PANTHER GIRL OF THE CONGO (1955)
aka PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO
Serial
Article 2026 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-1-2006
Posting Date: 2-28-2007
Directed by Franklin Adreon
Featuring Phyllis Coates, Myron Healey, Arthur Space

A female photographer contacts an adventurer to help her find the evidence she needs to prove to the authorities the existence of giant crawfish monsters terrorizing a jungle village. However, two hunters in the hire of an evil chemist try to prevent them from doing so, in the hopes of scaring away the natives so they can work a diamond mine.

When I covered the feature version of this serial (THE CLAW MONSTERS), I think I mentioned that any fondness I had for this one was that it actually supplied monsters, a rarity in serials. Having seen the whole thing, I feel no different; I like the monsters simply because I like monsters, even when they’re pretty lame (as these are). As for the rest of it, it mostly consists of tepid cliffhangers, footage from the Nyoka serials, and dull storylines. This was one of the last of the Republic serials, and the form was on its last legs. I only regret that Republic never saw its way towards incorporating monsters into its serials while they were still in their prime.

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN (1957)
Article 2015 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-20-2006
Posting Date: 2-17-2007
Directed by Bretaigne Windust
Featuring Van Johnson, Claude Rains, Lori Nelson

A town beset by rats hires a magical piper to get rid of the rodents. Then, when the mayor decides to get out of paying the piper his fee, the piper decides to exact a fitting revenge…

When reviewing children’s movies, I don’t really try too hard to figure out how it will go over with children; I’m really more interested in how well it goes over with my adult self. I quite like this one, and one reason for this is that there is much to interest the adult viewer, what with the political satire surrounding the mayor’s machinations. In fact, I think this fairy tale is more geared for adults anyway; after all, it is the adults who have the lesson to learn in this one. I also quite like the music, much of which comes from Grieg; I especially love the use of “In the Hall of the Mountain King”. The acting is also good, especially from Claude Rains (as the Mayor) and Van Johnson in the dual role of Trusom and the Piper. There are some very strong scenes here; the scene where the children are led into the mountain is the one scene I recall from a viewing many years ago (and it’s still quite powerful, especially when one child is left behind), and the scene where the piper climbs to the top of the bell tower to give his warning to the people is also memorable; pay close attention to the statues in this scene. And if I were Jim Backus’s character, I’d be very grateful that cannon did not go off.

PHANTOM OF THE AIR (1933)
Serial
Article 2005 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-10-2006
Posting Date: 2-7-2007
Directed by Ray Taylor
Featuring Tom Tyler, Gloria Shea, LeRoy Mason

A flyer who works for the border patrol agrees to test an inventor’s anti-gravity device, and then attempts to protect his invention from smugglers.

As far as I know, there’s no feature version of this serial, but if there is, I hope the editors were smart enough to emphasize footage from the first episode and the last three episodes of the serial rather than the eight in the middle. It’s only about episode nine that this serial really comes to life; up to that point, it’s either unmemorable or disappointing. One of the problems I have with it is that the serial puts forth a cool science fiction device (a contragrav – that is, an anti-gravity device), but then does nothing else with it but install it in a plane and then control it from a distance. Other than the fact that the plane can be controlled remotely, it moves and acts just like any other plane, which I find pretty disappointing. Another problem is the serial overuses some of its aerial stunts, such as people climbing out on the wings of the plane; these can be pretty exciting scenes taken individually, but not several times in succession. Worst of all, the villain remains something of a nonentity during the first nine episodes, and it’s really hard to care about a serial when the villain is this dull; it’s only when he decides to visit the scientist’s isolated airport in the last few chapters that he and the serial come to life and actually starts delivering the thrills. Walter Brennan is in here somewhere, but I didn’t spot him. Hero Tom Tyler is mostly known for his B-westerns from the period.

THE PHANTOM SPEAKS (1945)
Article 2004 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-9-2006
Posting Date: 2-6-2006
Directed by John English
Featuring Richard Arlen, Stanley Ridges, Lynne Roberts

A spiritualist visits a murderer sentenced to die in the chair under the belief that the murderer’s will is strong enough to come back from the dead and visit him, thus proving his theories about the human soul. However, the murderer has his own ideas; he not only visits the spirtualist, but takes control of him and uses him to exact revenge on those who convicted him.

