TRADER TOM OF THE CHINA SEAS

Harry Lauter and Aline Towne

TRADER TOM OF THE CHINA SEAS (12 chapter Republic serial/1954). Produced and directed by Franklin Adreon. Colorized.  

Tom Rogers (Harry Lauter of The Louisiana Hussy) is a trader in Asian territories who is willingly signed up by Major Conroy (Robert Shayne of The Neanderthal Man) to help ferret out a gang that is smuggling out weapons, including light bulbs containing a poison gas, to foreign agents who are arming rebel natives so as to turn their country into a satellite. Vivian Wells (Aline Towne of Radar Men from the Moon) is the feisty daughter of a doctor who was targeted by evil forces, and Mr. Barent (Lyle Talbot), is the representative of his country's forces and the chief architect behind Trader Tom's troubles. Victor Sen Yung is Wang, a friendly associate of Rogers. 

Lauter and Towne with Lyle Talbot

Barent's helpmates include the nasty Kurt Daley (Fred Graham of The Giant Gila Monster), the mute Gursan (an unrecognizable Tom Steele), the psychotic Gorth (Richard Alexander), the rebel leader (Richard Reeves), and others. Tom gets some help from Kahn (Jan Arvan), who is fighting off the rebel forces in his country. Tom and Vivian have to deal with landslides, being trapped on a sinking freighter, being trapped underwater with a cut air hose, a train collision, angry rebels with big knives, and so on. Tom thinks nothing of burning these would-be killers to death, and nearly falls off a cliff into the fire in chapter seven. In chapter six a killer is placed inside a mailbag so he can take care of the engineer. 

Vivian and Tom escape from one doom only to face another

A nice aspect of the serial is that Vivian is depicted as being just as brave, plucky, and competent as Tom. She is no mere decoration, but an important player in the story. Lyle Talbot gives his usual professional but utterly bland portrayal, as he usually did in these serials. Fred Graham, on the other hand, emerges as a very credible and distinctly unpleasant bad guy. Trader Tom of the China Seas is a late Republic serial, one that is much more down to earth than the studio's sci-fi and superhero cliffhangers. For many, that may be the serial's weakness, but it has to be said that Trader Tom is fast-paced and full of action, with plenty of interesting death-traps, and a charismatic lead performance by Lauter. 

Verdict: Decent, often exciting serial if perhaps not as much fun as others. **3/4. 

BATMAN AND ROBIN

The dynamic duo!

BATMAN AND ROBIN (15 chapter Columbia serial/1949). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet. Colorized. 

Commissioner Gordon (Lyle Talbot) calls in Batman and Robin to help him with a sinister foe called the Wizard who uses a remote control device and can even turn himself invisible at times. Also investigating is reporter Vicki Vale (Jane Adams), who hangs out at the estate of always-tired Bruce Wayne (Robert Lowery) and his ward Dick (Johnny Duncan), and whose brother Jimmy (George Offerman Jr.) is a member of the Wizard's gang. Suspects as to the true identity of the Wizard include dyspeptic Professor Hammil (William Fawcett); radio announcer Barry Brown (Rick Vallin); private eye Dunne (Michael Whalen); and Hammil's valet, Carter (Leonard Penn). 

WHO is The Wizard? 

Batman and Robin is one of the best of Columbia's chapterplays, building up real suspense in the final chapters, and featuring exciting fight scenes, chases, and cliffhangers. Lowery and Duncan make a good pair of stalwart heroes, Adams is plucky and pretty, and even Lyle Talbot scores as the commissioner, with Offerman also effective as the ill-fated Jimmy. The Wizard is voiced quite well by Gerald Mohr (of Angry Red Planet). 

Verdict: Despite its obvious absurdities, this chapterplay really plays. ***1/4. 

MASK OF THE DRAGON

Sheila Ryan and Richard Travis

MASK OF THE DRAGON (1951). Director: Sam Newfield.

