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Fu Mangrood!
Topic Started: Mar 13 2010, 05:46 PM (22,169 Views)
The Batman
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A good serial. I have both editions and I find the SS version an upgrade from the VCI version.

I would love to see the feature version released. I bet it plays like a neat little B movie.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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riddlerider
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The feature version shown at Cliffhangerfest was one I edited from a transfer of the only 35mm print known to exist in this country. That print was incomplete, hence the chunks of replacement footage cribbed from VCI's DVD.

At one time I suspected that the guy who transferred my 35mm material may have dubbed the master and given it to Grood. However, this was not the case. Later we learned that Grood transferred an original 16mm print that was superior to the one used by VCI, but obviously inferior to the film elements I had access to.

Unfortunately, the feature version I cut for Cliffhangerfest will not be made available. I am not, and never have been, in the business of selling unlicensed copies of copyrighted films -- and despite whatever assertion Grood might have made to the contrary, the copyright to DRUMS was properly renewed by Republic and thus is still protected under the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998. (Although Republic's successors-in-interest, having no claim to the underlying literary rights, are unable to market the serial commercially.)

I haven't shown the feature version since Cliffhangerfest, but I'll be running it at this year's Windy City Pulp and Paper Expo as part of the convention's celebration of the Fu Manchu centennial. The film screenings are only open to attendees of the con; there is no separate admission charge. For further info go here: http://windycitypulpandpaper.com/home/
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The Batman
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riddlerider
Feb 14 2013, 11:55 AM

Unfortunately, the feature version I cut for Cliffhangerfest will not be made available. I am not, and never have been, in the business of selling unlicensed copies of copyrighted films

Thanks for the background info, RR. I didn't know the origin of the feature version. I thought it was something Republic had released themselves. I can fully understand why you wouldn't release it.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Pa Stark
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Riddle Rider, why was that print incomplete? Your print is vastly superior to anything else around on that title.
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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riddlerider
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Pa Stark
Feb 14 2013, 11:24 PM
Riddle Rider, why was that print incomplete? Your print is vastly superior to anything else around on that title.
Pa, we bought the serial "as is," although we were assured that "just about all of it" was there.

The real mystery is not why the print was incomplete but when and why it was struck in the first place. It was on safety film stock rather than nitrate, but 35mm is a theatrical gauge and Republic had no theatrical rights to DRUMS in the safety era. It may have been the stud print from which a 16mm composite dupe negative was made many decades ago. Prints from that negative were available commercially as far back as the 1950s from United Films, which was the parent company of VCI. Those "original" prints are good but not great, which is why I believe the dupe neg was made from an ordinary 35mm projection print like ours, rather than from a 35mm fine-grain struck from the camera negative. Numerous Republic serials and features offered in 16mm to rental libraries were produced from such dupe negatives, and thus never look as crisp as those struck from negs manufactured in the traditional fashion from first-generation film elements.

UCLA has among its Republic holdings a 35mm negative of DRUMS that may or may not be complete (there seems to be some confusion about that). It also has material on the official 1943 feature version. But apparently Republic didn't have complete 35mm prints of feature or serial. Or, if they did, parts of those prints have since been lost.
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Sgt King
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Thanks for all the interesting info about "Drums." I would sure be up for a feature version if it were ever possible!
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AndyFish
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Ordered the SS version of Fu Manchu a few days ago and its in my mailbox today. Watched the first chapter and it is a nice improvement from the VCI release. What a great serial this is. Easily in the top 5 for me.

As for the SS, I've no ill will towards them, it used to be a fun place back when Gravy was there, and they've never done me any harm. I'm not one to pledge, unless I just want to donate to the cause and not worry about whether I see a product or not. I've been involved in far too many fundraising efforts in various forms of the arts to know the simple fact that any project is going to be riddled with problems you don't anticipate and therefore trying to predict an accurate release date for a finished product is extremely hard to do.

With Kickstarter now readily available, that should be the option should the SS be inclined to find funding for a future product.

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Laughing Gravy
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Ah, well, not to rehash old chitterlings, but the main problem was that he took money for "restorations" that weren't restorations at all, then accused me of "secretly working" for his "enemies" when I complained about it. He's a sick man, and whether he pulls in money from kickstarter or not won't change 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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mort bakaprevski
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AndyFish
Mar 15 2013, 09:27 AM
I've been involved in far too many fundraising efforts in various forms of the arts to know the simple fact that any project is going to be riddled with problems you don't anticipate....
Oh yeah!!

Couple of decades ago I bought season tickets to the LATC, a downtown theatrical company that put on a lot of avant garde productions. About mid-way thru the season I got a phone call from them telling me they were having beeg financial problems. But, if I (& others) would just send them another $100 they'd be able to complete the season.

I, of course, sent them the donation only to hear less than a week later the whole operation had gone belly-up. Mebbe, I was the only guy that made a donation??
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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The Batman
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AndyFish
Mar 15 2013, 09:27 AM

As for the SS, I've no ill will towards them, it used to be a fun place back when Gravy was there, and they've never done me any harm. I'm not one to pledge, unless I just want to donate to the cause and not worry about whether I see a product or not. I've been involved in far too many fundraising efforts in various forms of the arts to know the simple fact that any project is going to be riddled with problems you don't anticipate and therefore trying to predict an accurate release date for a finished product is extremely hard to do.



Nice to hear a rational response when it comes to pledging for restorations, instead of the usual howling we hear from the same few people, over and over and over again.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Frank Hale
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The Serial Squadron WAS fun. Gravy was the sparkplug, but more importantly, EVERYONE contributed to the message boards. (Ahem.)

You know, after pledging for The Masked Rider I got the first two installments and never even watched them because of all the bad press. The whole Serial Squadron thing is so impossibly tainted at this point.
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mort bakaprevski
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Frank Hale
Mar 15 2013, 01:25 PM
The Serial Squadron WAS fun. Gravy was the sparkplug...
Speak for yourself, Frank.

Bonga was my personal lodestar.
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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Chandu
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I took Frank's reference to Gravy being the sparkplug more as his being an ignition source rather than necessarily being everyone's favorite. I used to devour Gravy's, Bonga's and RR's posts plus a couple of others there with great aclarity.
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...
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Laughing Gravy
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I WASN'T EVERYONE'S FAVORITE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Dang.
"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
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Oh Gravy, you're always a favorite of mine..... for one thing or another.
"Nov Shmoz Ka Pop."
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