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Post by berkley on Mar 24, 2021 22:09:50 GMT -5
I see that Mensah is listed at 6'3&1/2" , which is pretty tall but I would have guessed higher, based on how he looked in Spartacus.
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Post by Duragizer on Mar 25, 2021 19:30:58 GMT -5
Watched Burial Ground AKA Nights of Terror last night. It has a 25-year-old little person playing a prepubescent boy. The movie is unenjoyable garbage for the most part, but that hilariously absurd casting bumps it up a point. 2/10
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Post by brutalis on Mar 27, 2021 14:36:53 GMT -5
Watched a pair of Lex Barker Tarzan's. 1950 production Tarzan and the Slave Girl then 1951's Tarzan's Peril. Slave girl is rather sadly atypical Saturday matinee filler. No real budget or action or story. Relying on everyone knowing the story of Tarzan along with lots of miscasting and plain dumb ideas. Like zchertah getting drunk on a bottle whiskey and Tarzan afraid of getting a vaccination injection.
Peril on the other hand takes on the more serious storyline of gun-runners arming native tribes. Wins points also for being the 1st Ape Man movie to actually having filmed portions in Africa and ERB visiting the Hollywood set before his death.
Both make for mindless enjoyment while lacking the Weissmuller presence and fun that helped made his pictures more memorable. I can see now why these seldom, if ever received much television replay over the years.
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Post by Batflunkie on Apr 9, 2021 18:28:01 GMT -5
Bought and watched My Demon Lover. The premise sounded like some z-grade almost Troma level cheese but it was actually quite a cute romantic comedy with some light horror elements (I initially thought that it was going to be something akin to Little Nicky). Really loved Michelle Little's performance as Denny, she's the stuff that dreams are made of
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Post by lisacoy on May 17, 2021 3:00:41 GMT -5
A big big fan of My Cousin Vinny!
IT is such an absolute fun movie
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Post by brutalis on May 23, 2021 11:24:12 GMT -5
Saturday night watched the final 2 Lex Barker Tarzan movies. 1952's Tarzan's Savage Fury and 1953's Tarzan and the She-Devil. Both with potential to being better stories yet ending up minor entertainment with little thrills. Almost stale in their action/adventure as though Hollywood had no idea on how to punch up the series while relying upon fans keeping it alive.
Fury has a Greystoke in the opening only to waste the character. Literally in killing him off before Tarzan can ever meet him, just so an enemy agent can impersonate him in trying to fool the jungle man into leading them to fortune. Massive amounts of diamonds in dreaded Wazuri country. Problem is these Wazuri are not really that dreadful in the movie. The best character and acting is that of Rokoff the lead villain who deserved better than death in the end.
She-Devil benefits from a young Raymond Burr' villainy but Tarzan himself spends most of the movie trapped and subdued. So much for swinging jungle action.
The Barker run of movies are generic and serviceable with little in thrills or adventures. A nice diversion, but that's about all there is to them. A shame really as Lex was a fine Tarzan in replacing Weissmuller. One can only imagine if he had been given better stories and more inventive or creative action.
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Post by Prince Hal on May 23, 2021 14:29:11 GMT -5
If anyone here gets TCM, you may want to check out an episode or two (or twelve) of the original Batman serial (1943). Your mileage may vary, of course, but if you look closely enough beneath the layers of less than great acting, effects right out of "Plan Nine", and the painful racial stereotype that is Dr. Daka, the Japanese spy/villain played by all-purpose go-to ethnic character actor J. Carroll Naish, you may find enough to charm you into checking out a bona fide non-classic. Still, it is the archetypical Batman on film, so for completists, it's a must-watch.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 23, 2021 20:01:53 GMT -5
Saturday night watched the final 2 Lex Barker Tarzan movies. 1952's Tarzan's Savage Fury and 1953's Tarzan and the She-Devil. Both with potential to being better stories yet ending up minor entertainment with little thrills. Almost stale in their action/adventure as though Hollywood had no idea on how to punch up the series while relying upon fans keeping it alive. Fury has a Greystoke in the opening only to waste the character. Literally in killing him off before Tarzan can ever meet him, just so an enemy agent can impersonate him in trying to fool the jungle man into leading them to fortune. Massive amounts of diamonds in dreaded Wazuri country. Problem is these Wazuri are not really that dreadful in the movie. The best character and acting is that of Rokoff the lead villain who deserved better than death in the end. She-Devil benefits from a young Raymond Burr' villainy but Tarzan himself spends most of the movie trapped and subdued. So much for swinging jungle action. The Barker run of movies are generic and serviceable with little in thrills or adventures. A nice diversion, but that's about all there is to them. A shame really as Lex was a fine Tarzan in replacing Weissmuller. One can only imagine if he had been given better stories and more inventive or creative action. Burr actually interact with Barker in the film or does he just pop up in random scenes, commenting on footage shot elsewhere...