The most common praise I usually hear in regards to THE BLACK FRIDAY is for Stanley Ridge’s performance as a kindly doctor who becomes possessed by a ruthless criminal. He must have liked the challenge; here he is again in virtually the same kind of role. The modus operandi is different, (substituting spiritual possession rather than brain surgery), but the effect is pretty much the same; the main difference is that the spiritualist bears a bit of the responsibility for his own situation this time. This is one of Republic’s forays into horror, and their output in the genre is uneven, though some of it is quite interesting. This isn’t one of their best, largely because the story is a bit obvious, and I’ve seen several variations of the “back from the dead for revenge” plot line. My favorite moments have more to do with the acting – not so much from Ridges (who has been here before), but from Tom Powers, whose performance as the murderer Harvey Bogardus is very memorable; the scene where he walks a man and his daughter away from a murder site is one of the tensest moments in the movie. Powers had an interesting career; he worked in some early silents, and then went to Broadway and established a successful stage career, then returned to movies in the early forties. There are some interesting credits here; he appeared in the early Winsor McCay animated feature GERTIE THE DINOSAUR and in DONOVAN’S BRAIN, another movie which prominently features possession of another man by an evildoer to gain revenge.

PARIS PLAYBOYS (1954)
Article 2003 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-8-2006
Posting Date: 2-5-2007
Directed by William Beaudine
Featuring Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bernard Gorcey

When a French scientist working on a secret rocket fuel vanishes, Sach , who looks just like the missing scientist, is hired to impersonate him in order to flush out either the scientist or those who want to kill him. Slip and Louie accompany Sach to Paris to help. Hilarity ensues.

At one point early in the movie, Slip tells a group of people who are convinced that Sach is really the rocket scientist that Sach has never been out of the United States. However, the Bowery Boys visited London only the year before in LOOSE IN LONDON. In short, I think I found a continuity error in the series. However, it could be argued that Slip’s memory is faulty; after all, he’s not really the sharpest needle in the etui, and for those who don’t know that word means, than I can only say that my years of solving crossword puzzles has put me in good stead in helping me dredge up vaguely French-sounding words out of the world of crosswordese. But I digress. And, at any rate, the concept of hunting up continuity errors in the Bowery Boys movies strikes me as more than a little silly itself.

Nonetheless, this one is a lot of fun. It’s also somewhat more in the vein of the Three Stooges than some of their other movies, but seeing as the script was co-written by Edward Bernds (who honed his craft with Three Stooges shorts), that should be no surprise. As usual, I like Leo and Bernard doing their usual schtick, but Hall does a good comic acting job in a dual role, and he actually manages a rather difficult feat in that, despite the fact that Sach adopts a French accent when he impersonates the scientist, he remains a distinct character from the real scientist (also played by Hall) shows up. The fantastic content doesn’t pop up until the end of the movie, but since the nature of that content is made clear from the outset (the rocket fuel), it should be no surprise that some of it actually gets invented at some point. All in all, this is a fun entry in the series.

PINOCCHIO IN OUTER SPACE (1965)
Article 1945 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-12-2006
Posting Date: 12-9-2006
Directed by Ray Goossens
Featuring the voices of Peter Lazer, Arnold Stang, Jess Cain

Pinocchio, having been turned back into a puppet again when he became disobedient, resolves to prove himself worthy again by capturing Astro, the space whale. To that end, he spends his lunch money on a book on hypnotism and joins forces with Nurtle the Twertle (a secret agent from outer space) to defeat Astro using hypnotism.

Some animated movies become so magically engrossing that you get caught up in them completely; take the original PINOCCHIO, for example. And some never tap into the magic, and when watching them, you remain awkwardly aware at all times that you’re watching an uninspired foray into juvenile pandering. Such is the fate of this one. One major problem is that it bends over backwards to run over some of the same ground of the original story – why else return him to his puppet status and have him prove himself all over again, and then getting duped by the fox and the cat and finally, having to face Monstro wannabe Astro, the Space Whale? At least he doesn’t turn into a space donkey. The movie might fly with children who are eager to see a follow-up to the original movie, even one not from Disney; since I have no children handy to test this on, I can’t say. Still, they’d be better off watching Disney’s version again, or, barring that, they might be more satisfied with similarly themed movies like ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS or GULLIVER’S TRAVELS BEYOND THE MOON. Still, I must admit that the child in me liked the giant space crabs.

PLANETS AGAINST US (1962)
aka I Pianeti conto di noi
Article 1907 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-4-2006
Posting Date: 11-1-2006
Directed by Romano Ferrara
Featuring Michel Lemoine, Maria Pia Luzi, Jany Clair

A series of missile launches are sabotaged and the same man is spotted at all the locations. However, the locations are scattered across the world, and the time between the launches were just minutes apart. Authorities identify the man as the son of a noted scientist whose body was never found after he supposedly died in a plane crash. They begin to suspect that he is part of an alien invasion.

