Gene Autry And The Phantom Empire!

I love this serial starring Gene Autry. It's a nutty blend of sci-fi and western action, and does a remarkable job of getting most things you want in a serial right. I chanced upon this fantastic poster image here. It's gorgeous and captures the bright and frothy experience of the movie properly.

This classic 1935 serial starring Gene Autry the singing cowboy in his movie lead debut is a exquisite blend of pulp elements. The story briefly is that Autry and his band have a radio show called "Melody Ranch" which is broadcast live each day at 2 pm from the ranch of the Baxter family. It's an audience affair and folks have been showing up on the ranch to see the production which strangely offers up live action for the radio show. Also on hand are Frankie and Betsy Baxter, two siblings who lead the Thunder Riders Club named after a mysterious troop of bizarre horsemen who sometimes "thunder" across the ranch's outlying areas. Also showing up are some scientists interested in radium deposits located on the ranch and possibly a lost underground world of Mu in which this radium can be found.

 

There's a lot going on and it never much stops once it kicks off, despite a four-hour length. The twelve- chapter serial offers up a neat array of cliffhangers and gets everyone in the act. The action gets a bit more serious when Mr. Baxter, the owner of the ranch and the parent of the kids is murdered by the scientists. Autry is blamed for it and spends the balance of the movie running from the sheriff. He also ends up getting captured by the Thunder Riders who take him 25,000 feet below ground to the "super scientific city" of Murania which is ruled by the bitchy Queen Tika. Also on hand are some outrageous robots, possibly the worst ever filmed. These robots though apparently originally appeared in the movie Dancing Lady starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford. This is apparently the movie in which Fred Astaire debuted. Sheesh! All that goodness and these robots. I'll confess they have a goofy charm, and fit right into the weirdness of this story. Gene spends lots of time running around the ranch and Murania but ultimately with help from his comedic sidekick friends Oscar and Pete and the kids ends up not only defeating the scientists, clearing his name, but also utterly destroying Murania. There's lots more that happens, but it really needs to be seen.

 

This time watching it, though I had a thought about its utter weirdness. The way the story moves in and out of the radio drama and works in elements ostensibly from the real world into that drama makes me suspect at the end that the whole affair is to be understood by the audience as part of that overarching tale, part of the radio/movie story and not really what we thought happened to the real people. Like sideways bending of the fourth wall. It's a complicated notion, but the movie is really curious and this gives it an interesting tone.

I love this serial. I found it years ago I think on TV and soon after got a VHS copy. I've not yet gotten it on DVD, but since my dvd player is bust, it's a perfect time to dig out the old tapes and enjoy them again. I heartily recommend this movie to anyone who wants to have a good time watching a fun sci-fi/western/musical. It's perhaps unique in cinema, and a rollicking good time. 

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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More Tales Of Time And Space!

I've really had a yen for science fiction lately. Decades ago, I split my time between reading the latest comics and trying to stay current in the science fiction and fantasy fields which were in full bloom at the time. In the 1980's it seemed to me that science fiction took a bit of a hit, especially in the digest magazine arena where I hung out most of the time, so with a family to tend to, I focused on comics. I sometimes wish I'd gone the other direction, but c'est la vie. Anyway, it's sci-fi this month...again! 

The primary mission will be to create and revisit a cavalcade of posts regarding Star Trek. I'm a fan of the franchise, but I mostly love the "The Original Series" or TOS as it's known. As good as the movies have been and the later series too, the magic of the original still speaks to me like nothing else. So I'm taking a wander back through those first three seasons, back when no one knew or much cared about Star Trek save a few devoted souls. I'll also be taking a look at the animated show and the movies which featured the original cast. 

To assist in this effort, I've also picked up some hefty tomes titled These Are The Voyages which give massive behind-the-scenes details about the making of the shows. So, expect a lot of Star Trek stuff on the weekends and later in the weeks. 

Then I want to travel into the distant future and tackle a pretty robust reading assignment and take another look at all the Legion of Superheroes stories contained in the five Showcase Presents volumes which DC published some years ago now. Those delightful Silver Age and Bronze Age stories speak to a population still filled with wonder. It's a series of comic yarns brimming with heroes, both male and female just aching to get the chance to prove themselves and perhaps even save the universe itself. 

As has become custom here at the Dojo, I will be pulling up and revising some vintage posts from years past which fit into the overall monthly theme. I do this because it's pointless to write a review of a movie again and it encourages me to watch some of these vintage beauties all over again. Maybe I'll change my mind about some things. 

The Dojo will also be racing backwards in time to the earliest days of science fiction, before it was even called that. Ralph 124C+ is an oddball but highly successful novel from 1911 by Hugo Gernsback, the man who lent his name to the major awards which are distributed to successful works of sci-fi in any given year. Gernsback was the man who coined the term "science fiction" though apparently he preferred a later term he dreamed up "scientifiction". The latter seems a bit of a mouthful to me. I'm checking out this early novel and will also be looking a wonderful movie from the early 30's called Just Imagine. This is a strange one indeed, just imagine the Jetsons as real-life folks. 