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Post by codystarbuck on May 23, 2021 20:07:28 GMT -5
If anyone here gets TCM, you may want to check out an episode or two (or twelve) of the original Batman serial (1943). Your mileage may vary, of course, but if you look closely enough beneath the layers of less than great acting, effects right out of "Plan Nine", and the painful racial stereotype that is Dr. Daka, the Japanese spy/villain played by all-purpose go-to ethnic character actor J. Carroll Naish, you may find enough to charm you into checking out a bona fide non-classic. Still, it is the archetypical Batman on film, so for completists, it's a must-watch. I liked it, up to a point. Columbia could have seriously learned something by studying Republic's pacing of their serials; but, other than that there is some fun to be had. Rifftrax did a bit of assassination on the second serial, clips of which can be seen on Youtube... That one is pretty dull, compared to the first or without the riffing, or compared to Adam West (or Flimation, Hanna-Barbera, the Sesame Street shorts, Burton films, Schumacher, Nolan, BTAS, etc, etc....)
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Post by Prince Hal on May 23, 2021 22:38:35 GMT -5
Republic was the MGM of serials. Columbia's looked pretty terrible by comparison: empty sets, poor photography, really nothing particualrly distinguished about them. But there was gold to be found amongst the dross, even if the few pieces of it were difficult to find.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 24, 2021 21:26:40 GMT -5
Republic was the MGM of serials. Columbia's looked pretty terrible by comparison: empty sets, poor photography, really nothing particualrly distinguished about them. But there was gold to be found amongst the dross, even if the few pieces of it were difficult to find. Yeah, The Phantom, with Tom Tyler is pretty good and certainly gets into the spirit of the comic, even if Devil is a German shepherd and jungle animals are obviously in separate film pieces. Columbia seemed to get a lot of licensed stuff, from comic books and strips. They had the National/DC ones, with the Kirk Alyn Superman ones, the two Batman, and the Vigilante, Congo Bill and Hop Harrigan. From the newspapers they had Mandrake, Brenda Starr, and Brick Bradford. They also got The Shadow and The Spider, from the pulps. I've seen a chapter and a few clips of the Spider, which looked pretty good (The Spider's Web, the first one, with plot from Norvell Paige). I have The Shadow, but haven't really watched it, yet. A friend burnt me copies of several I didn't have, but, I haven't gotten around to them. I wanted to like Blackhawk; but I found it kind of dull and the uses of standard small Beechcraft-style planes, instead of even models of the Sky Rockets just didn't do it for me. Universal's two Green Hornet serials are excellent. I like how each chapter is pretty much them fighting a particular gang member of a larger conspiracy, building until they go after the man at the top, in the finale. Plus, Keye Luke as Kato! The thing that really got me watching the old serials, aside from the old Matinee at the Bijou program, on PBS, was the spoof J-Men Forever, from Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman, of The Firesign Theatre. It was shown on USA Network's Night Flight program and I laughed my head off, but was excited to see Captain Marvel, Masked Marvel, Spy Smasher and Captain America there, along with the other clips they had. I snatched that up, when it got released on dvd.
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Post by brutalis on May 24, 2021 21:59:29 GMT -5
Slowly been building up my Cliffhanger serials on DVD collectio over the last few years. Yet to watch but have ALL the Flash Gordon's, Buck Rogers, both Batman's, Congo Bill, The Phantom, Superman, Captain Midnight and Spysmasher.
