SCI-FI PEPLUM CLASSIC by Dave Goode

 

One of my favorite Republic movie serials was UNDERSEA KINGDOM (1936). Produced by Nat Levine and directed by B.Reeves Eason and Joseph Kane, this was Republic's second serial and the studio's answer to Universal's FLASH GORDON. The story written by Tracy Knight, John Rathmell, Maurice Geraghty, and Oliver Drake found U.S. Naval officer " Crash " Corrigan thwarting the plans of undersea tyrant Unga Khan to conquer first Atlantis and then the surface world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1966 the serial was edited into a feature film and released to television re-titled "SHARAD OF ATLANTIS". No doubt to make it sound more like the "gladiator movies"  that were still popular at the time. It was in this form that I first saw this movie.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I finally saw the movie in serial form I was pleasantly surprised to see Chapter One unedited. In it the hero's athletic abilities are firmly established as he competes as a track & field star, wins the Army-Navy Game for Annapolis and finally has a wrestling match. So we know that the hero is up to any challenge he may face in the course of the movie. Crash portrayed by stuntman and B-Western star Ray Corrigan is aided in his adventures by reporter Diana Compton (Lois Wilde), Professor Norton (C. Montague Shaw) and the professor's young son Billy played by Lee Van Atta. By the way, Sharad is the high priest of the good Atlanteans. And, he is played by actor William Farnum. The villainous Unga Khan is portrayed by Monte Blue and he is aided by Lon Chaney Jr. who plays Captain Hakur of the Black Robes.

 

 

 

 

The movie has science fiction elements like Professor Norton's super submarine, a tank-like vehicle used by Unga Khan's men, death-rays, and robots. Just enough to make it resemble something akin to Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series. But most of the action comes from Ray Corrigan's athleticism.

This movie could easily have been remade during the peplum movie cycle starring Steve Reeves or one of his Muscle Beach brethren like Ed Fury.

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Nyoka Returns? by Dave Goode

When I was a kid back in the early 1960s I got to see a lot of old movie serials on after school television. The Masked Marvel , Scouts To The Rescue , the Flash Gordon trilogy. One of my very favorites was The Perils Of Nyoka starring Kay Aldridge as Nyoka Gordon. There was an earlier serial Jungle Girl in which beautiful Frances (no relation to Frank) Gifford portrayed Nyoka Meredith. The first serial was based on a book by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. And Nyoka Meredith was a sort of female Tarzan. Nyoka Gordon was more like a female Jungle Jim.



  


The cast for The Perils Of Nyoka was outstanding. The 15 chapter serial featured Tristram Coffin playing Torrini , a double-dealing double agent of Vultura the film's beautiful villain played by luscious Lorna Gray. Charles Middleton who gained film immortality as Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon trilogy plays Vultura's right-hand man Cassib in this one. This one also features a pre-Lone Ranger Clayton Moore as stalwart hero Dr. Larry Gordon.



Dr.Gordon could have been one of the models for Indiana Jones. Vultura was portrayed by sultry Lorna Gray. And in her turban , slit skirt with snake emblem and platform shoes she was one of the sexiest serial villains ever. Plus she had a pet gorilla named Satan played by ape-suit actor the great Emil Van Horn.

And then of course there was Kay Aldridge as heroine Nyoka Gordon. As an adult I wonder how she got her thick Southern accent raised in Africa. And regret that she didn't have the opportunity to wear the outfit that Frances Gifford wore in Jungle Girl. The outfit she's given fairly covers the former swimsuit model's outstanding figure. But the seven year old fondly remembers the character. She wasn't some helpless damsel in distress like other serial queens. She rode , shot and fought as well as her male comrades. She had moxie. She was girl next door pretty. But she had a tomboy feel to her. She was the girl you could play sports with. Or talk about comics to. And speaking of comics. The Nyoka serial proved so popular that there was a spin-off comic book series.First from Fawcett which adapted The Perils of Nyoka to the 4-Color page. And later by Charlton Comics.

The Copperhead Strikes! by Dave Goode

One of my favorite serials was THE MYSTERIOUS DR.SATAN from Republic. It featured Eduardo Cianelli as the eponymous Dr.Satan. But what really made this chapter-play special to fan-boys was the introduction of the masked hero known as the Copperhead played by Robert Wilcox. The story has attorney Bob Wayne (Wilcox) thwarting the plans of Dr.Satan, his minions and a robot of the renegade scientist's design. Wayne learns in the 1st chapter that his late father was the masked vigilante of the wild west known as the Copperhead. Wayne decides to take up his father's mantle to run Dr.Satan to Earth.

The story behind the story is that Republic was negotiating with National Periodical Publications to produce a Superman serial. When negotiations fell through Republic tweaked their script and created a new hero. One without "powers and abilities far beyond mortal man". Creating another "superman" might have stirred up a hornet's nest. And so a masked mystery man along the lines of the ones in the pulps was created. Someone like the Green Hornet of radio fame.

Now if you watch THE MYSTERIOUS DR.SATAN knowing about the history and connection between the Lone Ranger and Green Hornet you'd come away saying Republic's screenwriters borrowed freely from the Green Hornet's origin. That is until you realize that the Lone Ranger/Green Hornet connection wouldn't be solidified until 1947. Some 7 years after THE MYSTERIOUS DR.SATAN was released. It was in an episode titled "Too Hot To Handle" broadcast on Nov.11, 1947 that Dan Reid Jr. tells his son Britt that his great uncle was the legendary Lone Ranger after Britt reveals that he is the notorious Green Hornet. Dan Reid Jr. would even appear in 14 episodes of The Lone Ranger television series portrayed by actor Chuck Courtney.

