Overlooked Films: Adventures of (ALMOST the Phantom) Captain Africa

Last week I yakked about the 1943 Columbia serial The Phantom starring Tom Tyler. That’s HERE.

Well, recently Mr. Richard Prosch (who hangs out on Meridian Bridge) tipped me to the fact that Columbia was in the process of filming a sequel, with part-time Lone Ranger John Hart in the title role. But things went sour when the studio lost the rights to the character. Their solution was to create a pseudo-Phantom called Captain Africa.

I haven't seen this serial, but based on what I see in these lobby cards, the studio didn’t change much. Hart’s mask looks identical to Tom Tyler’s. Instead of a cloth hood he has a leather aviator’s cap. And instead of the Phantom’s gray long johns, he wears a turtleneck and riding britches. Though he’s now a government agent instead of a jungle god, he still appears to be worshipped by the natives. And the natives, as in the first serial, are white. And though I haven’t seen a lobby card with Devil (or a reasonable facsimile) on it, one of the later chapters is titled “Captain Africa and the Wolf Dog!”

So, now that I know that Adventures of Captain Africa (1955), was ALMOST another Phantom serial, it’s on my to-be-seen list. 

BILL CRIDER TAKE NOTE! Chapter 4 is titled "Into the Crocodile Pit!"

More Overlooked Films at SWEET FREEDOM.

Here's a pic of Hart in the Phantom suit, before the franchisee pulled the plug.

Overlooked Films: Batman and Robin (1949)

After my first viewing of the first Batman serial from 1943 (reviewed HERE), which I enjoyed quite a bit, I thought this one might be a step up. Sadly, no. In fact, in all but one aspect, it's a step down. And that single improvement is the one displayed right here - the movie poster art.

For me, the biggest letdown is the script. While the first serial had some witty lines, and seemed in line with other film dialogue of the '40s, this one never rises above the level of a Golden Age comic book. In other words, it's predictable and dull.

Then there's the acting. In Batman, Lewis Wilson was an engaging Bruce Wayne. I had high hopes for his replacement, Robert Lowery, because Lowery looks sort of like Johnny Weismuller, with a touch of Victor Mature. But aside from looking sort of like those guys, he doesn't do much. As Bruce Wayne, he simply yawns a lot. And John Duncan, the new Robin, looks way too old to be running around in a yellow cape and Speedos.

The costume department didn't do Batman any favors, either. His belt looks like it was borrowed from a Vegas chorus girl – and the cowl is just laughable. The ears stick out like devil’s horns, the eye slits don’t line up with his eyes, and the nose piece forms a long floppy beak.

As in the first serial, there is no Batmobile, probably a budget cutter. But this time, the car keeps changing. Sometimes our heroes are driving a Mercury convertible, sometimes a different make of convertible, and sometimes a sedan. Worst of all, the sedan is the same one the bad guys were driving in the previous episode. It would seem that when it came time to shoot, they just grabbed whatever was available in the Columbia Pictures motor pool.

Another letdown: There's no Wayne Manor. Instead, Bruce and Dick inhabit a relatively modest home in the suburbs, and simply park their car in the driveway. Apparently the neighbors don't notice when two guys in superhero suits rush out of the house and jump into the convertible.

The master villain, on the other hand, lives in a mansion on a hill, and has a secret entrance through his fireplace to a complex of caves below. Jeez, I wonder where they got that idea?

 

More Overlooked Filmish stuff at SWEET FREEDOM.

Overlooked Films: Batman (1943)

I've seen stills from this serial ever since I was a kid (beginning, no doubt, with the Warren mag Screen Thrills Illlustrated), but never got around to seeing the film until now. Well, hey. It was worth the wait.

The stills make it look pretty cheesy, due primarily to Batman's floppy-eared cowl and high-waisted trunks. But the surprising thing is - the cowl and trunks are the most serious flaws in the whole 15-chapter serial.

To begin with, our hero is consistently referred to as The Batman, which is fitting and proper for 1943. There are no Academy Award performances here, but the acting is perfectly acceptable, and the dialogue is several notches above the comic book norm. Best of all, there's nothing campy going on here. Batman and Robin are portrayed as seriously as any other screen heroes, which is the way it should be. While Lewis Wilson is only passable as The Batman, he's a fine Bruce Wayne, while 16-year-old Douglas Croft is equally competent as Robin and Dick Grayson.