In Korea Lt. Dan Oliver (Richard Emory) is asked to take a package containing a Jade dragon back to the United States. He has barely arrived when he is murdered and his luggage searched. Oliver's partner, Phil Ramsey (Richard Travis), investigates his murder along with Ramsey's gal pal, Ginny (Sheila Ryan). Ginny isn't thrilled when Phil shows an interest in blonde singer Terry Newell (Dee Tatum), who appears on an L.A. TV show and was in love with Oliver. While Phil kibbitzes with Lt. McLaughlin (Lyle Talbot), sinister art dealer Kim Ho (Jack Reitzen) and his associates Murphy (Sid Melton), Kingpin (Karl Davis) and Simo (Charles Iwamoto, billed as Mr. Moto) try to find the Jade dragon and beat up or dispose of anyone who gets in their way. Major Clinton (Michael Whelan) is convinced that Oliver was up to some funny business, a notion that infuriates Phil.

Curt Barrett and the Trailsmen

Mask of the Dragon was undoubtedly made back to back with Travis' earlier film Fingerprints Don't Lie, as it has the same director, writer, stars and virtually the same cast in both pictures. It is an even worse movie, however. At one point the action stops dead so that we can be treated to the song stylings of Curt Barrett and the Trailsmen, who aren't terrible but do little to add to the intrigue. Mask of the Dragon seems cobbled together from outtakes, with a script hastily scribbled on toilet paper to make use of the footage and the cowboy singers used to pad out the running time. Like other mystery films Travis starred or co-starred in, Dragon was cut down to half an hour and shown on television as part of a mystery series. Dudley Chambers' organ score is another minus. The actors do the best they can. 

Verdict: Even singing cowboys can't save this. *1/2.  

FINGERPRINTS DON'T LIE

Richard Travis and Sheila Ryan

FINGERPRINTS DON'T LIE (1951). Director: Sam Newfield. 

At the murder trial of artist Paul Moody (Richard Emory), fingerprint expert James Stover (Richard Travis of Missile to the Moon) must give damning testimony. The theory of the prosecuting attorney (Tom Neal of Jungle Girl) is that Moody, angered because Mayor Palmer (Ferris Taylor) turned down his mural proposal because he objected to Moody's dating his daughter, Carolyn (Sheila Ryan of Railroaded), bashed Palmer on the head with a telephone, killing him. James points out Moody's fingerprints on the murder weapon, and it all seems cut and dried. But Carolyn insists that her boyfriend is innocent, and that there must be some other explanation for the fingerprints. Knowing that a man's life is at stake, James investigates with Carolyn's assistance. 

Defendant: Richard Emory

The premise of this film is that fingerprints can be duplicated -- in other words, faked -- which can be done, although it's rare. Suspects for this devious activity include Police Commissioner Frank Kelso (Michael Whalen), gangster King Sullivan (George Eldredge), gun moll Connie Duval (Dee Tatum), even Lt. Grayson (Lyle Talbot). Also in the cast are Margia Dean and Syra Marty as artist's models. Travis is okay in the lead and the supporting performances, especially Eldredge, are more than adequate, but the movie is minor-league. Sid Melton is genuinely amusing, for a change, as the hapless photographer, Hypo Dorton. An in-joke has him checking out a wanted poster that has his real name on it.  Dudley Chambers' lousy score consists of terrible chorale writing and organ music. 

Verdict: Despite some intriguing elements this is mostly a time-waster. **1/4. 

THE SCARF

Mercedes McCambridge and John Ireland

THE SCARF  (1951). Written and directed by E. A. Dupont. 

John Barrington (John Ireland of Railroaded) was convicted of strangling a woman with a scarf, but has no memory of it. Sentenced to life in an institution, he manages to escape and winds up on a turkey farm with a grizzled old-timer named Ezra (James Barton). John gives a lift to a somewhat hard-boiled lady named Connie (Mercedes McCambridge). Like Ezra, Connie learns the truth about John but doesn't turn him in, not even for the $5000 reward. John goes to see his old friend, Dr. David Dunbar (Emlyn Williams), who tells him he actually witnessed the murder and knows that John committed it. But is this the truth? Then John's father (Basil Ruysdael) comes into the office with the police in tow ...

James Barton

Frankly, I didn't believe The Scarf for a minute. A lot of good actors are trapped within a screenplay that is half-baked and ludicrous. You can see the denouement coming from a mile away, and the characters seem to exist for only the amount of time they are on-screen -- despite the good acting they never quite seem like real people. Ireland and McCambridge, who were also in All the King's Men together, do the best they can but Broadway star Barton and Williams -- author of Night Must Fall and The Corn is Green in addition to being an actor -- make the best impression. There is also some good work from Lloyd Gough as another psychiatrist, David Bauer/Wolfe as bar owner Louie, and Iris Adrian as a drunken floozy. King Donovan [The Magnetic Monster] is the piano player in the gin joint where Connie works and sings (McCambridge betrays a not-bad voice). Lyle Talbot [Batman and Robin] gives a dull performance as a cop. The music and photography are good but not enough to make this memorable.

