugosi fans have told this writer over the years that they feel Return of the Vampire is a more effective Lugosi film than Dracula (an opinion I do not share).  It is a definite top ten Lugosi favorite, effectively blending a horror story within the World War II ambiance.

Available on Columbia DVDs.

10. King of the Zombies (Monogram 1941)

One of the first pictures to feature renegade Nazis on a remote island (others being She Demons and Madman of Mandoras, aka They Saved Hitler’s Brain.). Dick Purcell, John Archer, and Mantan Morland are stranded on Henry Victor’s Zombie infested island, which in the reality of the Monogram jungle is a Nazi outpost.  Victor’s role of Dr. Miklos Sangre was originally intended for Lugosi. Instead, Lugosi did Invisible Ghost, which originally had working titles of The Maniac, Murder by the Stars, The Phantom Monster, and began production as The Phantom Killer.  King of the Zombies was released a month after The Invisible Ghost (May 1941), and could be considered a horror comedy, due to Mantan’s buffoonery and semantic samurai antics.  The wartime Nazi angle hovers on the periphery of the plot, which revolves around Mantan’s frantic attempts to avoid being “zombified.” 

Purcell and Archer are highly effective in their dual good guy roles, and the production and cinematography are of better than average Monogram vintage.

Available on VHS from various companies, and on DVD from Roan (out of print) and Alpha DVD.

11. Ghost on the Loose (Monogram 1943)

Once again the Germans get hammered, verbally, physically, and metaphorically, when they meet up with Monogram’s best homeland security (or insecurity if you prefer), the Eastside Kids.  Led by Leo Gorcey, who has a shotgun mouth full of malaprops, Lugosi and his Poverty Row Nazis are run ragged by the world’s oldest teenagers. The plot would seem to be born out of leftover bathtub gin from Prohibition. The unwitting Nazis live next door to some nosy neighbors who just sold their house to Huntz Hall’s sister (played by Ava Gardner in one of her first screen roles) and Rick Vallin. The nasty Nazis are cranking out propaganda leaflets on a mini printing press, and seem to have no more threatening weapons of mass destruction other than the press and the subversive literature. Sam Katzman most probably wouldn’t have coughed up the dough for any WMDs. From Ghosts on the Loose there is the only Lugosi blooper known to exist, where the black kid, played by Sunshine Sammy Morrison (Hal Roach alumni), is dusting what he thinks to be a picture, but is in truth Lugosi spying on him through an empty frame.  Lugosi sneezes and proclaims “Oh, shit!” While it sounds like Lugosi’s voice, at the same time it definitely sounds looped. This could have been Bela’s way to express his opinion about the quality of this movie! We’ll never know.

If you’re a fan of the East Side Kids, it’s a fun romp, highlighted by Leo Gorcey laying out some of his most delicious mutilations of the King’s English. Example: Stanley Stash Clemens and Sunshine Sammy steal a funerary wreath from a gangster’s wake. They present it to Leo, who after close examination (and finding out the truth), proclaims “It’s sacrilerious!”  Another In-joke is Huntz Hall’s visit to the police station, talking to veteran character man Jack Mulhall about the need for security at his sister’s wedding, due to threats “by the Katzman mob”. Another film with low boilage on the World War II propaganda, and more concentration on the sight gags.

Available on VHS from several companies, DVD from Roan (out of print) and from Alpha DVD.

12. Spy Smasher - a Republic serial in 12 chapters (1942)

Nazi saboteurs are infiltrating our America, and softening our defenses. Luckily for our side, Spy Smasher is on the job.  Based on the Spy Smasher character’s appearance in Whiz and Spy Smasher comics, the story takes place shortly before the outbreak of World War II.  

Serial veteran Kane Richmond plays a dual role as Spy Smasher and his twin brother, Jack, who take on Nazi super-villain The Mask. This serial is loaded with Lydecker special effects; some of the greatest fight scenes ever committed to chapter play film; and a taut, believable story (insofar as movie serials are based on very little plot and high action content). One of this reviewers top three Republic serials, with an unusual twist that one of the protagonists actually dies, stays dead, and is not revived in a future chapter.

Video availability is dodgy. Nostalgia Merchant released it on video in the early 80's. Republic Video and N.T.A. Video released it several times after that.  It is now a well out of print, and a sought after item on eBay.

13. The Masked Marvel - a Republic serial in 12 chapters (1943)

After losing the rights to produce a  Superman serial (the plot for which Republic wisely recycled into The Mysterious Dr. Satan, which substituted The Copperhead, a Republic creation, for the Superman character), Republic created their second original character with the Masked Marvel.  In his one and only serial outing, the Masked Marvel battles the dastardly Japanese spy Sakima, played by Little Rascals veteran Johnny Arthur ( non-Oriental), in what is basically a reworking of the plot line of the first Lone Ranger serial (Republic 1938). 

Five insurance investigators, who all happen to be wearing the same gray suit throughout the 12 chapters, are the focus of the mystery of which one is the Masked Marvel, while doing battle in a myriad of some of Republic’s standout fights, pulse-pounding effects, and somewhat dubious original ideas for a Republic homegrown character. If the viewer can get into a 40's vibe while watching this serial, the rewards are great. 

A terrific supporting cast, including Louise Currie (co-star of The Adventures of Captain Marvel, The Ape Man, and Voodoo Man), William Forrest, Anthony Warde, and due to a clerical error, the unbilled stunt man/character actor Tom Steele, who portrayed the Masked Marvel throughout the 12 chapter duration.

Another example of enemy cells creeping into the Homeland, only to be repelled by the homegrown superhero, the Masked Marvel.  While pretty straightforward and lacking the propaganda and inflammatory racial content of Columbia’s The Batman serial, The Masked Marvel can be viewed for sheer thrills alone.

The Masked Marvel, like Spy Smasher, was released on videotape in the 80s and is highly collectible, with no planned DVD release.

END BIT : So what does all this editorial diatribe mean at the end of the day in our terror-stricken new millennium? What it means is that there is nothing new under the sun. There are only different ways to view information.  While the terrorism of World War II seemed to follow the Queensbury Rules of Boxing, the terrorists of modern times have no rules at all. This includes domestic terrorism, international terrorism, and the terrorism that is in between our own ears.  For all of our technological advances, a review of cinema culture and other archeological information reveals as a civilization, we haven’t progressed that much.  Or should we say, not as much as our collective conscious egos would have us believe. In reality, the only changes we can make to end terrorism of all sorts, begins within.

With Halloween over with, and the holidays upon us, Larry Thomas Ward and Noel Neill have given us a beautiful holiday present in Beyond Lois Lane. A visual history of Noel's career outside of and including the Superman mythology, this coffee table hardback book is going to be a must for every Noel Neill fan worldwide.

Illustrated in glorious color with reviews and anecdotes punctuating these to-die-for photographs, this is more than a coffee table book, but a grand tribute and an inside look into Noel's multi-decade career.

Reasonably priced at $24.95 (while most coffee table volumes command $50) this is sure to please all GR fans and Noel Neill enthusiasts for years to come.

Released this week, and available from Nicholas Lawrence Books, this tome is a classic cornerstone in Larry Thomas Ward's Noel Neill biographies, which now have become staples on the collectible market.

So thank you, Larry and Noel, for sharing your memories, photographs, and giving Lois Lane and Superman fans an inside look at the life and times of the First Lady of Metropolis.

More than highly recommended.