Review: The Purple Monster Strikes (1945)

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Review: The Purple Monster Strikes (1945)
Topic Started: Sep 27 2005, 09:21 AM (208 Views)
Laughing Gravy	Sep 27 2005, 09:21 AM Post #1
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook! Posts: 11,459 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	By 1945, Republic Studios had this serial-making business down pat. A handsome hero who looked enough like Ralph Byrd (to match stock footage) or Dave Sharpe (or one of the other Republic stuntmen), a colorful villain, a pretty girl, some hapless villainous underlings, and a mysterious (and often atomic-powered) device to get the plot rolling, and you had enough entertainment for 12 to 15 weeks, easy. Not to denigrate the results; although there are clinkers in the canon during this period, many mid-’40s Republics – including The Purple Monster Strikes – are slick, fast-moving, exciting, and fun. A famous astronomer, Dr. Cyrus Layton, sees a strange meteor land near his observatory (called the Scientific Foundation, and brilliantly portrayed by Griffith Observatory). The meteor is actually a ship from Mars, and Dr. Layton greets its lone occupant, Earth’s first interstellar visitor, warmly. The good doctor advises his guest that he, too, has been working on a rocketship capable of interplanetary travel, and shows him the plans. “This is the PROUDEST DAY of my life!” Dr. Layton gushes. “Unfortunately, it’s also the last day!” the Martian sneers. Turns out he’s none other than the Purple Monster, vanguard of a massive invasion force that is going to bring the full brunt of superior Martian technology against the Earth. Uh, well, that is, as soon as they get their hands on Layton’s plans, because Martian rocketships can only crash; they can’t take off again and return to Mars. The Purple Monster (nobody ever calls him “the Purp” or refers to this serial as PMS, so we’ll henceforth do both) kills Layton with Martian gas, and then turns himself into a phantom and assumes the scientist’s body. Okay, this is a 15-episode serial, so let’s speed things along. The Purp enlists the assistance of an American gangster named Garrett to help him get the various doodads he needs to complete the rocketship he’s building in the observatory basement. Garrett is thwarted at every turn, however, by handsome, dashing hero Craig Foster, two-fisted investigator for the Scientific Foundation, and Sheila Layton, the professor’s lovely niece, neither of whom suspect that the Purp they are battling and the Uncle they are consulting are one and the same. In the end, the rocketship is completed, and there’s a ferocious final battle between Foster and the Purp, with the fate of civilization as we know it hanging in the balance. One of the best things about PMS is the cast; as mentioned, by this time Republic wasn’t often picky about its leading men (see Manhunt of Mystery Island for a good example). Dennis Moore is excellent, however, as Craig Foster, able to handle both the lines and the action. The wonderful Roy Barcroft gets one of his best chapterplay roles as the Purp, and it’s always delightful to spend some time with Linda Stirling, although – after her leading roles as Zorro’s Black Whip and The Tiger Woman – the “damsel in distress” bit doesn’t really suit her. Unfortunately, James Craven is rather wasted as Dr. Layton. In the Columbia serials, he’s a scene-chewer par excellence, barking orders to his men and railing when they fail, but in the Republics he’s always more subdued. He tends to shrug off each setback with a “Well, we’ll do better next time.” There’s also a brief appearance by the lovely Mary (Mrs. Clayton) Moore, as a second Martian emissary who joins the serial halfway through to give us a really, really special catfight with Ms. Stirling. Besides the fact that Martian flight technology has only advanced to the “crash” stage, there are some other humorous plotholes on the serial's road. The Purp’s gangsters are dedicated to him for no apparent reason; there’s certainly nothing in it for them. And when the Purple Monster calls the Emperor of Mars on his official Republic Studios interstellar walkie-talkie, he introduces himself as “The Purple Monster”. You would think his Martian name would be Xandor’r or 37890-X or something, but no. Apparently tossing back a few Martian brewskis with his buds back home, he’s still called the Purple Monster. The Purple Monster Strikes was the end of an era for Republic, the studio’s final 15-chapter serial (up to that point, as a rule, the studio released four serials annually, two of 12 episodes and two of 15). It was co-directed by Spencer Bennet, who knew how to direct a serial and keep the action flowing and the pace taut, and Fred C. Brannon, who didn’t. Although there would be good Republic serials in the future (particularly The Crimson Ghost, 1946, and King of the Rocket Men, 1949), Republics had clearly “jumped the shark” and more and more attention would be paid to matching up existing stock footage rather than creating new thrills for the young audience. PMS would be remade in 1951 as Flying Disc Man from Mars, and the Purp himself would resurface as Retik, would-be conqueror from the moon, in Radar Men from the Moon (1952). In 1966, on the heels of the Batman craze, Republic edited many of its serials down to feature length for TV, and PMS became D-Day on Mars.



Pa Stark	Sep 27 2005, 05:40 PM Post #2
Charter Member Posts: 496 Group: Members Member #30 Joined: September 5, 2005	Nobody can write a review with the humor that you manage to do, Gravy. Another plus to THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES is that there are as many great Lydecker miniatures going us in flames as there were in KING OF THE MOUNTIES and G-MEN VS. THE BLACK DRAGON. My favorites were the rocket going through the roof and exploding in chapter one, the car-truck collision in chapter three, and the exploding warehouse in chapter 14. Here is another question for all of you. Did this or Republic's previous two 15 chapter serials have any stock footage in them?
	Honest and Lovable Pa Stark


Laughing Gravy	Sep 27 2005, 08:39 PM Post #3
Look for In The Balcony on Facebook! Posts: 11,459 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	I dunno (and for those of you wondering, the two 15-episode Republic serials before PMS were Haunted Harbor and Manhunt of Mystery Island), but probably!



igsjr	Sep 28 2005, 04:27 AM Post #4
Nostalgia blogger Posts: 1,228 Group: Members Member #40 Joined: September 7, 2005	The Purple Monster Strikes is one of the first serials that I bought on VHS (along with Spy Smasher and The Masked Marvel) and it's hands down my favorite "guilty pleasure" serial. The fact that the Purp is able to land on this planet and yet needs to steal a rocket to return just makes me bust a gut for some reason. (I also like that PM has no sophisticated weaponry with which to subdue the Earthlings--he must resort to a good old-fashioned Republic donnybrook.)
	"Life is in color--but black-and-white is more realistic..." -- Samuel Fuller, director So many DVDs...so little time...


rodney	Sep 28 2005, 02:22 PM Post #5
Charter Member Posts: 1,394 Group: Members Member #3 Joined: September 2, 2005	I just finished this one myself! I liked it well enough, though the ending was a little weak. Now I'm on KING OF THE FOREST RANGERS.
	You bring the ducks!


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