Verdict: Flavorful performances, but you won't believe a minute of it! **.

CALLING HOMICIDE

Bill Elliott, Myron Healey, James Best

CALLING HOMICIDE (1956). Written and directed by Edward Bernds.

Detective Lt. Andy Doyle (Bill Elliott) goes into action when another cop is killed by a car bomb. The dead man had said he was beginning an investigation but offered no details aside from the name of a woman whose battered body is then found at the bottom of a cliff. This takes Doyle and Det. Sgt. Mike Duncan (Don Haggerty) to a school for models, owned by Allen Gilmore (Thomas Browne Henry of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers) and run by Darlene Adams (Jeanne Cooper), with Tony Fuller (Lyle Talbot) another executive. Doyle is convinced that the seemingly proper modeling agency is just the front for more felonious activity, but also has to ponder which of several people might be behind the murders. Other suspects include Benny (John Dennis), a handyman with the agency; Jim Haddix (Myron Healey of Panther Girl of the Kongo), the ex-boyfriend of the female victim and a former stuntman; and Donna (Kathleen Case) his fiancee and another model.  

Suspects? Thomas Browne Henry, Lyle Talbot, Jeanne Cooper

This is the third of five films starring Bill Elliott as an L. A. police detective. Bernds' flavorful script plays out like an especially good episode of Law and Order (sans the prosecutors) with lots of intriguing developments and twists. A sudden murder in a bar is especially good. The cast, including James Best as another young cop anxious to make an impression, is game, with Talbot particularly notable as the generally drunk Fuller and the ever-reliable Jeanne Cooper saucy as the modeling school operator who knows more than she's telling. Myron Healey also has one of his best roles as the executive who also may have too many secrets. Almira Sessions is fun as a peppery housekeeper who brooks no nonsense, not even from cops. Edward Bernds also directed High School Hellcats and many others. 

Verdict: Like a superior episode of a snappy TV detective show. ***. 

THE DALTONS' WOMEN

Lash La Rue

THE DALTON'S WOMEN (1950). Director: Thomas Carr.

In the town of Navaho, members of the Dalton gang have seemingly become respectable citizens with new identities. However, they are up to their old tricks of holding up stagecoaches and robbing banks. Into town comes a man that everyone assumes is one of the Daltons, but "Mike Leonard" -- actually Clint Dalton (Jack Holt) -- knows better. He hires this stranger as a dealer in his saloon, suspecting that he's actually the law. Yes, indeed, the stranger is U.S. Marshall Lash La Rue (Lash La Rue), and he and Pinkerton agent Joan Talbot (Pamela Blake) set out to expose and round up the gang with the help of Lash's grizzled old pal Fuzzy Jones (Al St. John).

burlesque in the wild west?

Lash La Rue was a cowboy star who appeared in a great many low-budget productions for poverty row studio, PRC. In spite of this he gained a large following and had his own comic book that lasted until 1960. Although some have noted a resemblance to Humphrey Bogart, La Rue was actually handsomer than Bogie, although his acting range was much more limited. Playing himself in his movies, La Rue always dressed in black and carried a whip which he eventually learned to wield with a certain expertise; he also did his own stunts, which fitted neatly into PRC's budgetary plans. La Rue occasionally had small roles in films for other studios.

Catfight! June Benbow vs. Jacqueline Fontaine

The Dalton's Women throws in everything but the kitchen sink. There are sexy show girls strutting their stuff and doing the can can; a juggler whose act is interrupted by a shooting party; and a songstress named Jacqueline Fontaine (played by Jacqueline Fontaine, who was introduced in this picture). Fontaine delivers two numbers, including the catchy "The Right Kind of Man," in a husky and sensual voice; she knows how to deliver a song. The best scene in the movie has Fontaine involved in a wild, protracted catfight with saloon gal, May (June Benbow) over a character named Honest Hank (Archie Twitchell), who otherwise doesn't really figure in the plot. The catfight, with the two women pulling hair and nearly tearing the clothing off of each other, is one of the longest female-female fight scenes I've seen in any movie!