That and whatever else will fit. So I hope you beam up this month as the Dojo goes where many men have gone before, but maybe I'll find something fresh to say about it all. 

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Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer!

1950

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Spring 1976

Winter 1976

Winter 1978

Summer 1978

 

1980

Without question one of the most charming creations in all of comics is DC's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Of course DC didn't "create" Rudolph at all. Rudolph was the creation of Robert May who worked for Montgomery Ward. A guy named Denver Gillen drew the first Rudolph and Montgomery Ward realized what a marketing goldmine Rudolph could be. Rudolph was adapted to cartoon form in 1944 by Max Fleisher and later in 1947 or thereabouts Johnny Marks wrote the song recorded by the great Gene Autry. The song was a blockbuster and in 1950 DC came out with its first annual issue of The Brand New Adventures of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

The series lasted for the entire decade of the 50's and into the 60's until ending with the 1962 "Giant" issue. A decade later DC revived the series for its tabloid size Limited Collector's Editions series and Rudolph again appeared somewhat regularly through the 70's. Rube Grossman handled most of the work on Rudolph in his original 50's run and Sheldon Mayer took the helm in the 70's. The final issue of a Rudolph comic by DC was a Best of DC digest in 1980. I especially love Rudolph's snow-topped logo (doubtless by Ira Schnapp) which I notice they ditched for his inexplicable "summer fun" issue (which seems to be the work of Gaspar Saldino to my eye).

Here is a delightful adaptation of the very first DC issue from 1950 transformed into a cartoon of sorts. 



Below is some original artwork by Sheldon Mayer featuring Rudolph, Santa, and the whole North Pole gang.

There is a charm and a whimsy to Rudolph which is hard resist. DC would be well-served to dig up the character and issue some reprints for the modern market. I don't know what the license issue might be (and licensed characters seem not to be something the Warner bosses want to deal with) but it wold make a delicious trade.

The management of the Dojo (me) hopes Santa (and Rudolph of course) brings everyone what they wish for this Christmas Eve.

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The Phantom Poster!

I love this serial starring Gene Autry. It's a nutty blend of sci-fi and western action, and does a remarkable job of getting most things you want in a serial right.

I chanced upon this fantastic poster image here. It's gorgeous and captures the bright and frothy experience of the movie properly.

Rip Off

The Phantom Empire!

This classic 1935 serial starring Gene Autry the singing cowboy in his movie lead debut is a exquisite blend of pulp elements.

The story briefly is that Autry and his band have a radio show called "Melody Ranch" which is broadcast live each day at 2 pm from the ranch of the Baxter family. It's an audience affair and folks have been showing up on the ranch to see the producton which strangely offers up live action for the radio show. Also on hand are Frankie and Betsy Baxter, two siblings who lead the Thunder Riders Club named after a mysterous troop of bizarre horsemen who sometimes "thunder" across the ranch's outlying areas. Also showing up are some scientists interested in radium deposits located on the ranch and possibly a lost underground world of Mu in which this radium can be found.


There's a lot going on and it never much stops once it kicks off, despite a four-hour length. The twelve chapter serial offers up a neat array of cliffhangers and gets everyone in the act. The action gets a bit more serious when Mr.Baxter, the owner of the ranch and the parent of the kids is murdered by the scientists. Autry is blamed for it and spends the balance of the movie running from the sheriff. He also ends up getting captured by the Thunder Riders who take him 25,000 feet below ground to the "super scientific city" of Murania which is ruled by the bitchy Queen Tika. Also on hand are some outrageous robots, possibly the worst ever filmed. These robots though apparently originally appeared in the movie Dancing Lady starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford. This is apparently the movie in which Fred Astaire debuted. Sheesh! All that goodness and these robots. I'll confess they have a goofy charm, and fit right into the weirdness of this story.

Gene spends lots of time running around the ranch and Murania but ultimately with help from his comedic sidekick friends Oscar and Pete and the kids ends up not only defeating the scientists, clearing his name, but also utterly destroying Murania. There's lots more that happens, but it really needs to be seen.

This time watching it, though I had a thought about its utter weirdness. The way the story moves in and out of the radio drama and works in elements ostensibly from the real world into that drama makes me suspect at the end that the whole affair is to be understood by the audience as part of that overarching tale, part of the radio/movie story and not really what we thought happened to the real people. Like sideways bending of the fourth wall. It's a complicated notion, but the movie is really curious and this gives it an interesting tone.


I love this serial. I found it years ago I think on TV and soon after got a VHS copy. I've not yet gotten it on DVD, but since my dvd player is bust, it's a perfect time to dig out the old tapes and enjoy them again. I heartily recommend this movie to anyone who wants to have a good time watching a fun sci-fi/western/musical. It's perhaps unique in cinema, and a rollicking good time.

Rip Off