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Watching Any Good Serials?
Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,402 Views)
Frank Hale
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The 1937 version has Monte Blue, Jean Rogers, and great cars.

Next question.
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Pa Stark
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I think the appeal of the 45 version to me is that it is a lot more of a modern filming style than the 37 one. Scott Kolk has an old fashioned look about him, where Lloyd Bridges was at home in modern movies. The 37 version, like RADIO PATROL and RED BARRY have badly dated direction, photography, staging, and editing. They are not bad serials by any means, they just don't translate very well now.
BTW Riddle Rider, you mentioned the 45 version as being a talkfest. What do you think about ADVENTURES OF SMILIN' JACK? I say it is Universal's worst talkathon.
I watched MONSTER AND THE APE once and thought there were some well staged fights. I saw chapter two before I saw the entire serial and thought it was a very good chapter, lots of action.
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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marlin lee
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I certainly like the '37 version possibly even more than the '45 version. The '45 version has a way better hero in Lloyd Bridges and better production values. But overall I prefer the characters in the '37 version with Jean Rogers, Monte Blue, and Henry Brandon. I also like much of the plot. At the start of the serial the motives of several of the characters are unclear and it takes most of the first part of the serial to sort them out. I find it a more invloved plot than many serials.
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Black Tiger
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Overall I enjoyed the story of the first X-9 more. The supporting cast, the villains, the criminal's hideout on the tourist pirate ship the lovely and mysterious Jean Rogers and the always good Henry Brandon get a good grade from me. Where this serial really fails is in the casting of the extremely bland Scott Kolk. Lloyd Bridges makes a far better X-9 in the second serial. I really liked the first chapter of the second serial, but as has been mentioned here, the plot kind of disappears after that. But the production values are slicker in the second one and it's still worth getting as well. Neither of these will stand out as Universal's best like the Flash Gordons or Gangbusters. Still they are enjoyabe in their own way.
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Laughing Gravy
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Black Tiger
Nov 1 2007, 10:25 PM
Neither of these will stand out as Universal's best like the Flash Gordons or Gangbusters.

I rank the '45 as one of Universal's best.
"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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DickFlint
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I agree with LG on this one. The 1945 version of Secret Agent X-9 is one of Universal's best. It is a true spy vs. spy tale, with moves and countermoves by each side. It is amazing that this serial came so late inthe Universal serial cycle. Universal was out of the serial business in the next year, 1946.
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riddlerider
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Laughing Gravy
Nov 2 2007, 05:07 AM
I rank the '45 as one of Universal's best.

Yes, we know, Gravy; you've said that before. But why? What, specifically, makes it one of Universal's best? I'm not as smart as you; please break it down for me. :rolleyes:
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Laughing Gravy
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My MENSA membership qualifies me to give blanket statements like "this is one of Universal's best" without having to give specific examples.

However, since you asked...

(a) "One of Universal's best serials" is damning with faint praise. Once you get past the first couple of Flash Gordons, Ace Drummond, Smilin' Jack, Junior G-Men, Gang Busters, and a handful of others, you are talking about mediocre serials filled with stock footage from the silent era, at least amongst the Universals I've seen.

(B) Specifically referring to X-9 '45, as already mentioned, it's got a fine cast. In the entire pantheon of sound serials, you've got damn few leading men who create anything resembling a memorable performance... Jack Holt, Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Buster Crabbe, Paul Kelly, Lloyd Bridges, Richard Talmadge, Jack Mulhall... Just about every other leading man in a serial is either adequate, workmanlike, interchangeable, or stinks. (I apologize if I forgot any really good ones; I probably did.)

© And the stock footage comes, not from some 1924 western as is par for the course for Universal, but from some Jon Hall movie, which is a nice change of pace.

(d) There is no (d).

(e) The WWII-set plot is interesting.

(f) I liked the little bits of business, like the "spy house" with people under the stairs or peeking in through stove pipes.

(g) The DVD from VCI is outstanding, with an excellent print and transfer and a ton of bonus lobby cards and stuff, much of it from the Laughing Gravy collection. In fact, this is one of only two VCI serials that they actually thanked me on the packaging.

(h) "As the man said when they kissed the cow, there's no accounting for taste." My dad used to say that.
"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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schaumburgstew
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I have to agree with Laughing Gravy on this one. The 1937 X-9 was, in my opinion, a major disappointment. While it is true that the Universal music helped a bit, the plot was dull and repetitive. I thought that Radio Patrol was a lot better. I first watched Radio Patrol in 1948 or 1949 and finally was able to see it again when VCI came out with their version. Unlike Red Barry, this one held up remarkably well. It was hard to take the plot for the 1937 X-9 seriously. A cab driver helping the FBI? I'd rather watch Happy helping FG in Flash Gordon's trip to Mars any time. The 1945 X-9, while not a great serial, was a lot better than the 1937 version.
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Laughing Gravy
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Some people just have different taste in serials. I believe rr has said nice things about Return of Chandu and The New Adventures of Tarzan, two serials that I consider so positively, absolutely, unwatchably wretchedly rotten that they could well kill people's appetites for ever, ever watching serials again. They nearly did me in.

