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Watching Any Good Serials?
Topic Started: Apr 12 2006, 09:28 AM (88,418 Views)
Barcroft
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Riddlerider:

Do yourself a favor and watch Desperadoes of the West. It's one of Barcroft's favorite later Republic Serials. I always enjoyed Tom Keene (Richard Powers) and Fred Brannon did a good job with the stock footage that abounds in this serial. **1/2 Stars

Barcroft
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KIRGO
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I've always enjoyed DESPERADOES OF THE WEST as well. It's fun to try to spot the stock footage...plus seeing Tom Keene decked out in 'Slingin' Sammy Baugh's duds from KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS is priceless.
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riddlerider
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Barcroft
Aug 28 2006, 12:07 PM
Do yourself a favor and watch Desperadoes of the West. It's one of Barcroft's favorite later Republic Serials. I always enjoyed Tom Keene (Richard Powers) and Fred Brannon did a good job with the stock footage that abounds in this serial.

Barcroft, in my view the words "good job" and "Fred Brannon" are totally incompatible. DESPERADOES didn't impress me the first time I saw it, but I probably should give it a second chance. As a rule, I don't like '50s serials, but being a die-hard collector I bought everything Republic released on tape and/or DVD. Even though ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE and RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON were the first Republics I ever saw -- at the age of nine I thought they were great -- and ought to be sentimental favorites on that account, I can't bring myself to watch those again either. But, sooner or later, I imagine I'll get around to them.

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Laughing Gravy
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I don't know that there are any "good" serials from the 1950s, but there are some that are entertaining... Still, the only way I can enjoy 'em is to put them in a "mental box" with TV series of the 1950s. They hold up against stuff like Sergeant Preston of the Yukon and The Lone Ranger much better than they hold up against Burn 'em Up Barnes, Undersea Kingdom, Ace Drummond, Monster and the Ape, and other serials of the 1930s-early 1940s.
"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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I'd say just about any serial from any era holds up well against MONSTER AND THE APE, from HEROES OF THE WEST to ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE.
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riddlerider
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Jerry Blake
Aug 30 2006, 06:03 AM
I'd say just about any serial from any era holds up well against MONSTER AND THE APE, from HEROES OF THE WEST to ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE.

Ain't that the truth!
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Laughing Gravy
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I have finished Don Daredevil Rides Again; in the end, Barcroft's villain was the best thing about this serial, but the bland leading man made that a wash. Deserves its reputation as one of the worst Republics.

I'm still loping through Overland Mail, The Hurricane Express, and Red Barry, we've just started Radar Men from the Moon on Friday nights, and I've added a weekly dose of the original Perils of Pauline (from Grapevine). Folks, I don't know when I've had so much fun watching a serial. The 38-minute opening chapter moved so fast that I was actually surprised when it was over. The kind of stuff that made me love serials in the first place.
"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 certainly agree. And EXPLOITS OF ELAINE is even better!
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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Meanwhile, there's some AC Comics DVD news up now at www.inthebalcony.com.
"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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riddlerider
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I just finished revisiting LIGHTNING HUTCH (1926), which I enjoyed more the second time around. Despite the fact that much of the story unfolds in two locations -- the home of the heroine's married sister and the villain's castle -- the production values are quite good for an independent silent serial of this period. For example, there are some fairly elaborate glass shots, something you rarely see in productions of this budgetary class. And there are several spacious, well-appointed sets that obviously cost a fair amount of money to build and furnish. Also, LIGHTNING HUTCH was the first film ever photographed by Leon Shamroy, who became one of Hollywood's top cinematographers: he was nominated for 18 Oscars and won four. Shamroy's talent for lighting and composition is already apparent here, in his first effort.

HUTCH's second half is padded with a tedious subplot involving blackmailing servants, but overall this is a pretty good chapterplay with some impressive stunt sequences. Hutch is doubled for the most dangerous scenes, but he does much of the routine action work and makes a good showing at it. I looked at the Grapevine VHS, which was mastered from a tinted 35mm nitrate print and has a period-appropriate score that contains some cues which will be familiar to fans of early '30s indies. I believe Grapevine now sells this on DVD. It's worth checking out.
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Barcroft
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Barcroft just picked up VCI's Raiders of Ghost City on DVD. On of my favorite later Universal Serials starring Dennis Moore and Joe Sawyer. The always entertaining Lionel Atwell as the head villain Alex Morel supported by Virginia Christine and a host of the usual B-Western Bad guys. This serial has a good story line and plenty of action. Well done.

Barcroft
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Hal Jordan
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I'm currently watching Spy Smasher - this is the first serial that I have watched a second time - and am enjoying it every bit as much - if not more - than the first time I watched it.
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KIRGO
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I've just started HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS...with some show-stopping stuntwork by Ted Mapes and beautiful scenery.
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Grampy
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I'm tackling my first silent serial--Son of Tarzan. If the rest of this chapterplay is half as good as the 1st 3 chapters, I'm in for a treat. It's a surprisingly faithful rendition of the Burroughs book.
If this is any indication of the quality of story in silent serials, I'll be ordering a few more.
Grampy
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Laughing Gravy
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Alpha will be releasing the silent Tarzan the Tiger soon.
"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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