The Masked Marvel

Buy This Item The Masked Marvel by Republic Pictures  Available from Amazon  $19.98  on 8-29-2008     Republic Pictures present "THE MASKED MARVEL" (1943) (202 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- is a 12-Chapter Republic Movie Serial starring William Forrest, Louise Currie, Tom Steele, Johnny Arthur & Rod Bacon, relive those thrilling days week after week venue brought you to the theater, as you were mesmerized in your seat waiting for the final chapter exciting action within 12 episodes from the Republic Serial Factory, released on November 6, 1943, story thus far, when a wave of sabotage masterminded by an infamous Japanese agent threatens America's war effort, the Masked Marvel leaps into action thwarting the subversives at every turn, as he fights against the evil badmen of Republic Pictures, usual array of cliff hanging situations, car chases, explosions and narrow escapes make this a fun for all fans and collectors of serials. <br /> <br />Under Spencer Gordon Bennet (Director), William J. O'Sullivan (Associate Producer), Royal K. Cole (Screenwriter), Ronald Davidson (Screenwriter), Basil Dickey (Screenwriter), Grant Nelson (Screenwriter), George H. Plympton (Screenwriter), Joseph F. Poland (Screenwriter), Reggie Lanning (Cinematographer), Wallace Grissell (Editor), Earl Turner (Editor), Russell Kimball (Art Director), John McCarthy Jr (Set Decorations), Otto Siegel (Set Decorations), Ern Westmore (Makeup Dept.), Max Schoenberg (Production Manager), George Webster (Unit Manager), Daniel J. Bloomberg (Sound Effects), Earl Crain Sr. (Sound Effects), Herbert Norsch (Sound Effects), Howard Lydecker (Special Effects), Theodore Lydecker (Special Effects) ------ the cast includes William Forrest (Martin Crane), Louise Currie (Alice Hamilton), Johnny Arthur (Mura Sakima), Rod Bacon (Jim Arnold), Richard Clarke (Frank Jeffers), Anthony Warde ('Killer' Mace), David Bacon (Bob Barton), Bill Healy (Terry Morton), Howard C. Hickman (Warren Hamilton), Kenneth Harlan (Gas Works Policeman/Police Car 7 driver), Thomas Louden (Matthews, the butler), Eddie Parker (Meggs), Duke Green (Carl, Delivery truck thug/Spike, Gas works saboteur/Kaler, Roof-top thug), Dale Van Sickel (Tall gas works saboteur/Station wagon thug/Super-X warehouse thug #1), Ernie Adams (Wilson, Pier 19 baggage clerk), Roy Barcroft (Kerr, Marine Cafe Manager), Sam Flint (Police sergeant), Bud Geary (Marine Cafe customer #1), Fred Graham (Janson, Chemist/Hart, Thug/Pete, thug), George J. Lewis (Philip Morton), Carey Loftin (Harbor Cafe thug #2), Tom London (Marine Cafe customer #2), Jack O'Shea (Deserted house & explosives thug), Stanley Price (Barnes, thug), Herbert Rawlinson (Mr. Kellering), Tom Steele (The Masked Marvel/Estate Thug]/Hospital Thug), Ken Terrell (Launch thug), Gayne Whitman (Voice of the Masked Marvel), Robert J. Wilke (Rental garage thug), Harry Woods (Lab thug) ----- as pointed out by a fellow reviewer, this is an excellent serial and a credit to the "King of the Stunt Men," Tom Steele, there is a scene in which Tom Steele is being chased up a fire escape by the "Masked Marvel", we now know that Tom played the Masked Marvel in all the action scenes, he is literally chasing himself up that fire escape notice during the fight scenes, leaping out of cars or boats and falling that our hero and villains never seem to lose their hats great stunt work by the Republic stunt personnel Fred Graham (stunt double: Roy Barcroft & Harry Woods), Duke Green (stunt double: Anthony Warde & Stanley Price), Betty Miles (stunt double: Louise Currie), Allen Pomeroy (stunts), Tom Steele (stunts), Ken Terrell (stunt double: Johnny Arthur) --- don't leave the theater until the final chapter "The Man Behind the Mask" another winner from the vaults of Republic Serials --- this is a must watch for the serial buffs in all of us. <br /> <br />CHAPTER TITLES: <br />1. The Masked Crusader <br />2. Death Takes the Helm <br />3. Dive to Doom <br />4. Suspense at Midnight <br />5. Murder Meter <br />6. Exit to Eternity <br />7. Doorway to Destruction <br />8. Destined to Die <br />9. Danger Express <br />10.Suicide Sacrifice <br />11.The Fatal Mistake <br />12.The Man