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Watching Any Good Serials?
Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,371 Views)
Chandu
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Champeen of Justice and Seeker of Knowledge, but rascal at heart!
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I just finished Drums of Fu Manchu last night and found it to be certainly worthy of the praise I'd previously read about it, but my viewing pleasure was offset by the poor quality of the film itself. I have the VCI VHS tape, which I believe is about as good as it gets for this serial. It's sure too bad this serial languishes, while restoration efforts continue on less entertaining serials. Or have we (I) begun to get spoiled, now that restoration of not only serials, but films as well, has become so commonplace? :unsure: :ph43r: :D

I think I'll try one of the Mountie serials next. :P
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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Black Tiger
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Unfortunately, VCI seems to have the best available copy of this excellent serial out there. I've got the dvd and don't know how it stacks up against the vhs, but looks acceptable to me for now. Even clear 16mm prints of this one are impossible to find.
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panzer the great & terrible
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Mouth Breather
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Dr Grood still claims he's going to do a restoration on this title, but we've seen nothing in seven years. I strongly suspect one of the people he fell out with had access to a print he was going to use.
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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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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panzer the great & terrible
Apr 20 2008, 12:34 PM
Dr Grood still claims he's going to do a restoration on this title, but we've seen nothing in seven years. I strongly suspect one of the people he fell out with had access to a print he was going to use.

As I've written before, Grood's desire to do a "restoration" was based on little more than a single conversation, and he launched his pledge drive prematurely.

The friend of mine who supplied Grood's transfer of GANG BUSTERS had seen the French 35mm print of DRUMS OF FU MANCHU along with me, Black Tiger, and other New York-area serial fans. The screening took place at the American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. (I can't remember if the print came from Cinematheque Francaise or Belgium's Royal Film Archive or the Luxembourg Film Archive, but that doesn't matter.) In one of their conversations, my friend mentioned the 35mm print of DRUMS to Grood, who immediately asked if the print could be secured by a non-credentialed institution -- i. e., the Serial Squadron. My friend didn't know, but since he did business regularly with someone at AMMI he promised to make an inquiry on Grood's behalf. He didn't promise to get the print, and he didn't even promise to connect Grood with the proper European archive. He only promised to speak with someone at AMMI to get some contact information. And that's as close as Grood ever came to obtaining that particular 35mm print. He started soliciting money for the "restoration" on the hope that something could be done. I don't remember what the upshot was; it might be that my friend never got a reply to his inquiry. But I do know that at no time was that particular print ever promised to the Serial Squadron, and I doubt any such deal would have been made.

Like many others, my friend eventually became disenchanted with the good Doctor and hasn't done anything for the Squadron since before the MASKED RIDER pledge drive began.

Subsequently, when in a Squadron post I mentioned having access to an incomplete 35mm print of DRUMS and expressed the hope that it might someday be used in an authorized restoration of the serial, Grood used my statement as an excuse to banish me from his little kingdom. Somehow, by tortured logic of a kind I can't pretend to understand, he interpreted my post as a declaration of intent to release my own DVD restoration of DRUMS. Needless to say, I never have and never will release unauthorized DVDs of copyrighted movies. I think it's more likely that he was annoyed to find out that I could lay my hands on a 35mm but hadn't offered it to him.

The print to which I had access -- which was originally purchased with the intent of putting out a licensed restoration -- was ultimately offered to Paramount for deposit with the other surviving Republic material. I don't know what, if anything, will be done with it. But I can tell you for certain that it was not mastered for unauthorized use by Dr. Grood or anyone else.

It may be that Grood has opened his own negotiations with whichever European archive holds that gorgeous 35mm print. If not, the only "restoration" he'll be able to complete is one that relies on existing 16mm prints, none of which -- even the oldest surviving original -- is a true representation of the serial I've seen in 35mm. The 16mm original prints are murky, and the subtleties of William Nobles' atmospheric cinematography are muted because the darker gray tones are muddy.

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Frank Hale
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In fairness to the Doctor, I would like to point out that we early pledgers were allowed to opt out to other Squadron products when it became apparent that there would be an extended delay on Fu Manchu.

Of course, the product I selected, Holt of the Secret Service, was a DVD-R which hung up on my player and had to be replaced by the VCI edition!
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Chandu
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Champeen of Justice and Seeker of Knowledge, but rascal at heart!
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Frank, my Squadron "Holt" played just fine. I'm still pledged for "Drums." :o :ph43r:
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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Laughing Gravy
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Not really a "classic dialog" offering in today's episode of The Mysterious Pilot, but it's worth noting that somebody called Frank Lackteen a "half-baked imbecile," and Frank didn't think to retort, "Actually, I'm fully baked."
"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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Mouth Breather
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It's insulting to say Lackteen doesn't think. Of course he doesn't: he's an actor.

Love your new avatar, and I'm loving that serial.
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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Thanks; I'd like to think that the new avatar is a distant relation to the previous one (Astro Boy).
"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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I have only seen the usual prints that are made available of DRUMS OF FU MANCHU, and I love it. After FLASH GORDON, I put it in a tie with ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION. as the second best sound serial. Riddle Rider, after seeing a pristine print, how do you rate it?
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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rodney
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Green Archer is seriously a hoot. The overacting, the "Three Stooges-ish" villians, I'm loving it all. For some reason, I was a little shocked in chapter 13 when the Archer kills the dogs though.

I still have two more chapters, then I'll be watching Haunted Harbor. Any thoughts about this Republic serial? It's never one that people mention as a favorite.

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Sgt King
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Haunted Harbor's monster is on par with the bird from"The Giant Claw." But the rest of the serial was a pleasant suprise: better than I thought it would be with lots of outdoor and underwater action. And hey! -- that IS Kane Richmond!
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riddlerider
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Pa Stark
Apr 22 2008, 05:38 PM
I have only seen the usual prints that are made available of DRUMS OF FU MANCHU, and I love it.  After FLASH GORDON, I put it in a tie with ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION. as the second best sound serial.  Riddle Rider, after seeing a pristine print, how do you rate it?

It was always in my Top Ten, Pa. Seeing the 35mm print on a big screen moved it into the Top Five. I still believe it to be the best serial Republic made. IMO, except for the padding in the last few chapters, it's almost perfect. And you already know that it was Bill Witney's favorite -- or, at least, the one he thought turned out the best. Just as Spencer Bennet felt that the silent GREEN ARCHER was the best serial he ever directed.

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Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer
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Sapient Balconeer
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Last night was the 13th and final chapter of Ace Drummond. Well, the Dragon comes out of left field and it's "All Over Now." Speaking of singing, I made a bet with myself, (one I was sure to win) and bet that the thing would end with - Give Me A Ship And A Song!!!

Chapter 10 of Zorro's Fighting Legion was seen last night also. I love this show. A nice looking copy from a box set of 12 PD serials, and a bunch of fun too.
It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong."
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Laughing Gravy
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Today's classic dialog comes from my Friday morning serial replacement show, Ultraman...

Ito of the Science Patrol is interviewing a person of interest following a monster attack, and asks her if "anything unusual happened" while she was on the island. "Well, we became lost," she replies, "and..."

Ito: "Lost? There's nothing unusual about that. I become lost frequently."
"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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