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Reviews
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Case of the Disappearing actor.
This is one of the greatest movies ever made. It was my dad's favorite. He was a hobo for 12 years riding freight trains from Arkansas to California. Along the way he met a number of families like the Joads.
Let's now talk about the disappearing actor. When the Joads leave home there are 13 in the party, Grandpa, Grandma, Pa Joad, Ma Joad, Tom, his sister, Rosasharn, his brother Al, his brother Noah, Uncle John, two children, Rosasharn's husband Connie and the preacher.
Before they reach California Grandpa dies and then Grandma dies. There are now 11. At the migrant camp the preacher is arrested and Connie leaves. There are now 9.
When they find a place to work Tom is asked how many persons are with him he says 8 now. They are Pa, Ma, Rose, two children, Uncle John, Al and himself. So who is missing. It is Noah. There is no explanation of what happened to him.
The last time we saw him was when he was swimming in the Colorado river on the border of Arizona and California.
Even the writer, John Steinbeck, almost left him out. He was far along in the book when he was questioned about Noah. Realizing his mistake Steinbeck went back and inserted a bit about Noah wanting to stay on the Colorado river and make a living fishing.
At the end of the movie Tom has to leave because the law if after him. And we are left with 7.
What a movie!
The Commuter (2018)
Who killed the engineer?
I loved this movie. Had the ingredients of a Hitchcock movie. Hitch used trains in a number of movies. Yes, I guess there are a number of goofs that can be spotted by those who live in NYC, but out here in the boondocks, no one cares. There was one scene that had be scratching my head. The engineer is found dead. Who killed him? The only killer on board was the guitar man who had killed the FBI man and the guitar man had been killed by the main character. There were more suspects on the train. So who killed the engineer? Or did he die when the train slowed quickly and he hit his head on something. Never explained.
The Vigilante: Fighting Hero of the West (1947)
Who Is The Head Villain?
Early on we think the head villain is the man who owns the nightclub since the villain has his office in back of the nightclub. But late we see him reporting to the head villain who is not seen in the one-way mirror. Then at the end we see that the head villain is the nightclub owner while I had two other candidates as the head villain, the police chief and the head waiter. This serial does have some production values with a number of extras in the nightclub scenes, the carnival scenes, the street scenes, etc. I do have a problem with the title. When I saw the title I thought it would be a western since I was not familiar with it as a radio show. But it is not a western. Our hero is simply making a western movie in a few scenes.
King of the Rocket Men (1949)
There Is That Car Again
I wont give a summary of this serial as that has been done very well by some other reviewers. Just want to make a few observations. In this serial,"King of the Rocket Men," we see a gray car with a white top going over a cliff when it turns into an all white car. This same gray car with a white top becoming an all white car when it goes over a cliff can be seen in other serials. The use of stock footage was a staple in making serials as it reduced production costs. Another observation is that "henchmen" played more than one role. Here we wee David Sharpe killed off in one episode only to appear later as another henchman. Seeing this as a kid watching from week to week we didn't notice this as one henchman looked pretty much like another and we didn't know anything about stunt men. Another observation we can make as adults and didn't question as kids. We see this in several serials. The villain has a TV camera that can see anywhere he wants. There is a scene where the Vulcan can see our heroes in an apartment and hear every word they say. Why didn't he have his camera on them all the time and know all of their plans? All in all this is a pretty good serial,but not my favorite.
Secret Agent X-9 (1945)
Myrtle Mae as a Japenese!
I will not do a real review of this excellent serial as that has already been done by a very capable writer. Just want to make a couple of observations of some cast members. In checking Virginia Horne on IMDb who played the large role of Japanese lady Nabura I was surprised that she was a comediene who had the role of Myrtle Mae in "Harvey" starring James Stewart. She was the lady who made egg and onion sandwiches. Then there were the actors Keye Luke and Benson Fong on opposite sides, Luke playing a Chinese and Fong a Japanese. Both men had played sons in the Charlie Chan movies. Both had also played the same character in the stage versions of "Flower Drum Song" and Fong went on to play the character in the movie version.
The Crimson Ghost (1946)
What a Hoot!
"The Crimson Ghost" is really a hoot. There is Clayton Moore playing one of the henchmen. Then there is Kenne Duncan, a perennial henchman, playing a good guy. He did play another good guy in "The Green Archer." I was disappointed in the fact that two of the suspects behind the Ghost mask were killed off and only two remained at the end. That cut down on the suspense. I had suspected Forrest Taylor as his name was higher in the credits than the final suspect. Don't know why I. Stanford Jolley was fourth billed as he had only a couple of minutes of screen time. It might be that he was a little more known as a character actor at the time. Rex Lease, a serial star in the 1930s, was another henchman. He is probably best known for his 10-second part as the head diner in the opening scene of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Saboteur." A couple of more observations. A white car goes over a cliff at the end of the first chapter. Have seen that same scene in other serials. This is a short serial running 167 minutes. Most serials are over three hours. I wonder who really wore the Crimson Ghost outfit. Probably one of the stunt men. I will not mention the plot as that has been done very well by the other reviewers on this page.
