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Watching Any Good Serials?
Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,401 Views)
mort bakaprevski
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I’m with rr & Jerry on this one. Reasons I like the 37 version follow:
1) The music (you knew I was gonna say that).
2) The photography – Late 30’s Universals all had (for me) a clarity which I find hard to explain: blacks were very black & whites were very white & foggy grays were almost non-existent. I dunno, maybe Panzer can explain what I’m babbling about.
3) The sets – Mention has been made of the dock & the mansion, but I’d also include the street where Jean Rogers’ art shop is located, with the manufacturing plant (or whatever it is) spewing smoke in the background.
4) The car transfer stunt – Still not exactly sure how they did it… and it may have utilized stock footage, but it was seamlessly put together.
5) Out of the window cliffhanger – I always thought this switcheroo was new to The Crimson Ghost, but here it is almost 10 years before.
6) City to country transitions – Maybe this wasn’t how it was in the east, but it sure evoked early memories of SoCal for me. You’re in the city, turn a corner & you’re in the country.
7) Jean Rogers – Yes, she was beautiful… but it was that fabulous voice of hers that got to me.
8) And the mystery criminal is… - I usually associate this “surprise” ending to George Plympton as he used variations of it in later serials… but his name is nowhere to be found here!
9) Lon Chaney, Jr. – Some things (& some actors) never change.

"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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Laughing Gravy
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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

I'm watching Tex Granger now, and I find it a far better serial than Hop Harrigan. I find nearly everything a far better serial than Hop Harrigan, though.
"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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Jerry Blake
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Thanks for the welcome back, LG.

I feel sorry for anyone starting Tex Granger, but maybe you'll like it better than I did. The first couple of chapters sets up some interesting plotlines, but none of them develop satisfactorily to my way of thinking.
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Laughing Gravy
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So far, Kellard is the weak spot in the serial. He's not too good. And c'mon... anybody who can look at I. Stanford Jolley and not think, "Jeez, this guy MUST be the guy who's holding the valley in a reign of terror. I think I'll jus' shoot 'em now and be done with it," must be blind.

I like the dog. "Duke". He's a good doggie!
"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
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And let me just add that I'm enjoying Pirate Treasure as much as is humanly possible to enjoy a serial. The stuntwork on this continues to amaze, and Talmadge just did a backflip from a motorcycle on a bridge to the moving train below, causing one of the villains in pursuit to say, "He got clean away!" and the other to retort, "More likely he broke his fool neck!"

"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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Pa Stark
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Right now I am watching Restored Serials copy of ADVENTURES OF SIR GALAHAD. Even thought it isn't a great serial, it sure is vastly superior to SON OF THE GUARDSMAN. That was a loser in every way possible. One funny moment was Galahad greets someone and raises his hand and says, "How." Was the other knight Sir Flying Eagle?
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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Laughing Gravy
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I'm also watching The Red Rider and enjoying Buck Jones and the bits of humor. When a woman fires blindly into the night and later proudly announces, "I fired at random", Red's sidekick rubs his buckshot-sore ass and says, "I'm random!"
"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
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Finished up The Master Key today, which I enjoyed, but more like a B mystery than a serial. The cliffhangers weren't very good (with one or two exceptions) but I didn't figure out who the Key actually was until around chapter 12. Good stuff.

Starting Deadwood Dick next, which I know is one of Gravy's favorites. I tried to watch it once before about 3 years ago, but lost interest about halfway through. Hopefully I'll enjoy it more this time around.
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Inspector Carr
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Laughing Gravy
Nov 4 2007, 09:04 AM
Talmadge just did a backflip from a motorcycle on a bridge to the moving train below, causing one of the villains in pursuit to say, "He got clean away!" and the other to retort, "More likely he broke his fool neck!"

Talmadge did his own stuntwork correct?
"Life is a Crapshoot however you need a pair of dice to participate"
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Laughing Gravy
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Tex Granger - I'm up to chapter four; this is from Rodney. It's a fun serial so far, although I find Robert Kellard -- a serial actor I've always enjoyed before -- to be disappointing in this one. He's okay as a Mountie, I guess, but not as a masked gunfighter. And that mask! It's like sticking a hanky over a poodle's snout and pretending it's Rin-Tin-Tin!