Being 1943, it's not surprising the plot revolves around a Japanese scheme to help them win the war. The number one villain is a Japanese agent/evil mastermind called Dr. Daka, played by the very un-Japanese J. Carrol Naish with artificially slanted eyes. Among his inventions are a gas that can change the color of a moving automobile, a radium gun, and a gadget that turns good loyal Americans into slavish zombies. And just for fun, he keeps a bunch of hungry crocodiles in a pit beneath the trapdoor in his office floor.

One cool note: The first time we see Alfred, he's reading a detective pulp. Hard to be sure, but it looks to me like an issue of Private Detective Stories, maybe even one I possess.

One peculiar note: Batman's cape and cowl assembly keeps changing color, often within a single scene. Sometimes it appears black, sometimes medium gray, and sometimes a pale gray. The black looks best, of course, but maybe they figured it wouldn't always photograph well.

The cliffhangers are pretty standard stuff. Batman gets caught in burning buildings, goes over a cliff in a car, gets caught between moving walls with sword blades sticking out of them, etc., and each time the bad guys are certain he's been killed. After about the twelfth chapter, though, they come up with the novel theory that there must be a whole gang of Batmen, and can only hope the next one they kill will be the last.

Over the course of watching these 15 chapters, I also watched - for the first time in 20 years - the Tim Burton Batman flick starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Surprise! The 1943 cheapie beat the 1989 big-budget version all to hell. 

Overlooked Film Fans are advised, as always, to look for more at SWEET FREEDOM.

The following six panels comprised a comic strip ad for the serial, and offer a surprisingly accurate representation of some of the action. The most inaccurate element is that Batman actually looks like Batman.

Overlooked Films: Rin-Tin-Tin in "The Lightning Warrior"

This 1931 serial was the last film the original Rin-Tin-Tin made before he kicked the doggie-bucket. I have a copy on a cheapie DVD set, along with The Lone Defender and two later serials pairing Rin-Tin-Tin Jr. with Rex the Wonder Horse. So far I've seen only Chapter 1, and there's plenty of crazy stuff going on. It's almost bad enough to be good.

The wackiest element is that gent on the left in the Chapter 8 poster below. On the poster he looks sort of like The Shadow, but on film he reminds me more of Mickey Mouse's old nemesis The Phantom Blot. As you might expect from a guy wearing that outfit, he spends a lot of time lurking in hallways and peeking in windows. And when giving orders to his henchmen he holds his cape up Bela Lugosi-style over his already masked face. But he also rides around in broad daylight on a white horse and enjoys standing on mountaintops howling like a wolf. His name? He's called The Wolf Man.

But wait. What about Rin-Tin-Tin? He's the star of this pic, isn't he? Well, maybe. He doesn't have much to do in Chapter 1, but he does have the title role (the local Indians call him "The Lightning Warrior") so maybe he's saving up his heroics for later in the picture.

Here's the set up: Arrows are sailing into town, often landing in the chests of prominent citizens. Each arrow carries a scrap of cowhide with a pictograph warning residents to get out of town or die. Looks like the work of Indians, but the local tribe has supposedly been defunct for 20 years.

One of the first to die is a government agent sent to investigate the situation, who just happens to be the owner of Rin-Tin-Tin. Luckily, the agent's brother shows up to assume the hero's role. Unluckily, another early victim is the father of annoying kid, who's sure to be annoying for the rest of the film. He bawls three times in Chapter 1 alone.

What's really happening? Don't know yet, but we know The Wolf Man is in it up to his floppy hat - and, because of that gent pointing his finger on the poster above (and the guys menacing the Blake Shelton lookalike on the last poster below), we know there really are Indians hiding out in the hills. If I can endure more of the muddy picture and scratchy audio, maybe I'll eventually learn the rest.

 

 

Look over more Overlooked Films over at Sweet Freedom.

Overlooked Films: Rin-Tin-Tin's first serial - The Lone Defender

Yep, you guessed it. I'm still reading Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean. 

I've seen some of this 1930 serial, and it's pretty rough going. But it does feature the original Rin-Tin-Tin (at least in close-ups) and it produced some pretty cool posters. 

 

More Overlooked Films (and maybe some other dogs) at Sweet Freedom.

Art Gallery: Captain America - The Republic Serial (1944)

Art Gallery: Wild West Cliffhangers

1952

1951

1948