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Worst serial you have seen
Topic Started: Apr 24 2014, 01:08 PM (1,301 Views)
Sidekick
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I haven't seen some of the serials that you all have mentioned, but maybe that's due to the fact that I haven't bought them due to the bad reviews that they get. So, with that being said, the worst serial that I have seen is The Green Hornet Strikes Again.

I keep a log of the serials that I watch and give them ratings. I gave this one a 2/5. It would have been a 1/5, but Kato's crazy driving bumped it up a notch.

Here are the reasons that I had written down regarding this serial:

- Really disappointed with this one. Kato is nothing but a servant/driver and the Green Hornet couldn't fight his way through a Grade 1 class if his life depended on it.

-Lots of "survived through it" endings with the Green Hornet often stumbling away or having Kato come and take him to the car (not called Black Beauty in this serial).

- The main villain was a disappointment, but the henchmen were good, especially Bordine, with that scar across his face.

- the plot was too confusing for my boys (ages 10 and 12). I was constantly having to explain to them what stuff was (Dad, what's a racketeer? Dad, what's a union? etc, etc)

- no common theme throughout as in other serials. Just a bad guy committing various crimes.

The video/audio quality of this one is superb though (VCI version).
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The Batman
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Sidekick
May 1 2014, 12:23 PM

- the plot was too confusing for my boys (ages 10 and 12). I was constantly having to explain to them what stuff was (Dad, what's a racketeer? Dad, what's a union? etc, etc)


I don't think it's the fault of a 70+ year old serial that preteens from today don't know what a "racketeer" is. In fact, you could say the serial was educational.







Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Frank Hale
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And, without wishing to start an argument, I'm amused (for want of a better word) if today's kids really don't know about unions, because they were so much in the news when I was 12: John L. Lewis on the cover of Time (great eyebrows); all the railroad, newspaper, and steel strikes. Heck, I even knew about dialectical materialism!

That old labor vs capital pendulum keeps swinging back and forth.

Didn't realize serials were so informative!
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The Batman
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Yes, I didn't add unions because I think everyone knows about them, at least in this part of the world. Growing up, I always knew the adults who had "union" jobs because they loved to tell anyone who would listen that they couldn't be fired, no matter what.

And most kids today have that I-can-do-what-I-want-and-you-can't-punish-me attitude.

This isn't a tirade against unions, just my early experiences with the term.



Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Frank Hale
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I'm getting pretty far off the subject, but there was a fun article in today's NYT about the publisher of a 50-volume collection of Karl Marx's works translated into English, taking legal action against websites publishing their efforts for free on the web, and then being pilloried in turn by all the free-thinkers who think Marx by definition should be available to all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/01/arts/claiming-a-copyright-on-marx-how-uncomradely.html?hpw&rref=books&_r=0

If I'm giving anyone the impression that I'm anti-labor, that is not my position: I think today's situation is completely out-of-line in the other direction and that the truth lies in the middle, as always. But I find stuff like this irresistibly entertaining.

OK, I gotta stop babbling, so back to serials.
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riddlerider
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Bert Greene
Apr 25 2014, 06:43 AM
I watched "The Mysterious Pilot" for the first time not too long ago. No great shakes, but I didn't mind it. Sort of enjoyed the locale, and the non-professional actor Hawks in the lead. Sometimes I think I have a subconscious tendency to root for non-actor serial leads like Hawks, Red Grange, or Sammy Baugh. My main disappointment in the serial was that Esther Ralston's role was so pathetically small. It was an interesting character (villain or non-villain...?), and Ralston was still fetching as all get out, even at this late date in her movie career. Yet she was only around in this serial briefly for maybe two episodes, and disappears.

The Weiss brothers hired people like Esther Ralston, Reginald Denny, and William Bakewell strictly for marquee value. Their scenes were usually grouped to be shot in a couple days, since they still worked for major studios. The first time I met Esther and spent time with her (back in 1984), I asked her about Jungle Menace and Mysterious Pilot. She had only vague memories of the former and none at all of the latter.
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riddlerider
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We've discussed the worst serials before and I still haven't changed my mind. I'd rather watch the worst of the Thirties independents than the brain-dead, cookie-cutter Fifties serials ground out by Republic and Columbia. There's something pathetic and enervating about watching middle-aged Tom Steele and Dale Van Sickel shuffling flat-footed across cramped sets and trading lead-fisted punches in those crappy, stock-filled late Republics. I much prefer Thirties movies; even the cheapest Poverty Row products hold more interest for me than something like Jungle Drums of Africa or The Man With the Steel Whip. Having said that, I can find something of interest in almost any serial, because I like serials. Every few years I give Panther Girl of the Kongo another whirl just because I like the way Phyllis Coates fills out Frances Gifford's Jungle Girl costume.