Given the year of the movie and the fact that the main title in IMDB is in Italian, you can forgive me for suspecting that I was about to see another of Antonio Margheriti’s forays into science fiction. Such is not the case; this Italian/French/West German coproduction was directed by Romano Ferrara. It is in black and white, and remains earthbound throughout its running time. I found it much easier to follow than one of Margheriti’s SF movies, though I do find it somewhat unfocused in its story, and as a result, a little confusing at times. It’s also a little predictable at times; once the movie establishes that what is happening is part of an invasion from outer space, it will come as no surprise to find out that the other aliens also look like the scientist’s son. Still, the movie has nice touches to it, is rather atmospheric, and features a good performance by Michel Lamoine as the primary alien visitor (in fact, as all the alien visitors) who goes by the somewhat incongruous name of “Bronco”; his facial expressions are very effective. Odd scenes here and there help to hold up the interest level; a scene where the alien walks through a group of children with his hands held high in the air (he can kill with a touch) is rather striking, and so is a scene towards the end where he briefly emerges from his outer shell. I enjoyed this one somewhat more than I expected I would.

PHANTOM FX-18 (1965)
aka The Exterminators, Coplan FX 18, Coplan FX 18 casse tout
Article 1904 by Dave Sndelar
Viewing Date: 6-1-2006
Posting Date: 10-29-2006
Directed by Riccardo Freda
Featuring Richard Wyler, Robert Manuel, Jany Clair

Some good guy spies do battle with evildoers.

If you’re saying “What gives?” with that lame plot description, I can only say that’s the best I can do with a French/Italian Eurospy movie dubbed into German without subtitles. The fact that it seems to have been fairly well dubbed into German (for the most part) does little to console me, I’m afraid. Still, I can’t exactly say I haven’t been in this situation before.

Of course, the fact that the movie is a James Bond style spy flick does make for interesting viewing. Since action sequences are the heart of this type of movie, and since action sequences rarely demand dialogue to be understood, the action scenes work best in this format. Some of them are quite memorable; a scene where two spies find themselves threatened by a steam shovel is quite memorable, and there are some decent chase scenes. On the down side, I find some of these spy flicks hard to follow even when they’re in English, so it should be no wonder that from a plot perspective, I spent most of the movie in a fog. The fantastic content probably involves a little gadgetry here and there, and the finale does involve a nuclear missile to some extent (at least I see a missile and hear someone mention Hiroshima). Actually, it looks like one of the better Eurospy movies out there, but that’s just a shot in the dark.

Oh, and the four titles? Usually, the main title I choose for the movie is the one that actually appears on the print. The other titles usually indicate the title under which I first added the movie to my hunt list, the title under which I purchased the movie, and the primary title given the movie by IMDB. In this case, I added THE EXTERMINATORS to my hunt list, IMDB listed it as COPLAN FX 18 CASSE TOUT, I purchased it under COPLAN FX 18, and the title on my print was PHANTOM FX-18. It just goes to show you have to keep on your toes when hunting for these types of movies.

PRINCE OF SPACE (1959)
aka Ysei Oji
Article 1881 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-9-2006
Posting Date: 10-6-2006
Directed by Ejiro Wakabayashi
Featuring Tatsuo Umemiya, Ushio Skashi, Joji Oka

Phantom of the planet Krankor plans to take over the Earth, but he finds opposition in the form of a superhero named Prince of Space.

If you’re looking for serious science fiction thrills – look elsewhere. However, if you’re looking for a confusing but unintentionally hilarious clone of the Starman movies, here’s your cup of tea. Sure, Starman has the edge in the -uh – department of enhancements, but Prince of Space gets to mention repeatedly how guns won’t work against him; the movie is either cobbled together from episodes of a TV series, or was written for people with no short term memory. And if he doesn’t trip your trigger, there’s always Phantom of Krankor to keep you amused; his melodic laugh will no doubt linger in your memory for weeks. I do wonder if “Underdog” got any inspiration for this; the alter ego of Prince of Space is Wally the Shoeshine Boy. Then there’s the little kids with the short pants and the slow-moving giant of Krankor. I won’t tell you to forget the plot; the movie is incoherent enough that remembering the plot shouldn’t become an issue at all. Still, when it comes to this type of entertainment, give me EVIL BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE any day; the beak-nosed cronies of Krankor simply don’t compete with atomic mimes.