Tom Neal, Lyle Talbot, J. Farrell MacDoanld

Others in the cast include the ubiquitous Lyle Talbot as an honest businessman, Tom Neal [Jungle Girl] as the dishonest Mayor, J. Farrell MacDonald as the representative of the stagecoach company, Stanley Price [The Invisible Monster] as bad guy Manson, and Tom Tyler [Adventures of Captain Marvel] as Emmett Dalton. Thomas Carr also co-directed the serial Jesse James Rides Again. This really was the first movie for Jacqueline Fontaine, who had thirteen successive credits in B movies like Outlaw Women, A productions such as The Country Girl, and assorted television programs. A "Western Adventure" Production. 

Verdict: If you've always wanted to see a Lash La Rue picture, this is the one to go for. Dig that zesty catfight! **1/2. 

BATMAN AND ROBIN (1943)

Talbot, Lowery and Duncan

BATMAN AND ROBIN (15 chapter Columbia serial/1943). Director: Spencer Bennet. 

An unknown enemy called the Wizard (voice of Gerald Mohr, I believe)  employs a device that can take over control of any moving vehicle from afar. Later he develops the ability to turn invisible and can really get up to mischief! The Batman (Robert Lowery) and Robin (Johnny Duncan) find there are a number of suspects who could be the nefarious Wizard: Professor Hammil (William Fawcett), who may not be stuck in a wheelchair as he pretends; his houseman Carter (Leonard Penn); the inventor Morton (Marshall Bradford); radio announcer Barry Brown (Rick Vallin), who seems to know a lot more about the Wizard's activities than he should; and others.

The Wizard plots

Suspenseful, exciting, and quite well-done in all departments, Batman and Robin is one of the best-ever Columbia serials, and one of the best cliffhangers ever made period. Lowery and Duncan impersonate the Dark Knight and his ward to near-perfection; Jane Adams and George Offerman Jr. are notable as reporter Vicki Vale and her ill-fated brother, Jimmy; and even Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon is better than usual. There is no batmobile in this serial, but we do have the batcave and its entrance through a grandfather clock. Cliffhanger sequences include Batman being forced to shoot Robin; a room that rapidly fills with a deadly gas, trapping our heroes; and Batman falling off of a cliff after being electrofried. The serial also has terrific theme music, although the composer is uncredited. 

Verdict: Far superior to and a lot more fun than the sixties TV show and many of the movies that followed. ***1/2. 

LADY IN THE DEATH HOUSE

Jean Parker

LADY IN THE DEATH HOUSE (1944). 

Director: Steve Sekely. 

Psychologist Charles Finch (Lionel Atwill) tells a group of associates the story of Mary Kirk (Jean Parker), who was fated to die in the death house. Finch had originally encountered Mary at a nightclub, when her dress accidentally caught on fire and Finch assisted her, along with Dr. Dwight Bradford (Douglas Fowley), with whom she becomes romantically involved. When a man who knows that her father was a criminal tries to blackmail her, he winds up dead and Mary is accused. Even after she is convicted and as the time of her execution draws very near, Finch suspects that her younger sister, Suzy (Marcia Mae Jones) may know more than she's telling. Will the real killer be discovered before it's too late? 

Douglas Fowley, Lionel Atwill, Jean Parker

The most interesting -- if very contrived -- aspect of the story is that Dr. Bradford, who wants to 
marry Mary, is employed as the executioner at the prison, and when she gets to death row, will get the job of killing her, even though he could easily refuse considering the circumstances. Early in the movie Bradford explains to Finch that he only works at the prison so that he can continue his research into reviving dead animals. But if you're hoping Bradford will kill Mary and then revive her, that whole aspect of the story is completely forgotten, making one wonder why it was ever brought up in the first place.

Although there is an attempt to create some suspense at the climax, Lady in the Death House is less than nail-biting. It's padded and dull and its running time of less than an hour seems twice as long. Atwill is fine but completely wasted, while Parker makes a competent leading lady. Byron Foulger and Cy Kendall have small roles and I believe I heard the voice of Lyle Talbot as a radio announcer. Director Steve Sekely's best-known feature is probably Day of the Triffids. 

Verdict: A very cheap P. R. C. production with little to recommend it. *.