Perils of Pauline (1933)
Not to be confused with the silent serial of the same name
This production of the "Perils Of Pauline" is not to be confused with the silent serial of the same name. Pauline even has a different last name in the two serials.
The opening "title" shot shows a train which does not appear in the serial. Probably put in there to remind people of the silent serial, but in that serial there is no woman on a railroad track either. That came from some other movie. Since this serial is about the search for two halves of a disk those halves could have been shown as a title shot and would have set the tone for the serial, something the train did not.
This serial did make good use of newsreel footage. The opening scenes of a revolution in China were probably newsreel footage. But there were some shots that seemed to be original, using a number of extras. Good production values.
I agree with one reviewer who said the serial went downhill somewhat when the action took place in a jungle. Too many shots of wild animals that seemed to have nothing to do with the plot.
Ghost of Zorro (1949)
Some Very Dark Moments
"Ghost of Zorro" is a pretty good serial so I will give it a rating of six. But there are a few things wrong with it that need to be noted. The main thing I found wrong with it were the night shots and shots in caves, etc. Could not make out much of the detail and could not see what the characters were doing. In the 1940s, especially in Roy Rogers movies, "night" scenes were actually shot during the day in bright sunlight. A red filter was used making the scene look like it was a moonlit night. Very effective. Don't know why that was not used in this serial. As noted by another reviewer two chapters had the same "cliffhanger" endings. As far as scenes being used from other serials that was done in making several serials as well as other movies in the 1940s.
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack (1943)
The Hitchcock Influence
There is no need to review this serial as it has already been reviewed pretty good already. Just wanted to add a few comments. Am I the only one to see the Alfred Hitchcock influence in the serial? At the end of Chapter one we can see our hero falling out of a plane having problems with his parachute. There are semi-closeups with him flailing his arms. This technique was done in 1942 by Alfred Hitchcock in "Saboteur" when the villain played by Norman Lloyd falls from the Statue of Liberty. Hitchcock used it again in "North By Northwest" when one of the baddies falls from the "monument" in South Dakota. Then there is the outright scene taken from Hitchcock's "Foreign Correspondent." This happens several chapters into the serial. There are a number of people on a clipper. It is shot at by a submarine. We see the plane falling apart. Then we are behind the two pilots when the nose of the plane strikes the ocean and water gushes in. Hitchcock in one of his interviews tells how h did that camera trick.
The Mystery Squadron (1933)
Villain Jack Mulhall
This is an interesting little serial. I've always like Bob Steele in the "B" westerns he made. His father directed him in a number of shorts which I have not seen. His father also directed John Wayne in a number of poverty row films under the Lone Star banner in the 1930s. In this serial Jack Mulhall turns out to be the No. 1 villain. A few years later he was the star in another serial, "The Clutching Hand." Many times serials don't make sense. People get to places faster than they should, etc. In the last chapter Jack Mulhall as the hooded villain makes his escape out of a window only to be found a few minutes later tied up legs and arms in a car. Who tied him up? Well, it didn't matter to us kids when we saw those serials. Just so there was plenty of action. And that's what serials were about. Action.
The Perils of Pauline (1914)
The Cliffhangers that are not
I was a little disappointed in the cliffhangers in the "Perils of Pauline." We see her rescued, like from a burning house fire in the first chapter, and then see her back home being comforted by her boyfriend with about a minute left before the end of the chapter. Have no idea where the powers that be finally woke up and made the chapter endings real cliffhangers. The chapters in "P of P" are self contained. One could see chapters One, Three, Five, Seven and Nine and still get the full effect of the serial. Did see a few goofs in the titles. One says put the boat out to "see" instead of "sea." It was interesting to see that Paul Panzer, the villain, had a bit part in the Betty Hutton film. He is listed in that film as a "parlor gent." When Pearl is trying to rescue her friend from a pie-throwing incident and goes through several rooms where silent films are being shot she goes through a room where some dressed up gents are doing a scene. I believe he is the man standing up and is surprised to see someone in the scene who is not supposed to be there.
Captain America (1944)
A few comments on Dick Purcell
This is a brief review as the difference in the comic books and the serial have been covered very well by other writers. But I wanted to correct some incorrect information in some other reviews. In some of those reviews it mentioned that Dick Purcell was on the pudgy side and it showed when he pulled on the Capt. American suit. Purcell never wore the suit except in a few closeups. The suit was worn by well-known stunt man, Dale Van Sickel. To find a lot of information on Van Sickel go o Google and put in his name. He was a stand out in three sports at the University of Florida. In Hollywood he formed the stunt man association and become its first president. On the IMDb site you will find that he did stunts in 200 movies. In Chapter one of "Captain America" he has a fight with another well known stunt man Tom Steel (we wore the mask in "The Masked Marvel") He had a couple of appearance without the mask, a call box policeman in Chater three and a fake humane society man in Chapter 10. I find this serial to be very entertaining with a variety of cliffhangers, good production values and 16 stunt men providing the action. Purcell was in a few fight scenes as the district attorney and handled himself pretty well as you can see he is doing his own stunts there.