The New Adventures Of Tarzan - 1935!

I've long read that Herman Brix was arguably the most accurate Tarzan on screen, and while from the stills and things I'd seen he sure looked the part, it wasn't until he spoke in normal unbroken English that I'd tend to agree. While Ron Ely is my favorite Tarzan, I must say that Brix does a magnificent job portraying the Ape Man, though his acting is suspect he's very earnest about the whole thing. He's perfect physically and apparently did many of his own stunts in this movie, and it shows. The stunts are pretty good too, especially a fight with a lion. It's clearly not Brix in this scene but it's the most rugged such scene I've encountered, it really looked like the lion was trying to gnaw on the guy. Brix jumping around in the trees is really convincing. Great stuff. 

The New Adventures of Tarzan, a serial from 1935 is pretty basic actually in terms of plot. There's an idol that holds the secret to riches and a formula for a ghastly explosive. It's hidden in the Guatemalan jungle and Tarzan and his allies Major Martling and Ulla Vale along with some guy named George for comedy relief go to Guatemala to get this "Green Goddess" and to rescue Paul D'Arnot, Tarzan's friend. They do the latter pretty quickly but keeping hold of the statue is tougher and despite its pretty hefty mass and weight the thing gets hauled all over the place by both sides. There's savage ancient culture that wants to sacrifice someone every few chapters and some spies who serve as nice villains for the piece. It's not a perfect story, but it's a pretty good one, and has that solid Tarzan feel to it. That's doubtless because of ERB's direct input in this production. 

The big drawback on this is the sound which on my DVD was pretty terrible in places, but it's not like this is Shakespeare, so missing a line here and there is not so critical. Apparently, the sound of the movie was bad from the get-go and there's even an apology in the print to say it was the environment of shooting. The action is on display and there's lots of it. The music is often absent from this story, and when there is music it's often a series of peculiar tones which get more effective as the story unfolds. The climax on the story is stupendous, but the final chapter is an odd one, and that's all I'll say. 

The serial was cut up into two feature films, one called The New Adventures of Tarzan and the sequel Tarzan and the Green Goddess. If you like Tarzan at all, you'll probably like this story and for the cheap prices this can be had at, it's a bargain regardless. Highly recommended. 

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Daredevils Of The Red Circle!

I've had this serial cued up all summer waiting to get around to watching it. It has a very good reputation and I wanted to save it for a day when I could really dive into it fully. Now it's a twelve chapter serial and so has a shorter running time, so watching it in a single day isn't too arduous, though of course you have to remember these things are not designed to be viewed in that fashion.

Still taking that into consideration, I was let down by the production. There's nothing especially weak about it, and it does have several strong elements, but the whole of it left me unimpressed by and large.

The strongest feature is Charles Middleton as the main villain "39013". That's his prison number and his imprisonment is the reason he's taking revenge on Miles Mander, the other standout actor in this story.

If you want a summary of the plot here's a link that does an excellent job. I'm just going to assume you know the story at this point, so be careful of spoilers.

The three daredevils of the title are all decent leading men types with Charles Quiqley clearly tagged as the main guy of the trio. My personal fave was Herman Brix of Tarzan fame, who plays a quiet strongman akin to Renny of Doc Savage fame. David Sharpe as the acrobat of the team is perfectly okay too.

And that's the problem. The movie is perfectly okay, but it never really rises above that unless Middleton is on the screen. The story is actually the main culprit. The three daredevils are only seen in the circus, their claim to fame for one chapter (not counting a repeat chapter later in the serial) and spend nearly all their time not fighting thugs lounging around a comfortable and small mansion.

There is little aside from their physical natures to distinguish the heroes, and they all three run to just about any event rarely breaking up for any length of time. Why have three heroes, if you are not going to take advantage of it. That's a weakness.

The narrative structure of the story is too simple. The three heroes detect a problem, investigate, fight thugs, and get caught just before the reel stops. The next chapter solves that problem and begins the cycle over again. No two chapters extend a threat or even a locale, and the story gets repetitive. And they seem to spend chapter after chapter after chapter running through factories; it needed to change up a bit.

The mystery of the person sending the "Red Circle messages" is also pretty lame, and the solution didn't work for me at all.

