SPY SMASHER (1942)
(Nov 15, 2001)
Yes! This is one of the best action serials ever made, with no missteps or sagging in the middle chapters. The storyline is coherent and driving, the characters are reasonably believable and the action is terrific. Most notably, though, is that the lighting and sets are very professional-looking, unlike a lot of serials. If you started watching a chapter cold, you would think this was a pretty good 'B' picture and a lot better than some of the Charlie Chan or Falcon movies of that time. SPY SMASHER would be a good choice to screen for a fan of adventure movies who hasn't seen any serials.
The music is an enormous plus. Like the Lone Ranger and Green Hornet, Spy Smasher benefits from the powerful, recognizable use of classical music played full out. Beethoven's Fifth was used during World War II as part of an interlocking set of victory symbols. The four opening notes (dot dot dot daaah) resembled the Morse code for 'V' (dot dot dot dash), which stood for Victory. In 1942, any of these symbols drew a strong response from audiences. Spy Smasher has the V and the Morse for 'v' unobtrusively on his belt, but the most impressive use is in the credits as two spotlights swing back and forth to form a huge V and the music plays...there must have been a lot of cheering eleven-year-olds when this first came on the screen.
Spy Smasher is, well, a spy smasher-- daring young Virginia playboy Alan Armstrong, who has been fighting with the French underground as a costumed hero. The serial version wears the same costume as the character who appeared in his own comic and in WHIZ COMICS (Republic was pretty good at getting the outfits correct, with the dismal exception of Captain America) and it's not gaudy enough to be implausible. The cape, thin and short as it is, does get in the way constantly, and if highly skilled stunt men like Dave Sharpe found it inconvenient, then you know it's awkward. How Batman deals with that floor length blanket he wears is harder to buy than most suspension of disbelief will cover.
Starring as both Alan and his twin brother Jack (Jack? Jack Armstrong?! Are the writers trying to pull our legs a bit here?) is Kane Richmond, who is very good in the dual role. Watching it again, it's satisfying to see how he portrays the two brothers as not quite identical...Alan is more stern and dominating than the more diffident Jack. Richmond seems to be treating Jack almost as Alan's secret identity, but it's more subtle than that. To be honest, a lot of serial players were able to read their lines and avoid staring at the camera at best, and Richmond is so natural and likeable that it's refreshing. Marguerite Chapman is also unusually good; she has a lot more intelligence and character in her face than some of the leading ladies. And as much as I enjoyed Tristram Coffin (great name!) as the hero of KING OF THE ROCKETMEN, he's best suited to play the main henchman, as he does here.
This serial also has one of the most impressive chapter endings on film. We're used to seeing cars blow up or whiz over cliffs, or the hero seemingly crushed under a falling boulder or drowned in a sealed room. But this time we clearly see Spy Smasher gunned down at point blank range, reel back off the roof of a building and hit the street. Let's see how he gets out of THAT one! (Spoiler answer below*)
SPY SMASHER also had the weird looking "Bat Plane" (nothing Bruce Wayne ever owned), and like the Flying Wing and spark-spitting rocketships of these serials, it's a delight to watch. The models which the Lydeckers constructed must have been almost as big as the real articles would have been and the results are startlingly convincing.
As for the fight scenes, as you watch them, it sinks in that these are real flesh and blood men doing these stunts. No wires matted out by computers, no CGI figures, just actual stunt men. Watching these serials again, I'm amazed at how long the takes are in the fights. Jet Li or Jackie Chan seem more impressive, but their fights are tightly edited short little clips where each blow is filmed seperately and edited together. Dave Sharpe, Tom Steele, Dale Van Sickel-- these guys do whole fights with the accuracy of a Gene Kelly choreography (and that's enough mixed references for one review).
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*It was his brother Jack in the costume who in fact did get killed, not Alan.