King of the Mounties -- I'm up to chapter eight; this is from the Serial Squadron. I am continuing to enjoy this one, and think it's much, much better than the first Mountie King serial. Serials have so much action and music that when the "soundtrack" goes out and the subtitles come up, it can be jarring: I wasn't even aware that the switch had been made. Good job, Grood. Except for one thing: CRICKETS. During night scenes, he dubbed the sound of chirping crickets onto the soundtrack. Too clever by half for his own good; that is SO disconcerting. When did you EVER hear crickets in a Republic day-for-night scene?!?

The Galloping Ghost -- well, you're all following along with this one, aren't you? Watched chapter seven this morning, and will post it by tomorrow. It's a fun serial. Those early Mascots -- my goodness. This is from Alpha.

Pirate's Treasure -- Up to chapter six. Loving it! Plays like a Boy's Life novel of the era. Full of nice, clean, wholesome fun and action, action, action.

Government Agents vs. Phantom Legion -- from AC Comics; up to chapter three. As I mention in my Balcony review, it's a lot more fun probably if you haven't seen the plot in 15 or 20 other Republic serials already. In the last chapter I saw, the hero makes a point of saying he's going to take an old jalopy so the crooks won't follow him. Well, they follow him anyway, of course, but me and the whole audience are going, "Yeah, right. You're taking an old car to match old stock footage. Why don't you just come clean, Hal?!?" Great print of this one.

The Red Rider -- from Trevor; up to chapter six. Buck Jones has become one of my favorites. Very natural in front of the camera. He always seems to be enjoying what he's doing. Plus, he LOOKS tough. After Walter Reed and Red Grange and Richard Talmadge, it's just fun to watch somebody who LOOKS as though he could walk into a bar and beat some people up.

The Spider Returns -- from Restored Serials. Up to, what, chapter ten already? Wow, how time flies. Love the daffiness in this one; it generates a lot of laughs. It's always fun to see Blinkey, too. But have you noticed that the Spider seems to be hardly in it?
"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
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I'm so glad you like Buck Jones in The Red Rider. His wonderful figures of speech & flashes of mother wit make this an outstanding movie. It was Bill Everson's favorite western serial, and it's mine, too.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Black Tiger
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Buck Jones and Grant Withers are both great in this serial. It's not often discussed, but certainly a good one.
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rodney
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I'm four chapters in on Deadwood Dick and unlike the last time I tried to watch it, I'm having a great time with it.
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panzer the great & terrible
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That's interesting, rodney. I didn't like it the first time, but the second time I loved it. Maybe Horne's serials are an acquired taste (one that some people never acquire).
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Laughing Gravy
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A couple of added takes... King of the Mounties: (spoiler ahead): Mountie King falls out of an airplane one week, and the next week... LANDS ON A HAYSTACK?!?! Oh, C'MON Republic... what WERE you thinking? Land him in the same lake Republic heroes fall into when they fall off a cliff out in the desert, but... onto a HAYSTACK?!? Sheesh.

Pirate's Treasure
: Again, this is just such a WHOLESOME serial. I feel cleaner after watching it. Episode six, Talmadge apologizes for beating up one of the villains ("I had to do it!") and during the climactic car chase, politely honks his horn to warn other drivers he's approaching. Best of all, the scene where he's hiding in the back of a docked speedboat and trying to get out; the villain sentry is sitting there PLAYING WITH A REVOLVER as Talmadge makes attempt after attempt to open the door without the guy seeing him. The guy looks behind him from time to time, just missing the door opening and closing. It reminded me of the schoolyard sequence in The Birds. *L* Plus, the whole plot so far has consisted of Talmadge regaining and then relosing the pirate's map to the bad guys; you'd think he'd have the chart memorized by now, and I think he does. I'll bet it is just the PRINCIPLE of the thing with him! Great fun. I understand from Mr. Orsak that this is probably the ONLY print out there of this serial, which is a shame. It's okay, but that's it. This has moved to #1 in my "wish there was a better print available" serial list.
"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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