FASHION MODEL

Robert Lowery, Tim Ryan, Marjorie Weaver

FASHION MODEL (1945). Director: William Beaudine.

Not long after model Peggy Rooney (Marjorie Weaver of Great Alaskan Mystery) gets into a fight with rival Yvonne (Lorna Gray of The Perils of Nyoka), the latter is found strangled inside the fashion house where they work. Peggy is the first major suspect in the murder, but as more deaths occur, her boyfriend Jimmy (Robert Lowery) catches the eye of dogged Police Inspector O'Hara (Tim Ryan). There's also a missing broach that was given to the dead woman by her rather disinterested fiance, Davis (John Valentine), which engenders a frantic search for the expensive item by Duval (Edward Keane), head of the fashion house, and his employee, Madame Celeste (Dorothy Christy). Fashion Model is a comedy-mystery with a few chuckles, some cold-blooded characters, and an interesting if lower case cast. Tim Ryan could probably have played the role of the inspector in his sleep by now. Robert Lowery registers his usual suave charm, and Marjorie Weaver proves she's definitely no Lucille Ball. Nell Craig and Harry Depp [Black Magic] are fun as a bickering couple who are in the fashion house during the first murder, and Jack Norton nearly steals the picture as the tippling window dresser, Herbert. The most amusing sequence has Herbert trying to undress two mannequins who are actually Peggy and Jimmy in disguise. The ending is kind of nifty and well-done. Dorothy Christy was the evil queen in The Phantom Empire and also appeared in Sons of the Desert with Laurel and Hardy.

Verdict: It's not Blood and Black Lace but it has its moments. **.

THE PHANTOM EMPIRE

Autry with the evil queen

THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (1935) Directors: B. Reeves Eason; Otto Brower.

Gene Autry (radio singer Gene Autry) is host of a radio show with songs and dramatic serials called Radio Ranch, because it is, well, broadcast from a ranch. A group of "archaeologists" headed by Professor Beetson (Frank Glendon) suspect that there's radium on the property adjacent to the ranch, as well as the remains of a lost civilization, and want to get rid of Autry and his gang so they can proceed with their investigations; to this end they frame Autry for the murder of his partner. Frankie (Frankie Darro) and his sister Betsy (Betsy King Ross ), the children of the murdered man, are members of a teen group they call "Junior Thunder Riders" after some mysterious horsemen they encountered only once (who do indeed make a thunderous clamor when they ride); wouldn't you know these horsemen are actually called Thunder Riders in the underground world they come from, Murania, which is enclosed in a vast cavern 25,000 miles below the earth -- that can be reached by a elevator tube! Murania is ruled by a horrible queen Tika (Dorothy Christy), who seems to think her society is so much nicer and more advanced than the surface world, but is constantly ordering her slave-like soldiers put to death and even tries to kill Frankie and Betsy, two children, with a missile! (Better she should kill off the Thunder Riders, who apparently ride through the surface desert periodically and could easily lead people to the hidden entrance to Murania.) In the meantime, Murania's Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman), who is supposed to kill off those who displease the queen in a lightning chamber, actually saves them so they can join his revolution, although he isn't much nicer than the queen.

The feature-length version of Phantom Empire was frequently shown on television when I was a boy and I have to say I didn't like it much even then. One can say it has a loopy charm, but whatever its assets it simply isn't very good. Autry isn't an especially dynamic leading man for an adventure sci-fi serial -- hard to believe that once upon a time he was a tremendous star --  although Christy, who was excellent as Stan Laurel's wife in Sons of the Desert, is at least somewhat forceful as the evil queen. Frankie Darro was always okay in this stuff, but while Betsy is cute, she was really a specialty horse rider and not an actress. The two morons Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) are tiresome. The serial doesn't do much with the whole idea of what should be a fascinating underground city, and a sequence in which a disintegration weapon goes wild isn't very memorable (certainly not like a similar scene in Atlantis, the Lost Continent.) Watching Murania kind of melt is a mild sort of fun, however. Mascot made much, much better serials than this.

Verdict: Everyone should see this once and then completely forget it. **.

SONS OF THE DESERT

SONS OF THE DESERT (1933). Director: William A. Seiter.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy want to go off to a convention of the Sons of the Desert in Chicago, but their wives won't have it. They cook up a ridiculous scheme to get out of town, and nearly get away with it – but the fates conspire to reveal their perfidy to their vengeful wives. This is a very funny movie with some great gags and the boys in top form. Mae Busch and Dorothy Christy are also excellent as the wives, with Charley Chase notable as a fellow conventioneer addicted to practical jokes. Full of comic inventiveness and a lot of merriment this movie above all others shows the Laurel and Hardy influence on TV's The Honeymooners. At one point Oliver tells Stan that he is “king of his castle”and his wife has to do what he says. Sound familiar? Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton were even members of the Raccoon Lodge, a Sons of the Desert-type organization. One quibble about the picture: although it turns out that the boys weren't actually on the boat, and the wreck itself is never shown, it was perhaps ill-advised to make a ship wreck with people dying at sea a key point in the plot.

Verdict: Great fun! ***1/2.