Behind the Mask <br /> <br />BIOS: <br />1. William Forrest <br />Date of birth: 10 October 1902 - Cambridge, Massachusetts <br />Date of death: 26 January 1989 - Santa Monica, California <br /> <br />2. Anthony Warde <br />Date of birth: 4 November 1908 - Pennsylvania, USA <br />Date of death: 8 January 1975 - Hollywood, California <br /> <br />3. Spencer Gordon Bennet (The Serial King) (Director) <br />Date of birth: 5 January 1893 - Brooklyn, New York, New York <br />Date of death: 8 October 1987 - Santa Monica, California <br /> <br />[Special footnote, Spencer Gordon Bennet, was known as the "King of Serial Directors" he directed more film serials than anybody else, Bennet first entered show business as a stunt man, when he answered a newspaper ad to jump from the Palisades of the Hudson River while wearing a suit for the serial film Hurricane Hutch. The gig at that time paid $1 per foot he had to fall Bennet made his directorial debut in "Behold The Man" (1921), but made his serial directorial debut in with "Sunken Silver" (1925), Bennet would keep making serials, as well as B westerns features, until the very end of the genre, directing the very last two made in the United States, "Blazing the Overland Trail" (1956) and "Perils of the Wilderness" (1956). After the serials ended he directed a handful of features, his final directorial credit with "The Bounty Killer" (1965) with Dan Duryea, Bob Steele, Buster Crabbe, Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, I. Stanford Jolley Richard Arlen and Rod Cameron, which was also the final film to feature noted cowboy star Gilbert "Broncho Billy" Anderson when Bennet died in 1987, his tombstone was engraved "The Final Chapter" over his long career Bennet directed over a hundred serials including "Atom Man vs Superman" (1950) serial, "The Adventures of Sir Galahad" (1949), "Batman and Robin" (1949), "The Tiger Woman" (1944), "Captain Video" (1951), and numerous western serials. Among his western B-features were his long running "Red Ryder" series, featuring Don "Red" Barry, Wild Bill Elliott and Allan Rocky Lane during the '40s] <br /> <br />If you're into vintage serials as I am, why not pick up a copy of the following titles from VCI Home Video: <br />VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS: <br />1. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don "Red" Barry) <br />2. Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Bobby Jordan) <br />3. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe) <br />4. Captain Midnight (Dave O'Brien) <br />5. Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (Judd Holdren & I. Stanford Jolley) <br />6. Dick Tracy's G-Men (Ralph Byrd) <br />7. Don Winslow of the Navy (Don Terry) <br />8. Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (Don Terry) <br />9. Drums of Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon) <br />10.Fighting Kit Carson (Johnny Mack Brown) <br />11.Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Buster Crabbe) <br />12.The Green Archer (Victory Jory) <br />13.Jungle Girl (Frances Gifford) <br />14.Jungle Jim (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton) <br />15.Lost City of the Jungle (Russell Hayden & Keye Luke) <br />16.Mandrake the Magician (Warren Hull & Dick Curtis) <br />17.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr) <br />18.The Painted Stallion (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) <br />19.The Phantom (Tom Tyler) <br />20.The Return of Chandu (Bela Lugosi) <br />21.Riders of Death Valley (Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo & Buck Jones) <br />22.Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon) <br />23.Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke) <br />24.Sky Raiders (Donald Woods & Billy Halop) <br />25.Undersea Kingdom (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) <br />26.Winners of the West (Dick Foran, Harry Woods, Roy Barcroft & Charles Stevens) <br />27.Zane Greys "King of the Royal Mounted" (Allan "Rocky" Lane) <br />28.Zorro's Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling) <br /> <br />Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author: Trail Talk), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author: The Real Bob Steele) as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys! <br /> <br />Total Time: 202 mins on VHS ~ Republic Video ~ (5/30/1995) Reader Reviews This serial has a number of good moments and will be fun and enjoyable for serial fans but is not representative of the usually high quality for Republic serials of this era. First, the good things: 1. The fights and stunts, the efforts of Republic's cadre of expert stuntmen and fight choreographers, are all up the usual high standard for this studio. 2. The action and plot are fast moving, and the WWII background and references are interesting. 3. The cliff hangers and escapes are good. 4. Louise Currie playing Alice Hamilton, the plucky heroine whose father was murdered by the Axis spy ring. Ms. Currie was a good actress who never gained the fame she deserved, but did added a lot of class to this serial, and of course, the excellent `Adventures of Captain Marvel'(1941). She is quite appealing as well as valiant in both of these serials, especially the `Masked Marvel,' where she puts herself in mortal peril by going undercover, holds thugs at bay with a rifle, and escapes at least 2 death traps by herself, with no help from the eponymous hero. 5. The villains and thugs are pretty good actors. Of note is veteran character actor Johnny Arthur, playing the master villain Sakima. Mr. Arthur's performance is, overall, skilled and competent, and he seems sufficiently evil (though not nearly as evil as Ming the Merciless from `Flash Gordon' or `Dr. Daka' from the 1943 `Batman'). Note however, that like every other U.S. portrayal of a Japanese person from this period, racism is a huge factor. But as much as Johnny Arthur is an asset, he is also a problem. That is because Mr. Arthur is going to be immediately recognizable as the actor who played the comic foil to the Little Rascals in a couple of the funniest `Our Gang' comedies (he played Darla's father, Mr. Hood). Once an actor has been vanquished by Buckwheat and Alfalfa, it is hard believe he is a serious menace to our heroes. Mr. Arthur specialized in playing finicky, effeminate characters, and you get this sense that underneath the evil, Sakima is really just a sissy. This impression is reinforced when Sakima finds out that the Masked Marvel has discovered his hideout: Sakima pauses to pack his things! Other problems: 1. The running gimmick, that the audience doesn't know who the real Marvel is, means that you can't imagine the man behind the Mask. The Marvel has comparatively few lines, is never photographed in close up, and never sticks around very long, so you really don't ever start rooting for him very much. 2. The 4 insurance dicks, one of whom is secretly the Marvel, never say enough lines, do enough or have enough close ups for the audience to want to root for any of them too much. One of the insurance dicks, David Bacon, is so wooden that Howard Hughes could have built a seaplane out of him. (Unfortunately, poor Mr. Bacon was murdered about a week after shooting on this serial wrapped. The crime was never solved!) 3. The direction shows a profound lack of imagination and only the most primitive understanding of the principles of cinema. While having access to one of the best stunt and fight crews in the world, it seldom occurs to the director to try different camera positions in the fights, and there are only 2 medium close up shots of the Masked Marvel's face in any of the fight scenes. It's too bad, because the Mask has a striking dramatic effect, one that would make the Marvel appear more formidable. But no, that seems never to occur to director Spencer Bennett, best known for his work making lousy postwar Columbia serials. How bad a director was Mr. Bennet? Based on the 3 Bennett serials I've seen, I'd say he was about ½ step above shooting Mexican porno movies in the desert. But who knows, maybe he actually did some Mexican porn... As I said, this is worthwhile to the serial fan, but there are many other serials you should see before this.

The Masked Marvel Available from Amazon Price: $19.98 Updated on 8-29-2008.

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