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Watching Any Good Serials?
Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,306 Views)
panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Marvelous Columbia archival material has shown up in the last ten years, so I wonder too. There doesn't seem to be anybody in a position to know who's willing to discuss it. How 'bout it, Mr. G? Wanna pick up that phone?
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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riddlerider
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toddgault
Nov 23 2009, 09:41 AM
RR, Lord's character is explained in the last chapter of Radio Patrol, and one bit of warning, if you didn't like his character before, you'll really hate him when you learn his "real identity".

Todd, I've seen RADIO PATROL several times over the years, so I'm aware that Lord's position in the plot is explained at the end. I just think it's bad form -- and reflects careless scripting -- to introduce potentially confusing characters and elements into the early chapters of a serial without any hint of their origin or purpose. The Mascots are notorious for this sort of thing, but Universal was generally pretty good about avoiding it.
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riddlerider
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JazzGuyy
Nov 23 2009, 11:05 AM
I seem to remember reading tha Columbia didn't take very good care of some of its secondary archive material or is my memory mixing it up with another studio?
JazzGuyy, Columbia donated many if not most of their old 35mm negatives and fine grains to the Library of Congress way back when, retaining the right to access them whenever necessary. In the late Seventies LoC printed up a master list (a book, really) of its archival holdings, and I was able to score a copy. That's how I learned that the Library had 35mm material on such serials as MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN, TERRY AND THE PIRATES, THE PHANTOM, CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT, and BRENDA STARR -- all of which were considered "lost" serials back in those days.

Unfortunately, it now costs a whole lotta money to strike new 35mm prints, and the five-hour length of Columbia serials makes them particularly expensive to preserve or restore, even if the original elements survive in decent condition. As far as I know, the only ones that have been printed in recent decades are BATMAN and THE SHADOW. Columbia also has on hand some old 35mm circulation prints of serials re-released during the '50s and '60s, like THE IRON CLAW (which was shown in its entirety at Cinecon over a period of several years) and THE MONSTER AND THE APE. I think they might have a 35mm GREEN ARCHER, too.

I've mentioned this before on another thread, but when Sony's Mike Schlesinger was still in charge of repertory bookings, he put together a major retrospective of Columbia's output for a Los Angeles revival house. He wanted to include one serial, preferably the studio's best, and he asked me for a recommendation. Naturally, I said THE SPIDER'S WEB, and he scheduled it. But it turned out that the only 35mm print Columbia had on hand was a scratchy and splicy one -- far too beat up to make an acceptable video master, even if they wanted to do so. And nobody over there thinks that the serials have any real market value, so they're not likely to spend the ten or fifteen grand it would cost to strike new prints from negatives stored at LoC.

I suspect that if Sony releases a serial on DVD it'll be THE SHADOW, and probably not until the upcoming Shadow movie is produced and released. I'd be very surprised if they brought any out before then. Schlesinger planned to include some odd chapters on the Sam Katzman box set, but I didn't get that one so I don't know if he was successful.



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JazzGuyy
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I know the LoC had a big project to digitize their collection. Does anyone know if this extended to their film, audio and video holdings? If it is the case, is there any possibility some of this material could emerge in digital form at some point in time?
TANSTAAFL!
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riddlerider
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JazzGuyy
Nov 24 2009, 09:00 AM
I know the LoC had a big project to digitize their collection. Does anyone know if this extended to their film, audio and video holdings? If it is the case, is there any possibility some of this material could emerge in digital form at some point in time?
Anything is possible. Likely is another story.

LoC is not easy to deal with under any circumstances, but in many cases they are bound by donor restrictions. This applies not only to copyrighted material donated by Hollywood studios but also to some public-domain films donated by individuals. Under such agreements, LoC is not allowed to disseminate copies, digital or otherwise, without the express permission of the donor. Many other p. d. titles can be purchased on film or tape if you're willing to pay the archive's exorbitant transfer fees. One private collector paid thousands of dollars for a digital master of the 1919 serial TRAIL OF THE OCTOPUS, which at some point will be offered for sale.

