THE HURRICANE EXPRESS

John Wayne

THE HURRICANE EXPRESS (12 chapter Mascot serial/1932.). Directors: Armand Schaefer; J. P., McGowan.

Jim Baker (J. Farrell MacDonald), an engineer on the world's fastest train, the Hurricane Express, is killed when the express is deliberately sabotaged. Baker's son, Larry (John Wayne of McLintock!). is determined to uncover the identity of "The Wrecker," the mysterious figure who, with the help of his gang, is out to destroy the railroad for uncertain reasons. The suspects include Walter Gray (Lloyd Whitlock), who runs an airline; Howard Edwards (Tully Marshall), the head of the railroad; Frank Stratton (Edmund Breese), who escaped from jail after being falsely accused of robbing the railroad; Tom Jordan (Matthew Betz), a disgruntled former employee of the railroad; and others. Larry Baker teams up with Stratton's daughter, Gloria (Shirley Grey) to unmask the Wrecker and prove her father's alleged innocence. There's also a lot to do with a stolen gold shipment that everyone is fighting to recover. An interesting aspect of Hurricane Express is the way the villain uses highly detailed and convincing masks to pretend to be other people throughout the serial, not only confounding Larry, Gloria and the authorities, but confusing the audience at times as well. While this aspect is certainly suspect, it's amusing to note that the same "mask" business is currently used in the Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible movies made many decades later (and it is still quite improbable that these masks would actually fool anyone). The cliffhangers in this are nothing that special, but we've got a runaway box car, a plane that catches fire and crashes to earth, and Wayne is nearly crushed by a descending and very heavy airplane part at one point. In general, the movie lacks the slick polish of Republic's serials, but it's generally fast-paced and entertaining, with a dollop of suspense pertaining to the identity of the Wrecker. It's funny how many characters in the serial jump to conclusions about the mastermind's identity when everyone is clued in to the fact that he wears masks and nothing could be certain about anyone. John Wayne did several serials for Mascot in the thirties, and gives a competent and rather charismatic performance. Armand Schaefer also directed Wayne in the serial version of The Three Musketeers.

Verdict: One express you might want to catch if you like these old cliffhangers. ***. 

AMERICAN GANGSTER

AMERICAN GANGSTER (2007). Director: Ridley Scott.

Detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), an honest cop, is assigned to head a new narcotics squad that will leave the street punks and small-timers to others and concentrate only on major deals and big arrests. Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) is a drug dealer who's started a pipeline from Vietnam, where thousands of soldiers are getting hooked on junk. Naturally these two come into conflict, although a confrontation never really materializes (the scene when they face each other across a table in jail is kind of flat). The action scenes are standard, and the characterizations, especially Lucas', are thin, even if this was inspired by true events.

Washington seems miscast; Crowe is better, and looks like crap. Some familiar faces bolster the proceedings with flavorful performances: Armand Assante as an Italian gangster; Cuba Gooding Jr. as a drug dealer; Ted Levine as an associate of Crowe's; Josh Brolin as a dirty cop; Ruby Dee as Lucas' mama -- even Clarence Williams III of the Mod Squad (he's actually been pretty busy, if low profile, ever since) shows up briefly as Lucas' mentor.

Verdict: Not enough meat for its length. **.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1933)

THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1933). 12 chapter Mascot serial. Directed by Armand Schaefer and Colbert Clark.

Described as an “updated” version of the story by Alexander Dumas, this is an entertaining cliffhanger with John Wayne taking center stage and the “musketeers” pushed into a subordinate position. In a battle between members of the Foreign Legion and gunrunners, all but three members of the legion forces are wiped out. The last three are saved by the timely intervention of Lt. Tom Wayne (John Wayne) in his plane. This first scene is a little weird, as the “heroes” have absolutely no reaction to the sudden deaths of their colleagues (one who "steals" a cigarette from a fallen comrade is shot and killed himself a moment later) and indeed remain jaunty and insouciant as they stand there afterward with the bodies of fellow legionnaires presumably lying all around them. Smiling in the face of death and remaining cool and philosophical about warfare is all well and good, but these musketeers come off as callous idiots. In contrast, John Wayne shows genuine emotion and concern when his buddy Stubbs (Noah Beery Jr.) is shot in front of him. Lon Chaney Jr., billed as Creighton Chaney, appears briefly as a friend of Wayne's who is murdered, with Wayne becoming the chief suspect. The real culprit is the villain El Shaitan (The Devil), who is plotting an Arab rebellion against the Legion. Wayne's girlfriend, Chaney's sister Elaine (Ruth Hall), has a letter which will clear Wayne of murder charges, and naturally there's a lot of running after this letter as well as many shots of men fairly leaping onto horses. The Musketeers are played by Francis X. Bushman, Raymond Hatton, and Jack [The Clutching Hand] Mulhall.

Verdict: Fairly entertaining, with a generally fast pace and some exciting moments. **1/2.

THE MIRACLE RIDER

THE MIRACLE RIDER (1935). 15 chapter Mascot serial. Directed by Armand Schaefer and B. Reeves Eason.

In this “modern-day” Western serial, the comparatively bland Tom Mix is cast as Texas Ranger Tom Morgan, who comes up against Zarnoff (Charles Middleton), who wants to scare the Indians off a reservation because it holds a mine with an explosive ore. Zarnoff uses a airship to try and convince the Indians that a deadly “Firebird” is on the loose. The ore is used to make formula X49, which is employed to create a fire-causing beam of destruction. Not even the great Middleton can save this dull serial that is poorly edited and lacks suspense. The only good thing about it is the snappy theme music that opens each episode. Joan Gale plays Ruth; Bob Fraser is Black Wing, and Jason Robards is Carlson.

Verdict: Below the level of most other Mascot serials. *1/2.

THE LOST JUNGLE

THE LOST JUNGLE (1934). Mascot Serial Feature version [approx. 71 minutes]. Directed by Armand Schaefer and David Howard.

This is the feature-length version of the serial starring the real Clyde Beatty playing himself. While not any kind of Tyrone Power or Laurence Olivier, Beatty was an attractive fellow with an ingratiating manner, and he plays in this stuff about as well as many another serial hero. Clyde's girlfriend Ruth (Cecilia Parker) is hoping he'll propose before she has to go off with her father, Captain Robertson Edward LeSaint), on a voyage to the south seas. “He's different from other men,” she tells her father because she fears Clyde is more comfortable with animals than he is with women. When Ruth and the others wind up shipwrecked on a jungle island, Clyde goes to the rescue on a dirigible that falls apart in mid-ocean. Eventually he also winds up on the “lost island” of Kamor, which also has a lost underground city as well as a treasure. Sharky (Warner Richmond), a jealous associate of Clyde's, consistently causes trouble for everyone, as does a man-eating tiger they call Sammy [how anyone can have affection for a beast that slaughtered several crew members is never explored]. Clyde brings along his publicity man Larry (Syd Saylor) for comedy relief, and comes across a vital little Mickey Rooney in an early sequence. Although one can tell that this feature version leaves out a lot of plot details and possibly some exciting scenes, there's little in this that will make most viewers want to seek out a full-length version of the serial, although one is available on DVD.

Verdict: It doesn't look like one of Mascot's better entries. **.