The want list is on hold pending if/when going permanent with State. Wanting the 2 Spider's, Captain Marvel, some more jungle series, maybe some Dick Tracy, Rocket Man, Mandrake and some westerns and whatever may catch my attention. Good to know about the Green Hornet's and might get some Shadow.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 24, 2021 23:23:26 GMT -5
Slowly been building up my Cliffhanger serials on DVD collectio over the last few years. Yet to watch but have ALL the Flash Gordon's, Buck Rogers, both Batman's, Congo Bill, The Phantom, Superman, Captain Midnight and Spysmasher. The want list is on hold pending if/when going permanent with State. Wanting the 2 Spider's, Captain Marvel, some more jungle series, maybe some Dick Tracy, Rocket Man, Mandrake and some westerns and whatever may catch my attention. Good to know about the Green Hornet's and might get some Shadow. I have all of the Flash Gordons, but enjoy Flash Gordon's trip to Mars the most. FG Conquers the Universe has the most stuff that inspired Star Wars (FG Trip to Mars as quite a bit, too); but, I was so-so on some of the plot and chapters. Buck Rogers is pretty good and Spy Smasher is excellent, with some of the best stunt work in republic's cannon. Masked Marvel is also good for that, with Tom Steele under the mask, as the hero. Lots of really great chapters in that one. I've seen the first Dick Tracy, which is fantastic and a pretty darn good mystery, too. Some of the stunts were cribbed by Spielberg & Lucas for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Some of the footage was reused for Fighting Devil Dogs (the flying wing and the henchman, plus a few stunt pieces, like the boat chase). FDD is another good one, with Herman Brix, who also played Tarzan. It has one of the most memorable villains, in The Lightning, who inspired much of the look and style of Darth Vader. Rocket Man is another good one and by far the best of the rocket hero serials. It's got a better villain and focus, compared to Radar Men from the Moon and Zombies of the Stratosphere. Those two get rather dull, for long stretches and even seeing young Leonard Nimoy can't rescue the plot. The Adventures of Captain Marvel is one of THE best serials, ever, with exciting chapters all of the way through, great stunts, very good flying effects (compared to other attempts at a flying hero) and a decent adaptation of the hero, minus the whimsy. Frank Coughlin was a darn good Billy Batson, too. A lot of that influenced the graphic novel version of Jerry Ordway's Power of Shazam. The first Superman is good, though the use of a cartoon for the flying stuff really takes you out of it. Atom Man vs Supermen is slower paced, even though it has Lex Luthor. I kind of preferred Carol Forman, in the first one (she's a lot sexier than Lionel Atwill!) Republic's Flash Gordon knock-off, The Undersea Kingdom, with Ray "Crash" Corrigan is pretty good, despite what the Mysties joked (and that was some pretty funny stuff). He makes a pretty good beefcake hero and it has a nice mixture of sci-fi and sword and sandal fantasy. His helmet's kind of goofy. Zorro's Fighting Legion is a must, with Yakima Canutt under the mask, doing all of his great stunts, including redoing the runaway stagecoach stunt, from John Ford's Stagecoach (later redone for The Legend of the Lone Ranger and Raiders of the Lost Ark). If you want a nice bit of goofy fun, mixing in some western action and sci-fi, with some character comedy and a singing cowboy, you have to watch The Phantom Empire, with Gene Autry! That thing is a hoot, as Gene has to get back to the ranch, in about every chapter, and do his radio show or he will lose the Radio Ranch. On top of that, he has to deal with crooks trying to get the place to hunt for uranium and an underground civilization, with its Thunder Riders. gene's sidekicks, aside from Smiley Burnette, are Frankie Darro and champion rodeo rider Betsy King Ross. The serial was later sort of remade for NBC's tv show, Cliffhangers, which was an homage to the serial adventures. One of the three segments was The Secret Empire (the others were The Curse of Dracula and Stop Susan Williams), with the same basic plot, minus the singing cowboy bit, setting it in the 1800s. That segment also borrowed a bit from Flash Gordon and the finale used the Ranger 3 spacecraft from the Gil Gerards Buck Rogers, with Mark Leonard as the villain of the thing. One I haven't seen, but have been dying to is Daredevils of the Red Circle, which inspired all kinds of stuff swiped for Indiana Jones and other films, which also features Charles Middleton, the movie serial Ming the Merciless, as the villain.
