Fantasia, Walt Disney's animated masterpiece of the 1940s, grew from a short-subject cartoon picturization of the Paul Dukas musical piece The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Mickey Mouse was starred in this eight-minute effort, while the orchestra was under the direction of Leopold Stokowski. Disney and Stokowski eventually decided that the notion of ...
More than one aficionado of Universal's horror films has cited Night Monster as the weakest of the batch. Part of the complaint lies in the fact that, despite their first and second billing, Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill are utterly wasted, with Atwill getting bumped off in the first reel! The nonsensical farrago of a plotline concerns a ...
The fifth in the Invisible Man series stars Jon Hall as Robert Griffin, a convict who takes the invisibility serum and then goes on a crime spree. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
After starring in two successful serials as All-American Boy in Outer Space Flash Gordon, Larry "Buster" Crabbe found himself visiting very familiar territory in 1939's Buck Rogers, a 12-episode serial in which he played an young adventurer sent 500 years into the future. Buck Rogers (Crabbe), his friend and sidekick Buddy Wade (Jackie Moran), and ...
The bravura performance of Bela Lugosi is the main selling card for the 12-episode Universal serial The Phantom Creeps. Unhinged by the death of his wife, Dr. Alex Zorka (Lugosi) vows to avenge himself on the world with a variety of strange inventions, including a "disvisualizer belt" which allows him to carry out his perfidy under the cloak of ...
Mascot produced their serials fast and furious with little concern for believability, acting prowess, or technical niceties. Shadow of the Eagle is neither the best nor worst of the bunch, but rather typical of the company's hit-and-miss methods. The acting is occasionally downright embarrassing -- and that includes a very young John Wayne in the ...
Ostensibly based on the life of World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker, whose smiling visage opened each of the 13 chapters, this fanciful serial depicted the travails of a globe trotting airline company. It seems that a villain known only as The Dragon (Arthur Loft) is determined to sabotage the company, who in desperation hires daredevil ...
The Saturday matinee crowd got two cowboy stars for the price of one in this lavishly budgeted western serial starring former singing cowboy Dick Foran and Buck Jones. The latter contributed deadpan humor to the proceedings, making Jones perhaps the highest paid B-western comedy relief in history. The two heroes defend the Death Valley borax ...
The 13-episode Universal serial The Green Hornet is based on the radio series of the same name. Gordon Jones stars as Britt Reid, crusading young publisher of the Daily Sentinel, who matches wits with the underworld by disguising himself as the Green Hornet. So far as police are concerned, the Hornet is himself a criminal; this misunderstanding ...
Filmed at Kernville, CA, and the Iverson Ranch in Chatsworth, this serial version of James Fenimore Cooper's immortal tale starred an aging Harry Carey as the guide Hawkeye, with the even more elderly Hobart Bosworth as Chingachgook (here called the Sagamore). Juvenile actor Frank Coghlan Jr. played Uncas -- thus safely eliminating the ...
A sequel to The Green Hornet, The Green Hornet Strikes Again is a 15-chapter serial that was based upon characters from the popular radio and pulp series. The Green Hornet (Warren Hull) is actually Britt Reid, fearless newspaper publisher, who dons the Hornet's guise to battle criminals that have managed to escape the long arm of the law -- aided, ...
Universal catered to the young fans of aviation with this airborne serial, which featured a plucky kid -- "Bowery Boy" Billy Halop -- and plenty of "sky riders." Famous aviator Bob Dayton (Donald Woods) hires a bright member of the Air Youth of America, Tim (Halop), to help him finalize a hush-hush project: a new type of fighter plane and ...
The assistant to a railroad president battles an evil empire builder in this 13 chapter adventure serial produced by Henry MacRae for Universal. The Hartford Transcontinental Railroad is advancing the line through Hell's Gate Pass when the project is stalled by an attack of marauding Indians. The raid is organized by King Carter (Harry Woods), who ...
Stampede was the first of western star Charles Starrett's "northerns," filmed through the facilities of Columbia's Canadian studios in Victoria B.C. Based on a story by Peter B. Kyne, the film cast Starrett as Larry, a cattle buyer who crosses the Canadian border to purchase new stock. He quickly runs afoul of a gang of rustlers, who cap their ...
The 12-episode Universal serial Jungle Jim was based on the Alex Raymond comic strip of the same name. Grant Withers stars as Jungle Jim, who on this occasion is leading an expedition into darkest Africa. His employers hope to ascertain the whereabouts of Joan (Betty Jane Rhodes), a young heiress who disappeared in the jungle several years earlier ...
The 12-episode Universal serial Tim Tyler's Luck was based on the comic strip of the same name by Lyman Young (the brother of "Blondie" creator Chic Young). Frankie Thomas stars as youthful adventurer Tim Tyler, who heads to Africa in search of his scientist father (played by veteran vaudevillian Al Shean). Along the way, he links up with Lora ...
This 12-chapter Universal serial is one of several that Universal made featuring the Dead End Kids (also known as The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys). In this entry, the Dead End Kids go after a Nazi gang that operates a ship called the "Sea Raider" that has been sinking Allied shipping. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
Supporting actor Scott Kolk was elevated to playing the title role in this Graustarkian spy thriller, serialized in 12 chapters by Universal. Reportedly based on characters created by Dashiell Hammett, the serial featured an American secret agent assigned to recover the crown jewels of Belgravia. Agent X-9 is assisted in his quest by Shara ...
Universal Pictures' second Flash Gordon serial was even more opulent than its first, offering better special effects, more impressive sets, a bigger cast, and a more complicated story. When a mysterious beam of light starts disrupting and destroying the Earth's atmosphere, Flash Gordon (Larry "Buster" Crabbe), Dr. Zarkov (Frank Shannon), and Dale ...
The 13-chapter Don Winslow of the Coast Guard was the second of two Universal serials based on the comic strip Don Winslow of the Navy. Don Terry returns as Don Winslow, who has been promoted to Commander in this effort. Also returning is mystery villain The Scorpion, once more working in cahoots with the Japanese. Winslow's mission is to prevent ...
In the tradition of such earlier Universal serials as Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim, the 12-chapter Radio Patrol was based on a popular comic strip, this one created by Eddie Sullivan and Charlie Schmidt. Grant Withers heads the cast as "radio cop" Pat O'Hara, at present the protector of young Pinky Adams (Mickey Rentschler). Pinky's father, the ...
After Rex the Wonder Horse escapes the capture of some evil horse thieves, he teams up with his pal Rinty (a smart German Shepherd) to avoid recapture. ~ All Movie Guide
At first concentrating exclusively on westerns and serials, up-and-coming Mascot Pictures began branching out in the early 1930s with such lavish star vehicles as Laughing at Life. Victor McLaglen is in his element as a devil-may-care globetrotting adventurer named McHale. After risking his neck in WWI, the restless McHale heads to Mexico for more ...
Satan's Cradle was the fourth of producer Phil Krasne's "Cisco Kid" programmers for United Artists. Anyone who remembers the Cisco TV series will know without being told that Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carrillo essayed the roles of wandering do-gooders Cisco and Pancho. Unlike previous entries, Satan's Cradle was directed by serial veteran Ford Beebe ...
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.