Another ambitious and rather unscrupulous collector/dealer, known to many Balconeers, posed as the head of a museum and was able to secure waivers from donors by claiming that he ran an educational non-profit institution and wanted copies of certain serials for his museum's archive. In this way he was able to access 35mm Columbia material deposited in the Library's vaults. The serials he acquired in this manner have since been released commercially on DVD, with the exception of BRENDA STARR, which is incomplete.
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panzer the great & terrible
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That's great news about Trail of the Octopus. Hope I live long enough; but if I don't, hey, the trail of an octopus is probably kinda slimy.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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toddgault
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RR wrote

"Another ambitious and rather unscrupulous collector/dealer, known to many Balconeers, posed as the head of a museum and was able to secure waivers from donors by claiming that he ran an educational non-profit institution and wanted copies of certain serials for his museum's archive. In this way he was able to access 35mm Columbia material deposited in the Library's vaults. The serials he acquired in this manner have since been released commercially on DVD, with the exception of BRENDA STARR, which is incomplete."

Ignoring the unethical aspect of the way this person obtained access to the films and is now selling copies, what are the legal ramifications of the act. Could the donors sue for having been mislead and have all of the DVD''s confiscated and destroyed? Or is it too late since they gave permission to allow this person to make a copy?
Todd Gault..........Serial Buff
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rodney
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He sold transfers of the films to VCI for use.

My understanding, based on attempts to secure a print of Brenda Starr for the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention is that Columbia is aware of the breach, but they don't consider it worth pursuing.

In short, they don't think they'd make any money off of releasing them on their own.
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panzer the great & terrible
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And they're right. So why not make the negs (or prints) available to entrepreneurs? What's wrong with making a few bucks on less than an hour's work by one employee who isn't even on your own payroll? And hasn't technology progressed beyond striking a 35mm print: can't you go neg to computer now? Granted, it would take some time, but it sure wouldn't cost thousands: just some dedication on one person's part.

Very sorry to hear about The Spider's Web. That's a real loss.
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andarius
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In Batman and Robin, Robert Lowery and John Duncan actually go through the grandfather clock into the Batcave - never noticed that before! :D
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toddgault
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They were always shown from the side entering and exiting the cave, so it was kind of hard to tell that it was a grandfather clock. I always like in Batman that Wilson and Croft would have to hold the pendulum aside whenever they went through the clock. It always struck as being both absurd and realistic. It would make more practical sense to just have the whole clock move away from the entrance, yet is brilliant because who would think to actually look inside the clock for a secret passage.
Todd Gault..........Serial Buff
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Zodiac
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RR- is there a new Shadow feature in the works?
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andarius
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toddgault
Nov 27 2009, 06:50 AM
They were always shown from the side entering and exiting the cave, so it was kind of hard to tell that it was a grandfather clock. I always like in Batman that Wilson and Croft would have to hold the pendulum aside whenever they went through the clock. It always struck as being both absurd and realistic. It would make more practical sense to just have the whole clock move away from the entrance, yet is brilliant because who would think to actually look inside the clock for a secret passage.
Yes, I also thought it was a nice touch when Lewis Wilson moved the pendulum to one side.

In Batman Strikes Back! you see Robery Lowery in his Batman costume without his cowl AND there's a great scene where he's defenestrated - remember that from when I was NINE! :D

Much more realistic than the poor effect of Holmes and Moriarity dangling from a wire on the Reichenback Falls in the usually excellent Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series.

And, OMG, I dreamt I spoke to Robert Lowery!

What with singin' and twangin' I may be losin' it BIG TIME! :D
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riddlerider
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Zodiac
Nov 27 2009, 04:19 PM
RR- is there a new Shadow feature in the works?

Yes, although I haven't heard anything about it in many months now. It's being produced by Michael Uslan, the former DC Comics writer who made a successful transition to Hollywood and has worked on some very successful superhero movies, including BATMAN BEGINS. Sam Raimi was to direct, although I don't know if he's still attached to the project. Reportedly the film will be far more faithful than previous efforts to the character's pulp incarnation, but I'll believe that when -- and if -- I see it.

This project has been in the works for several years already. When I first heard about it, the picture was tentatively scheduled for a 2010 release. Apparently it's been pushed back to 2012. But even if it never sees the light of a projector lamp, we can credit it with getting the Shadow novels back into print: Conde Nast recruited Tony Tollin to publish his reprint series to stave off internet pirates and protect the Shadow trademark in anticipation of the multi-million-dollar licensing deals to come.
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Black Tiger
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Healthy skepticism is warranted. Uslan produced some excellent superhero movies like the Tim Burton Batman and Batman Returns and Christopher Nolan Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

He also produced the Schumacher Batman & Robin, Batman Forever, Halle Berry Catwoman and the odious Frank Miller Spirit.

The key to the Shadow's success is to keep the director a talented guy like Sam Raimi and out of the hands of the schlockmeisters.
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