In any case like the Masked Marvel and many other Republic serial heroes there were no follow-up adventures in the movies.* More's the pity. But in the alternate universe that runs through my mind Republic put out their own line of comics. Ones that featured the further adventures of their classic serial heroes. One of these titles was Masked Detective Comics which alternately featured the exploits of the Masked Marvel and the Copperhead. Below is two covers of such a comics imagined by my buddy Vance Capley.

*Editor's notes: The Copperhead returned in a full color semi-remake of the serial in the 1973 Turkish film Yilmayan Seytan (aka The Deathless Devil/Copperhead vs. Dr. Satan)....and an unfinished sequel titled The Return of the Copperhead which you can read about here: http://www.rotc.elfess.com/

Sky Marshall of the Universe by Dave Goode

I remember when I got my very first leather jacket as a kid. I didn't pretend to be Brando in The Wild One cool. Or even Eric Von Zipper cool. I imagined being Commando Cody cool. For those of you who might not be old enough to remember, Commando Cody was the hero in two 12 chapter serials from Republic Pictures. Actor George Wallace played him in Radar Men from the Moon(1952). And Judd Holdren portrayed the character in Commando Cody:Sky Marshall of the Universe which was originally shot as a television series in 1953. Judd Holdren portrayed a character named Larry Martin in another serial titled Zombies of the Stratosphere(1952) in which he was more or less playing Command Cody. Zombies of the Stratosphere is best known for featuring the original Mr.Spock from Star Trek,Leonard Nimoy, in a small role as a Martian invader. Commando Cody:Sky Marshall of the Universe would be released in theaters in 1953 as a serial. No doubt confusing young serial fans. And would eventually find it's way to television syndicated by NBC television as a 12 episode TV series.

 

The "Rocket Man" suit that Commando Cody wore made it's first appearance in an earlier serial King of the Rocket Men(1949) starring Tristram Coffin as Jeff King.And despite the chapter-play's title there was only one "rocket man" in this movie.Still the image of the Rocket Man has become almost iconic to sci-fi and movie serial fans.A black leather jacket with a rocket backpack and an aerodynamic bullet-shaped helmet. Obviously an inspiration for Dave Steven's Rocketeer character. Shots of Rocket Man taking off,flying and landing would be reused in the Commando Cody serials.

One of the things I remember most about the Commando Cody television series was the hero's futuristic military costume. It looked like something that a comic book reading kid in the 50s and early 60s could imagine a military uniform of the future to look like. Commando  Cody even wore a mask which gave him an air of mystery. Years later I read an article where Judd Holdren said the producers had the actor wear the mask so he'd be easier to replace with another actor if he asked for more money.Of course I was wondering why there wasn't a Commando Cody comic book.And for anyone else who might have wondered what one might have looked like here's a faux page illustrated by my buddy Vance Capley.

See Vance Capley at work! Click here :)

Missed Opportunity by Dave Goode

You’re probably familiar with the episode in question. An old friend of Clark Kent,one Gary Allen is visiting Metropolis and is making plans to meet up with the mild-mannered reporter. What no one is aware of is due to exposure to kryptonite radiation Allen has become invulnerable to everything except kryptonite which has the same effect on him as it does on the Man of Steel. There is no real explanation for this. We just except it. Allen’s vulnerability to the “deadly rock” of the title leads to a case of mistaken identity and he is kidnapped by criminals who plan to use the kryptonite to kill him. Lois and Jimmy blunder into the picture and are also threatened with death. Of course the real Superman arrives on the scene to save the day.

This is a pretty mundane episode of the series and only the use of kryptonite and reference to the 2^nd season episode Panic In The Sky make it stand out. But it could have been so much more. You see the actor who portrayed Gary Allen in this episode was none other than B-Movie leading man Robert Lowery. The same Robert Lowery who a few years earlier had portrayed Batman in a movie serial. What an opportunity wasted. I’m not suggesting that Lowery should have worn the cape & cowl in this episode.Though how cool would that have been? I’m only suggesting that the writers could have made the Gary Allen character Bruce Wayne from Gotham City and made some reference to his ward Dick Grayson being unable to make the trip to Metropolis. Shazam...instant cult classic.

By the way this episode wasn’t the 1^st project Reeves and Lowery worked on together. During the 2^nd World War while in the service the pair made a sexual hygiene training film.

Masked Detective Comics by Dave Goode

Fawcett and then Charlton Comics would publish a series of Nyoka comics based on the Nyoka character from the serial THE PERILS OF NYOKA(1942) starring Kay Aldridge as Nyoka Gordon. Frances(no relation to Frank)Gifford had previously played jungle girl Nyoka Meredith in the serial JUNGLE GIRL(1941). So I ask again,why no Masked Marvel comic book?

In that alternate universe I sometimes find myself inhabiting there was a Masked Marvel feature starring the hero from the Republic serial. Republic itself instead of just licensing their popular characters to Fawcett or some other comic book company they would publish the comics themselves churning out comics starring their own galaxy of western stars. But more importantly they would have put out a comic titled MASKED DETECTIVE COMICS featuring the continued adventures of not only the Masked Marvel but the Copperhead as well.Heaven knows the Copperhead deserved a sequel after THE MYSTERIOUS DR.SATAN(1940).

There would be a comic book sequel to the Masked Marvel serial in the world. It came in 1990 from AC Comics. It was featured in CLIFFHANGER COMICS 1A and was written by Jodi Ensign and illustrated by Mark Heike and John Dell with a cover utilizing a still from the original serial.