THE CAT BURGLAR

Bruno VeSota's belly and June Kenney

THE CAT BURGLAR (1961). Director: William Witney.

"One of those snoopy, well-fed dames?"

Jack (Jack Hogan) burglarizes the apartment of Nan (June Kenney) and, along with other items, steals a briefcase containing important papers. Nan is unaware that the papers contain information on a new secret fuel formula and that they were acquired by her boyfriend, Alan (John Baer of Terry and the Pirates), for a group of spies. Nan and Alan do their best to get the papers back, embroiling the pawnbroker, Pete (Gene Roth), his associate, Muskie (Bruno VeSota), and the cat burglar himself, who does his utmost to get the papers back while struggling to stay alive. The Cat Burglar is a routine, TV-like production which is distinguished solely by some flavorful supporting characters, including Mrs. Prattle (Billie Bird), owner of the Paytell motel, and her son, Willie (Tommy Ivo), not to mention Bruno VeSota [Attack of the Giant Leeches], whose amazing belly is the true star of the picture. Roth and Kenney both appeared in Burt Gordon's Earth vs. the Spider. There are some interesting shots throughout the movie, and the performances are not bad, with Hogan a stand-out.

Verdict: Minor-league crime thriller. **.

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE

Benson Fong, Mantan Moreland and Marianne Quon

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE (1944). Director: Phil Rosen.

In Washington D.C. the inventor of a new weapon holds a cocktail party but stupidly refuses body guards. Naturally, said scientist winds up dead, the torpedo plans stolen. Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) arrives to find those plans and arrest the guilty party. But is it gruff Luis Vega (Gene Roth of Earth vs. the Spider); wheelchair-bound Paul Arranto (George J. Lewis of Ghost of Zorro); David Blake (Barry Bernard), of the Department of Political Economy; the housekeeper Mrs. Hargue (Sarah Edwards); or the dithery Mrs. Winters (Lelah Tyler); among others. Surely it can't be Inspector Jones (Arthur Loft) or Sergeant Billings (Davison Clark)? This is the first Charlie Chan picture for Monogram studios, and it's a typically cheap production, but it has its moments. Nobody ever seems to give a damn about the dead man, even though he was an important scientist and everyone's host! Jimmy Chan (Victor Sen Yung) is gone, replaced by his less interesting brother, Tommy (Benson Fong), as well as his sister, number two daughter, Iris (Marianne Quon), who is cute if little else. This movie introduces the popular character of Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland, whose name leads the list of supporting players in bigger letters), who appeared in the later Chan films. Phil Rosen directed many Charlie Chan pictures as well as such stuff as Spooks Run Wild.

Verdict: Serviceable Chan film with some clever moments. **1/2.

THE LOST PLANET

Michael Fox vs. Judd Holdren in Lost Planet

THE LOST PLANET (15 chapter Columbia serial/1953). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet.

"What has he to offer a great scientist like me?"

Reporter Rex Barrow (Judd Holdren) and his photographer friend, Tim (Ted Thorpe), stumble into the mountain hide-out of the megalomaniac Dr. Grood (Michael Fox of Riders to the Stars), who is forcing Professor Dorn (Forrest Taylor of The Iron Claw) to enslave the inhabitants of another planet, Ergro, in order to take over Earth. Grood is assisted by the groveling Jarva (Jack George), who is like something out of the Three Stooges, on earth, and by portly Reckov (Gene Roth), on the alien world, while Dorn's daughter, Ella (Vivian Mason), travels to Ergro with the others. Grood is able to mind-control anyone he chooses, and has other weapons as well, and employs spaceships that take everyone from Earth to Ergro in a very fast and highly unscientific manner. There's also a cosmo jet, and a cartoon flying saucer. Late in the serial some earth men of rather ill repute try to take over Grood's operation, briefly join with him, and then switch sides again. Holdren is perfectly bland and adequate, and Fox is rather good as Grood, yet somehow he doesn't make the kind of memorable serial villain that, say, Charles Middleton does as Ming in Flash Gordon. Holdren and Roth were also in Captain Video, Master of the Stratosphere and the former starred in Zombies of the Stratosphere as well.

Verdict: Acceptable, silly sci fi serial. **.

GHOST OF ZORRO

Zorro's grandson goes into action!

GHOST OF ZORRO (12 chapter Republic serial/1949). Director: Fred C. Brannon.