No accounting for taste, though. Gravy hates Return of Chandu and New Adventures of Tarzan. I love 'em for more reasons than I have time to list here.
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The Batman
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riddlerider
May 1 2014, 05:35 PM
We've discussed the worst serials before and I still haven't changed my mind. I'd rather watch the worst of the Thirties independents than the brain-dead, cookie-cutter Fifties serials ground out by Republic and Columbia.

No accounting for taste, though. Gravy hates Return of Chandu and New Adventures of Tarzan. I love 'em for more reasons than I have time to list here.

I agree with you, RR. The earlier serials have a feel for the era, whether the serial itself is good or not. They just feel honest. The serials produced in the 50s, of what I have seen so far, for the most part seemed cranked out, with little enthusiasm for the end result.

Give me a Mascot serial, any day. For batting average, they are my favourite serial producer.

And your right about taste. I enjoyed NEW ADVENTURES OF TARZAN, savour those shot-on-location serials. As for RETURN OF CHANDU, I don't find it a great serial, but feel it could have been. There's lots to like: Bela Lugosi (I'm a fan), the brother and sister (they were fun), some decent cliffhangers and an overall decent storyline. It's a good serial, I've watched it twice, but there's something that holds it back from being great for me.




Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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panzer the great & terrible
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Is there a good print of Chandu out there? The one I saw was so poor I don't think I can judge the serial fairly.

RR, I'm with you on Panther Girl of the Kongo. The only late Republic I'd watch again. Well, maybe The Invisible Monster too, because it's so silly.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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moodyhound
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What about Call of the Savage? Anyone see it? I like jungle serials, I like Noah Beery Jr., but I'm not sure having Noah Beery Jr., play a dumbed down Bomba worked very well. If I remember right, I think half the movie was stock footage of animal fight scenes. Bet the peta people would love to watch this one. :o
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The Batman
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panzer the great & terrible
May 2 2014, 04:49 AM
Is there a good print of Chandu out there?


Yes, Grapevine Video has an excellent copy of Chandu.

http://www.grapevinevideo.com/return_chandu.html

I originally had the Platinum release, which was practically unwatchable, with soft picture and almost no sound (I had to crank the volume right up and the hiss was highly annoying).

Watching the Grapevine version was a whole new experience and definitely changed my mind on the quality of the serial, itself.


Edited by The Batman, May 2 2014, 06:21 AM.
Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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The Batman
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moodyhound
May 2 2014, 04:58 AM
What about Call of the Savage? Anyone see it?

I've seen it and enjoyed it. Can't recall a lot about it at the moment, but I gave it a 7/10.

An excellent copy of CALL OF THE SAVAGE can be found at Hermitage Hills (another great serial source):

http://www.hermitagehillmedia.com/savage.html


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Laughing Gravy
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VCI also has an excellent Chandu.
"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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turan38
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moodyhound
May 2 2014, 04:58 AM
What about Call of the Savage? Anyone see it? I like jungle serials, I like Noah Beery Jr., but I'm not sure having Noah Beery Jr., play a dumbed down Bomba worked very well. If I remember right, I think half the movie was stock footage of animal fight scenes. Bet the peta people would love to watch this one.
The film (and its source novel) are very imitative of Burroughs, who in turn was probably inspired by Kipling. Shipwrecked boy grows up in the jungle, encounters Europeans (or Americans?), lost civilization in the interior. Loads of stock shots from previous serials, extensive use of Universal's great standing sets, and good music drawn from Universal's library.

I never really cared for Beery Jr.'s "shtick," which seemingly never changed throughout his acting career. For some reason I didn't have this on DVD, so thanks to Batman for recommending Hermitage Hill.
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The Batman
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Most welcome, Turan.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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