SUPERMAN (1948)
(July 6, 2003)
This serial is mostly a fun ride with a lot of positive factors going for it (but also two or three big drawbacks). We start with a quick rundown of Superman's origin on doomed Krypton, his upbringing by the upright Kents and his arrival as a goofy Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, then most of the story shows him going after the nefarious Spider Lady.
Superman's considerable physical advantages are offset by the villains' clever tricks, the threatening of Lois and Jimmy to distract the Man of Steel and the fortuitous arrival of a Kryptonite meteor right near Metropolis (lucky for the bad guys that it didn't crash unnoticed somewhere in the Outback, eh?). So it's not a five minute serial showing Superman smashing through a few walls and rounding up the crooks.
Kirk Alyn gives an energetic performance as both Superman and Clark Kent (who he plays as distinct personalities). Alyn isn't imposing in the muscular way Tom Tyler was as Captain Marvel, who looked like he could actually slam you across the room. Alyn's Superman is agile as a dancer, light on his feet and grinning delightedly as bullets ricochet of his chest. Noel Neill as Lois Lane has the same likeable qualities she showed on the TV show, although here she looks like she got the Dailey Planet job right after high school; Tommy Bond is a funny looking kid, and his Jimmy is more like a Lower East Side ruffian than the gee whiz youngster we usually find. It's very cool to see Perry White as a hardnosed old-school editor who has no hesitation trading punches with a thug (hard to imagine John Hamilton throwing a few hooks) and who, after being hurled out his office window and barely hanging on, immediately barks that they still have a paper to get out. That's a newspaperman of the classic type.
The Spider Lady herself is a disappointment. For a supposed criminal mastermind, she never seems shrewd or intimidating enough to even be in a gang, much less lead one. Despite the fact she's an impressive blonde in a black gown, she's not using sex appeal as a tool either. Carol Forman seems to be trying to sound tough, but it falls flat. Either she should have gone for the seductive female spy angle, or they should have picked an older actress who could have put some cold menace in her performance. (Her best moments come when posing dramatically in front of the big metal spiderweb she uses to electrocute folks.)
And then there are the flying scenes. Come on, Sam Katzman, spring for a few bucks. Since THE WIZARD OF OZ a decade earlier and the Republic serials with their life-size papier-mache figures, it was shown a convincing flying man could be done. Instead, cheap cartoon animation was used here. Whenever Superman takes off, he's replaced in midframe by a flat unshaded cartoon figure. Once or twice, this seems effective but most of the time, it just slaps the viewer in the face and dares us to believe it. Even worse, as long as they were using this technique, they might as well have shown our hero hurtling through the sky with real momentum and forcefulness; instead, he wavers and sways from side to side as he were about to drop back down.
Too bad. Aside from the dismal flying scenes and a lame mastermind, SUPERMAN is brisk and inventive. The Reducer Ray (which is a long range disintegrator, not something that shrinks objects as you might expect) gives the Spider Lady a little extra leverage. Superman roughing up the thugs is staged with some enthusiasm. They don't even try to break their fists on him, usually making a run for it after bouncing a few bullets at that S symbol, and he flings them all over the place, picking up two at a time and clunking their heads together in a way George Reeves would later emulate.
UNDERSEA KINGDOM (1936)
(Sep 10, 2004)
One of my all-time favorite serials, goofy over-the-top fun that's hard to beat. Here's the premise: a series of devastating earthquakes are investigated by kindly old Professor Norton, who theorizes that they are somehow being caused by the legendary sunken continent of Atlantis. Luckily, the prof has invented an amazing new super-submarine and he goes to check things out. Unfortunately, his party consists of two goofy stooges, a colorless girl reporter who tags along, and his little son Billy (a thrill freak who stows away). On the other hand, he's sharp enough to also bring along the very athletic and tough Naval lieutenant Ray "Crash" Corrigan, one of the best guys to have at your back in a cliffhanger.