But again, I refer you to (h) in my last post!
"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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igsjr
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Speaking of serials, I just brought in the latest VCI catalog from the mailbox--they're having a sale on a goodly portion of their serial product, priced at $14.99 each. (Which may mean you can find it even cheaper online). Both Secret Agent X-9's are included in this mega-sale.
"Life is in color--but black-and-white is more realistic..." -- Samuel Fuller, director

So many DVDs...so little time...
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Jerry Blake
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Having just finished re-watching the 1937 SECRET AGENT X-9 serial, I have to stick up for it. I didn't want to watch it when it first came out from VCI, because it sounded like an early version of RED BARRY, which I found too darned confusing, but after reading some rave reviews of it (one from Paul Panzer, I believe) I got interested. And I wasn't disappointed in the serial; as RiddleRider commented, it's got a very fast pace and fine action; also, I love the 1930s atmosphere of the serial and those 1930s locations (the Raymond mansion, the pirate ship, the dockyards, all those city streets), and I have no problems with the cast. Well, Henry Hunter (as I conclued during this re-watching) was dramatically challenged, but I didn't find Scott Kolk bad at all--he had a limited range of facial expressions, but he injected a lot of range and energy into his dialogue. I think someone around here--was it RiddleRider?--has suggested that Kolk might have been a radio actor; that makes sense to me.

I think one of the reasons that the second X-9 serial (which I quite enjoyed, too) gets a better reputation is because of the Familar Cast Factor. I used to rank serials that way myself; it was always a plus to me if the cliffhanger had some familiar faces in it, and I sometimes wince reading my old reviews and noticing the absurd over-emphasis I placed on the acting. In X-9 The Second, a VCR-generation film buff always has the added fun of going, "Look at that guy playing tiddlywinks! That's Jimmy Stewart's father in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE! And over there--it's Charlie Chan's Number One Son!" Whereas, this type of fan is going to have less of a thrill in picking out silent-era performers like Monte Blue in X-9 the First. I think this familiar cast factor also helps to inflate SECRET CODE (Paul Kelly! Anne Nagel! Trevor Bardette!) and MONSTER AND THE APE (George Macready!) and make them seem better than they really are.

Similarly, I think the Cast Factor is also the reason why HOP HARRIGAN always gets the lowest score among Columbia serials even though it's no worse than TEX GRANGER or some other mid-forties Katzman serials; its cast contains no real serial or "vintage" film icons, with the possible exception of John Merton (Jennifer Holt is well known to B-western fans, but not to all serial collectors). And I think this is also why GOVERNMENT AGENTS VS. PHANTOM LEGION is unfairly singled out from its identical late Republic fellows as the absolute nadir of Republic's output; the serial's only familiar face--to the average serial collector--is Dick Curtis.

Anyhow, I'd say that if VCI is having a sale you can't go wrong with either X-9 cliffhanger (or with their Universal Western serials; I have a high opinion of Universal's output--nearly all their pre-1943 cliffhangers are worth seeing, except maybe for THE ROARING WEST and--but this is based on hearsay--THE PHANTOM CREEPS).
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riddlerider
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Sorry, Gravy old bean, but your case in favor of X-9's greatness is something less than airtight. To begin with, in what way does the transfer has any bearing whatsoever on a film's intrinsic merit? Would a lousy transfer of FLASH GORDON make that serial a stinker?

Moreover, when you're reduced to citing a serial's stock footage as one of its positives, I know your case is weak!

As I've said before, I enjoy both X-9s. I don't think the '37 is as bad as it's claimed to be, and I don't think the '45 is as good as it's claimed to be.

I can agree with you that there's no accounting for taste. You say toe-MAY-toe, I say toe-MAH-toe. You say MONSTER AND THE APE, I say NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN. Let's call the whole thing off.

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riddlerider
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Jerry Blake
Nov 2 2007, 09:04 AM
Whereas, this type of fan is going to have less of a thrill in picking out silent-era performers like Monte Blue in X-9 the First.

I'm susceptible to Familiar Cast Syndrome too, but my orientation draws me to guys like Monte Blue. Years ago, when I lived in L.A. and hosted film-buff gatherings at my home for weekly screenings of '30s and '40s Warners "B" pictures, we engaged in a little good-natured competition to see who could pick out more silent-era players WB regularly used as extras or bit players in those films. (The most regularly seen were Creighton Hale, Paul Panzer (the other one), Stuart Holmes, Frank Mayo, and Jack Mower.)

I get an extra boost when I spot former silent stars in Universal serials, as well. You'd be amazed how many times Grace Cunard, Universal's first female serial star, turns up in a bit or as an extra. William Desmond, the ol' Riddle Rider himself, pops up as late as 1944; I think I last saw him in a crowd scene in ROYAL MOUNTED RIDES AGAIN. (Or was it RAIDERS OF GHOST CITY?)

Speaking of bad serials...ROYAL MOUNTED RIDES AGAIN...ack....

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Laughing Gravy
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Jerry: Welcome back. We've missed you.

rr: I said the 1945 Secret Agent X-9 was a great serial? Really? I don't recall saying that. I trust you, though. So I will change that statement: it's not a great serial, but it's one of Universal's best serials. And how th' hell do you discuss serials, particularly Universal serials, without mentioning stock footage? I have read very few serial reviews from anybody that doesn't mention how much stock footage is in there... if the 10-20-year-old silent stock footage mars Winners of the West, for example (and it sure does), then mentioning that stock footage is well integrated or different and benefits the serial (since stock footage is gonna be in there anyway) is worthy of mentioning too, in this guy's book.
"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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