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FEATURED THREADS for 10-19-22

 
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 19, 2022 11:04 am    Post subject: FEATURED THREADS for 10-19-22 Reply with quote



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A trio of cinematic adventure — none of which are especially noteworthy.

We start off with A serial from 1936 with a great idea; Atlantis survives on the bottom of the ocean, covered in transparent domes!

Enjoy the full serial in a three hour and forty-six minute marathon! Cool


_________________ Undersea Kingdom (1936)


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And then there’s Unknown Island, a movie allegedly about a place where dinosaurs still survive. Unfortunately it looks more like a small costume party with some of the guest dressed up like explorers and the rest wearing homemade dinosaur suits. Confused

Last but not least is Son of Kong, a sequel that should have been better, even though it could have been worse. But the poster is pretty good. Smile



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Undersea Kingdom (1936 / 1963)



[Also released as: "Sharad of Atlantis"]

More good-natured fun from the Republic Serial factory, involving the sunken city of Atlantis, the evil doings of villian Khan (Monte Blue), the heroics of naval officer Ray "Crash" Corrigan, and all the expected trappings of a Flash-Gordon-styled adventure.

Lon Chaney, Jr. plays Hakur. In twelve thrill-packed chapters you'll see cylinder-shaped robots, futuristic tanks, art deco ray guns, and one guaranteed cliffhanger per episode.

The concept is interesting; Atlantis supposedly sank slowly over a period of years, instead of all at once, thus giving the inhabitants a chance to constructed huge domes over their cities.

Unfortunately, all the scenes in the supposedly "underwater" Altantis are filmed in outdoor locations, with no attempt made to explain the visiable sky and the complete absence of the protective domes.

Admittedly this isn't one of Republic's best, but when you're in the mood for a serial, almost any of them will do. Directed by Joseph Kane and B. Reeves Eason.

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Unknown Island (1948)

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A 1950s-style science fiction film made in 1948!

This is the first science fiction film in which veteran Richard Denning ("The Creature from the Black Lagoon", "The Black Scorpion", etc.) starred. Unfortunately that's the film's only claim to fame.

The story involves an expedition to an uncharted island where dinosaurs still thrive. Sad to say, the dinosaurs aren't even portrayed by respectable lizards -- they're poorly done men-in-suits which don't even look large, much less convincing.

Ditto for the man-in-the-gorilla-suit which fights one of the dinosaurs.

Virginia Grey is the heroine, and she's no Fay Wray. Tough to get excited about a film done with so little imagination. And yet it's in Cinecolor! Directed by Jack Bernhard.

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Son of Kong (1933)

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From director Ernest B. Schoedsack comes this sequel to a classic.

Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) flees New York to escape the mob of creditors which hound him in the wake of King Kong's destructive rampage. Captain Englehorn (Frank Reicher) and Charlie the Cook (Victor Wong) accompany him on his return to Skull Island in search of a legendary treasure. They are joined by a pretty young singer (Helen Mack, the heroine 1935's She), with whom Armstrong falls in love.

The crew of Reicher's ship mutinies and sets the four adventurers (and one shifty villain) adrift in a lifeboat near Skull Island.

There they meet Kong's half-sized offspring, who shows his gratitude for being helped out of quicksand by saving the adventurers from a giant bear and a dragon-like dinosaur. Little Kong topples a rock wall and reveals the treasure they came in search of.

But a sudden earth-quake-and-typhoon (a rare combination) sinks the island and drowns the self-sacrificing ape while he holds Armstrong above the waters until the other people reach him in the boat.

Sad to say, Son of Kong is a study in how not to structure the sequel to a classic. The likable characters of King Kong are replaced by featureless imitations of themselves in Son of Kong. The gut-wrenching, action-packed suspense of the original is replaced by forty-five minutes of dull filler and the 20 minutes of animated shenanigans on a table-top version of Skull Island.

The regal super-ape from the dawn of history that starred in the classic King Kong is replaced by an ape-version of Lou Costello, complete with rolling eyes and shrugging shoulders. Young children find plenty to enjoy in Son of Kong — until the island sinks and drowns the big, lovable Teddy Bear before their bewildered eyes! Sad

Gee, thanks RKO . . .

Willis O'Brien was just as disappointed with Son of Kong as the movie-going public. The sequel was a blatant quickie, released the same year as the original, produced at a fraction of King Kong's cost.

RKO failed to give O'Brien a well-deserved salary increase, and during the making of the film the producers frequently interfered with his special effects problem-solving efforts instead of trusting his skill, as they had done during King Kong's.

As a result, O'Brien became bitter, neglecting to appear on the set for days at a stretch, allowing his assistant Buzz Gibson to do most of the film's animation.

If Son of Kong had received the attention it deserved from its producers, this self-destructive sequel would have received the attention the producers expected from the public. As a result of the film's poor box office performance, O'Brien wasted years trying to convince film makers with no imagination that King Kong wasn't just a one-trick pony and that other animation films would interest the public.

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
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