Things get weird awful fast. The sub is drawn into a cavern ten thousand feet below the surface and here they find a lost world. Yes, in a cave deep under the ocean is the land of Atlantis, complete with sunlight and a wide open sky and trees and all that. The Professor doesn't even try to explain this, and frankly, neither will I. You just have to go with it. Atlantis is in theory ruled by the kindly high priest Sharad (finally! a decent high priest), but there is also this usurper named Unga Khan.
Although everyone else is still riding in chariots and fighting with curved swords, Unga Khan has an impressive array of advanced technology. Robots (called Volkites for some reason), flying torpedoes and death rays, an armored tank called the Juggernaut, television spy cameras, everything except Gameboys. Being one of those mad conquest-hungry types (as his name suggests), Khan is determined to bring his metal tower to the surface like a missile and launch an all-out attack on the world above.
Right off the bat, Unga Khan brainwashes Professor Norton to help him with his schemes. Crash Corrigan objects strenuously and we're off on a wild barrage of attacks and deathtraps and wrestling matches and explosions.... all the things that are great to enjoy if you're sitting comfortably on your couch instead of being in the middle of it all. The serial is full of memorable moments, but you really have to love the scene where Crash has been tied to the front of that Juggernaut thing. Behind the wheel, Lon Chaney (of all people) as the brutal Captain Hakur gives him one more chance to co-operate or he'll ram the tank right through the city gates with our hero on the front bumper. Clenching his teeth and speaking with absolute conviction, Crash says, "Go ahead and RAM!" That's the spirit, Corrigan.
It's kind of obvious that UNDERSEA KINGDOM was Republic's response to the successful Universal epic, FLASH GORDON. I mean, "Flash Gordon" - "Crash Corrigan", say them quickly together. The basic plots were the same, but although I thought UNDERSEA KINGDOM moved a bit more briskly and had better action than FLASH GORDON, there were a few areas where the second serial suffered in comparison to its inspiration. Monte Blue was okay as Unga Khan, giving his lines a lot of zest but he certainly was no match for Charles Middleton as Ming. (Now there was a villain who ranked with Fu Manchu and Professor Moriarty.)
Also, Lois Wilde as pushy reporter Diana makes no impression on me, and apparently Crash wasn't too smitten with her, either. Although most of the cast (including Crash) get to run around in bizarre tunics and crested helmets and flashy robes, Diana stays in her drab professional skirt & jacket ensemble. Compare her with Jean Rogers as Dale Arden in those teeny outfits that still cause testosterone surges in male viewers. Actually, most of the comraderie was between Crash and little Billy Norton, who idolized the big lug in a completely straight, non-suggestive kid brotherly way. Billy even got to save the day a few times, which was more than Diana or the brainwashed professor did.
The biggest misgiving I have about UNDERSEA KINGDOM is that it cheated shamelessly on some of the chapter endings. You see someone clearly drop down an elevator shaft, tumbling roughly to doom; and then next chapter opens with that person catching a projection right after falling in. Boo! Hiss! I can forgive some dodgy solutions to cliffhangers but outright cheating riles me. Showing the hero finding a last minute way out of the burning building or even just leaping out of the car before it blows up is okay, but showing events completely different from what we saw the week before just isn't playing fair.
Crash Corrigan (1902-1976, real name Raymond Bernard) makes a splendid hero. Obviously in terrific shape, he really seems like he can wrestle down two big men at a time and he delivers his lines with conviction. He would not have been a bad choice to play Tarzan or Hercules. Although Corrigan made a lot of Westerns, that's really not my field of interest (maybe someday) and I know him better for all his appearances in that inimitable gorilla suit - in fact, as the horned apelike Orangapoid, he gave Buster Crabbe a rough tangle in FLASH GORDON not long before UNDERSEA KINGDOM. Twenty years later, he played the murderous Martian creature in the very cool drive-in classic IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, often cited as an inspiration for the ALIEN movies.