And finally I have to say that "Snowflake", the black servant in this story, included of course for comedy is a pretty awful example and his every scene is difficult to endure, not because of his talent, but because of how he is regarded in the story as an utter buffoon. It's a shame really, even by the standards of movies of the time.

Most of the really good serials I've seen have stories inside stories, but this one does not, despite a good enough cast to have done so easily. It's got some good fights, some decent stunts, and whatnot, but what it lacks is a narrative complexity that draws the viewer in. The death of the little brother was a surprise and a good start, but sadly gets forgotten until the very end.

This was a diverting entertainment, but it is not at the top of the list of my favorite serials.

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Dracula Versus Tarzan!

Shadow Of Chinatown is a 1936 serial from Victory Pictures (a Sam Katzman operation) and stars Bela Lugosi as an "Eurasion" villain named "Poten" bent first on destroying the commerce of Chinatown in San Francisco and later on apparently destroying any and all Chinese he comes across. Pitted against him are the usual plucky girl reporter and an author, an evident expert on Chinatown with the whitest name I've perhaps seen in a movie, "Martin Andrews". This virile and handsome hero is played by Herman Brix fresh off his turn as Edgar Rice Burroughs' hand-picked Tarzan in the serial The New Adventures of Tarzan.

So it's quite a thing to see Brix, a very capable action star pitted against Lugosi a classic villain in this very very long serial. Some sources say this is the longest serial ever made, and I'd have to say it's the longest one I've watched. The print I saw was pretty tough, especially the sound which had that can effect you get in older and cheaper productions. The action is pretty decent with such cliffhangers as the sliding walls, the explosion, and even a car tumbling off a cliff, though it's a relatively short cliff. The story does shift at one point to Los Angeles but that's a dodge as it only serves to get the actors aboard a ship for some whodunnit stuff there.

The story alas has many regrettable stereotypes, and gets particularly painful in that regard in the last chapter when Bela tries on a very cheesy disguise. There's a lot of racism in the script itself as Chinese are clearly presented as citizens with fewer rights and protections than the "white" citizens of San Francisco.

Brix is pretty dang good and I'll have to hand it to Lugosi who does the most with a very scattershot part. The villain's motives seem to be revenge but the impetus is unclear and his goal seems uncertain. He's a "madman" so I guess that's all we need to know.

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The New Adventures Of Tarzan!

I wrapped up this serial yesterday evening. I was anxious to get into this full-length tale of Tarzan by his creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. I've long read that Herman Brix was arguably the most accurate Tarzan on screen, and while from the stills and things I'd seen he sure looked the part, it wasn't until he spoke in normal unbroken English that I'd tend to agree. While Ron Ely is my favorite Tarzan, I must say that Brix does a magnificent job portraying the Ape Man, though his acting is suspect he's very earnest about the whole thing. He's perfect physically and apparently did many of his own stunts in this movie, and it shows. The stunts are pretty good too, especially a fight with a lion. It's clearly not Brix in this scene but it's the most rugged such scene I've encountered, it really looked like the lion was trying to gnaw on the guy. Brix jumping around in the trees is really convincing. Great stuff.

This serial is pretty basic actually in terms of plot. There's an idol that holds the secret to riches and a formula for a ghastly explosive. It's hidden in the Guatemalan jungle and Tarzan and his allies Major Martling and Ulla Vale along with some guy named George for comedy relief go to Guatamala to get this "Green Goddess" and to rescue Paul D'Arnot, Tarzan's friend. They do the latter pretty quickly but keeping hold of the statue is tougher and despite its pretty hefty mass and weight the thing gets hauled all over the place by both sides. There's savage ancient culture that wants to sacrifice someone every few chapters and some spies who serve as nice villains for the piece. It's not a perfect story, but it's a pretty good one, and has that solid Tarzan feel to it. That's doubtless because of ERB's direct input in this production.

The big drawback on this is the sound which on my DVD was pretty terrible in places, but it's not like this is Shakespeare, so missing a line here and there is not so critical. Apparently the sound of the movie was bad from the get-go and there's even an apology in the print to say it was the environment of shooting. The action is on display and there's lots of it. The music is often absent from this story, and when there is music it's often a series of peculiar tones which get more effective as the story unfolds. The climax on the story is stupendous, but the final chapter is an odd one, and that's all I'll say.

If you like Tarzan at all, you'll probably like this story and for the cheap prices this can be had at, it's a bargain regardless. Highly recommended.

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