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Post by Prince Hal on May 25, 2021 10:41:56 GMT -5
We've covered some of this ground on serials elsewhere and else when, but I'm glad it's coming up again. A couple of thoughts worth mentioning:
Herman Brix, one of the serial Tarzans, was a big strapping athlete who played for Washington in the 1926 Rose Bowl, won a batch of shot put titles before and after college, took the silver medal in the shot put at the '28 Olympics, and was slated to play Tarzan in the movies.
Brix, who often did his own stunts, broke his shoulder making another film, however, and the role went to Johnny Weissmuller. He became a serial star in Fighting Devil-Dogs and Daredevils of the Red Circle[/b.
Daredevils is indeed a top-notch serial that will at times remind you of the original Challengers of the Unknown. Watch it soon. I know you'll like it. YouTube's got it here: , and Internet Archive has it, too.
Brix reinvented himself as a character actor under the name Bruce Bennett b/c he was so identified w/ Tarzan.)
Probably Brix's most famous roles under the name Bruce Bennett were in the classics Sahara (1943); Mildred Pierce (1945); and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).
He lived to be 100 years old, too.
Another superb serial is The Perils of Nyoka, aka Nyoka and the Lost Secrets of Hippocrates. This was serial that had it all: a nasty, chariot-riding villainess, Vultura (Lorna Gray); Tristram Coffin (of King of the Rocketmen) as an Italian diplomat; Charles Middleton as an Arab chieftan; Billy Benedict (Whitey of the Bowery Boys, et al) as the comic relief; the rugged and heroic Clayton Moore as the male lead (though still clearly subordinate to Nyoka).
And what a crew of veteran thugs, mugs, yeggs, and assorted good guys: Tom Steele, Kenne Duncan, Yakima Canutt, Jay Silverheels, Iron Eyes Cody, and Duke Green (also in Masked Marvel). And leave us not forget Emil Van Horn as Vultura’s beloved pet, Satan, the ape.
All this in a North African setting (courtesy Corriganville and the Iverson ranch) right out of Raiders, with all of the usual death traps, secret caves, underground hideouts, lost treasure, hidden temples and gunfights, fistfights, knife fights, swordfights, man-on-gorilla wrestling, girl-on-girl wrestling, and God knows how many variations of same.
And as Nyoka, you have the perfectly cast Kay Aldridge. She was like Katherine Hepburn in a dust-brown skort, all uppah-class accent and absolute fearlessness. No smooching with Moore, no moments of flinching weakness. Oh, she got caught in traps, but there wasn’t a peep or complaint out of her.
It is one of the great serials, maybe pound for pound the Gone With the Wind of the genre, and certainly in the running for the best ever.
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Post by codystarbuck on May 25, 2021 14:17:10 GMT -5
I have Perils around, somewhere, and have watched a couple of chapters. The two "Rex Bennett" serials are great ones for wartime action and intrigue: G-Men vs the Black Dragon (the female lead gets to blast away with a tommy gun!) and Secret Service in darkest Africa (aka Manhunt in the African Jungles). I first caught a glimpse of them in Leonard Maltin's Republic mini-documentary Cliffhangers: Adventures from the Thrill Factory. He talked about them fighting all over the sets, hurling furniture at each other and all kinds of craziness. The doc was pretty good, with interviews with Clayton Moore, Frank Coghlan (Billy Batson in Captain Marvel and also in Last of the Mohicans, with Harry Carey), Linda Stirling, Gene Autry, Peggy Stewart and director William Whitney. Lot of great clips. It was shown at least once on AMC, back in the early 90s and was marketed on VHS; but, I don't believe it ever got a dvd release. A while back, I created a list of serial adventures on imdb.There are also links there to my other lists (under the screen name "grendelkhan"), including Saturday Mornings, in the 1970s, WW2 in film, US history films, sci-fi, fantasy, pulp, James Bond, comic book-style films that weren't from comics, and a few more.
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