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| Watching Any Good Serials? | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,406 Views) | |
| riddlerider | Aug 23 2007, 12:25 PM Post #271 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Gravy, with everything that's been written about THE LONE RANGER, you really don't know which character is under the mask? Anyway, dubbing the Ranger's voice was not a post-production afterthought. It was planned from the beginning, partially to conceal the "suspect"'s identity and partially to give the Ranger a more imposing vocal presence. Bletcher was cast after the unit returned from location shooting in Lone Pine but while principal photography was still underway. Bill Witney always referred to him as "fat little Billy" and swore the guy weighed more than 200 pounds, but he clearly misremembered what Bletcher looked like. I think he added another 50 or 60 pounds to Bletcher's weight because it made for a better story whenever he recalled how the Ranger's "voice" was cast. That's Yak under the mask in the riding and fighting scenes. He also doubles the Ranger in much of the second-unit footage, even speaking lines that Bletcher overdubbed in post. For example, he appears throughout a lengthy sequence from one of the later chapters, in which the Ranger takes Blanchard and his daughter on a wild stagecoach ride. And it's Yak under the mask whenever the Ranger does that neat draw in which he twirls both guns as he yanks them out of their holsters. Witney also loved telling how Yak, who chewed tobacco, would forget that he was wearing those skirted masks while making ZORRO RIDES AGAIN and THE LONE RANGER, and spit into the skirts. (I actually asked Yak about this the first time I met him; he just waved a hand dismissively and said ruefully, "Ahhhhh, those goddamned masks . . . ") It's been said that each of the five actors playing the Ranger suspects shot scenes while under the mask, supposedly to make the guessing game more interesting. I don't buy it. I've seen the serial four times and HI-YO SILVER maybe a dozen times, and I've never noticed anybody under the mask other than Yak and . . . uh, the actor who turns out to be the Ranger at the end. I don't know for certain if Graser supplied the numerous cries of "Hi-Yo, Silver," but I have no problem believing that he did. |
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| Laughing Gravy | Aug 23 2007, 01:03 PM Post #272 |
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I probably read who ends up as the Ranger at some time or other, but either didn't pay attention or don't remember. I do know it ain't the one suspect who's dead already (Ten Little Indians this ain't) and it ain't Herman Brix because if it were Herman I'm sure I'd remember that. Leaves three guys to suspect. If I had to guess, I would guess it's gonna turn out to be Lee Powell, but that's based on nothing more than the fact that he's the best-known name in the cast, and playing the Lone Ranger is how you get to be the best-known name in 70-year-old cast. I never thought I'd ever actually see this serial, 'cause I didn't want to settle for watching an unwatchable print. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| mort bakaprevski | Aug 23 2007, 01:21 PM Post #273 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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Gravy, you are right about the identity of The Lone Ranger. It is NOT Barry Fitzgerald!!! |
| "Nov Shmoz Ka Pop." | |
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| The Batman | Aug 23 2007, 07:05 PM Post #274 |
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Charter Member
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Finished off THE LOST CITY this week, and due to the really good print from VCI, I really enjoyed it this time around. A couple of chapters into THE MYSTERIOUS DR. SATAN and lovin' it. |
| Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman! | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Aug 28 2007, 10:21 PM Post #275 |
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Watched the latest episode of Scouts to the Rescue tonight. Here's an alternative to a recap chapter: spend several minutes with the characters going "Look at that!" and then cut to stock footage. "Look at those horses!" somebody says, and we cut to a shot of horses. "And there's more over there!" another scout replies. Cut to a shot of more horses. "Look at THAT big buck!" the sister cries. Cut to a shot of more horses. And on and on. Got to be funny. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Sep 1 2007, 06:00 AM Post #276 |
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Watched the latest chapter of The Invisible Monster yesterday; good ol' Stanley Price referred to himself as "The Invisible Phantom Ruler". It occured to me that nobody's said "the invisible monster" in this serial to date, and he's not much of a monster (or a phantom ruler), is he? I wonder if this serial wasn't due to be called The Invisible Phantom. Or am I just paranoid? In any case, if you need to have a giant searchlight shining on you, you're hardly invisible, are you? Not only that, but Price's incessant speeches about how he's going to "take over the community" with his invisible army is hilarious, considering he can't even work out a plan to do ANYTHING right. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Sep 1 2007, 07:37 AM Post #277 |
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Mouth Breather
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I love that serial. Fred Brannon's finest hour. Silliest damn thing ever. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Sep 4 2007, 07:40 AM Post #278 |
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It is! The Invisible Monster ("If I could only figure out a way to rob this bank, I could take over the community!"), Panther Girl of the Kongo ("Watch out for that chick in the short skirt -- she's got crabs. Or lobsters, rather") and The Black Widow ("Oy! Ven I do that chair thing -- what a pain in my tookis!") are three hilariously entertaining serials that while technically not "good" in the way that Daredevils of the Red Circle, for example, is, are still highly enjoyable. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| rodney | Sep 4 2007, 12:25 PM Post #279 |
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Charter Member
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I'm enjoying the Restored Serials copy of Captain America. All I have to do is pretend that I'm watching some other super hero, one with a gut not unlike my own who still manages to get around pretty well, and it's a lot of fun! |
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| Laughing Gravy | Sep 9 2007, 07:04 PM Post #280 |
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Wonderful, unforgettable dialog from tonight's episode of The Invisible Monster: "If they can use a dog, we can too. Let's go find one." |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| Sgt Saturn | Sep 10 2007, 06:17 AM Post #281 |
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Charter Member
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I'm currently watching The Secret Code -- the Restored Serials version with the code breakers in the proper place. |
| The Ol' Sarge | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Sep 15 2007, 05:58 AM Post #282 |
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Well, the FNF gang watched the first episode of The Spider Returns last night, and it seemed to go over... okay. Or maybe that's colored by my opinion of it; after hearing so much about this serial, I thought the first chapter was only... okay. Very talky. I thought the interplay between the various hoods was funny, and the serial itself was very much in the mood of the Spider pulps I'm reading -- masked mystery villain who fronts a large, well-financed organization threatened by the Spider. It's always fun to see Warren Hull as Blinky, too, although we would've liked to have a seen a bit more of the guy in hat and cape this episode. I am hoping further chapters will be more exciting. And I've got li'l pointy party hats for the FNFers to wear when we get to chapter six... |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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| witneyenglish | Sep 15 2007, 09:02 AM Post #283 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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You'll be seeing a lot of Blinky in this one. |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Sep 15 2007, 12:30 PM Post #284 |
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Mouth Breather
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Don't worry, Mr. G: you'll like this one. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| Laughing Gravy | Sep 17 2007, 08:06 PM Post #285 |
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Watched chapter 10 of The Invisible Monster tonight -- an economy chapter in which the villain, over on one set, reminisces with his gang while the hero, on another set, goes over some things that happened earlier with his boss. What are the odds of THAT?!? Good ol' Stanley Price may well be the most realistic serial villain EVER: there's no doubt that he'd be as ineffective as a gang leader as he appears to be in this film. |
| "I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley | |
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