An engineer and "eastern dude" named Ken Mason (Clayton Moore) comes to a small western town to help put in a telegraph line, but certain parties, such as George Crane (Gene Roth) and Hank Kilgore (Roy Barcroft), are opposed to the idea -- it might bring the law to the nest of fugitives who pay Crane protection money. Ken is assisted by Rita White (Pamela Blake) and Moccasin (George J. Lewis of Federal Operator 99). It develops that Ken is the grandson of the original Zorro, and he dresses up and goes into action when Crane's tactics against him and his friends become quite lethal. Rita, for instance, is caught in both a runaway wagon and runaway stagecoach in separate chapters. Ghost of Zorro no doubt employs a lot of stock footage, but it's fast and reasonably entertaining, and the frequent fistfights are certainly well-staged. Tom Steele and Marshall Reed are also in the cast. Pamela Blake was also in The Sea Hound and Hitchcock's Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Verdict: Minor-league but acceptable Republic serial. **1/2. 

PIRATES OF THE HIGH SEAS

PIRATES OF THE HIGH SEAS (15 chapter Columbia serial/1950). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Thomas Carr. 

On the paradise island of Talua in the south pacific post-WW 2, Kelly Walsh (Tommy Farrell) is bedeviled by the crew of a "phantom cruiser" that shoots at his boat and then disappears into thin air. Said cruiser has the ability to dive underwater while retaining the outward appearance of a boat instead of a submarine [this ability is so under-utilized that it's a wonder the serial even bothers with it.]. Kelly sends for his old Army buddy Jeff (Buster Crabbe), who has no interest in returning to the south pacific but suddenly finds himself besieged by passengers who must get to Talua, including Kelly's pretty blond sister, Carol (Lois Hall); Whitlock (Gene Roth), who turns out to be the governor of the island; and Castell (Tristram Coffin of King of the Rocket Men), an agent who is after a Nazi war criminal named Van Horsdorff who has hidden away millions of dollars worth of diamonds somewhere in the vicinity of Talua. The clue to the location of the diamonds may be inside a music box that plays "Three Blind Mice." It is revealed early on that Whitlock is corrupt, to put it mildly, and has some nasty confederates, especially Shark, captain of the phantom cruiser, who as portrayed by Marshall Reed with two day's growth of beard is one of the sexiest sociopaths to ever appear in a serial. Handsome Shark thinks nothing of gunning down associates with impunity before they can impart important information to the good guys. There are a couple of memorable cliffhangers, such as when a heavy stone block comes crashing down on a coffin inside which Jeff is hiding; and a great bit when Jeff battles a hood on a flat piece of wall that has just been torn off the side of the jail and is being dragged behind a speeding truck as it careens toward a cliff. Most of the characters in this, even some of the good guys, are rather shady and duplicitous, including Lamar (Stanley Price), Whitlock's secretary, and the Lotus Lady (Symona Boniface), who runs the general store and whose loyalties are ambiguous. Pirates of the High Seas may not be one of the classic serials, but it is entertaining if overlong at nearly four and a half hours. Crabbe may be a bit paunchy and middle-aged in this but he still delivers the goods, and the other cast members are generally equally adept.

Verdict: Worth a trip on the Phantom Cruiser. ***.

THE SHANGHAI COBRA

Toler, Moreland, Fong and Cardwell

THE SHANGHAI COBRA (1945). Director: Phil Karlson.

"People don't fall in love that fast -- except on the stage."

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler)) is called in when it develops that he may be the only person who can identity an accused thief and murderer named Van Horn. Van Horn is also suspected of a number of cobra venom murders, of which there have been five victims, the latest killed right outside of a coffee shop. The victims all have something to do with a bank, under which are sewers and secret passages Among the suspects are secretary Paula Webb (Joan Barclay); her wannabe boyfriend Ned Stewart (James Cardwell); bank president Fletcher (Roy Gordon, the doctor in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman); Harris, the bank VP (Arthur Loft); and H. R. Jarvis (James Flavin); not to mention an unnamed lady (Janet Warren), who operates the strangest juke box you've ever seen in or out of pictures. This is a typically clever Monogram picture, with Toler in top form, Mantan Moreland even more amusing than usual, and Benson Fong quite adept as Tommy Chan. Gene Roth and Cyril Delevanti have smaller roles.

Verdict: Another entertaining Charlie Chan picture. ***.

EARTH VS. THE SPIDER (1958)

EARTH VS. THE SPIDER (1958). Director: Bert I. Gordon. 

A gigantic spider who's been snacking on luckless folk who wander into his cavern or environs is apparently killed, but revives in the high school auditorium when the band starts rehearsing. The spider appears to suffer from gastritis, as it is always squealing like a pig. The movie has many unintentionally funny scenes and cheesy effects, but much of it plays perfectly well and, like most of Mr. BIG's [Bert I. Gordon] films it's entertaining for fans of creature features. Gene Persson and June Kenney are perfectly swell as the teen couple who get trapped in the cavern with the spider at the climax; Ed Kemmer is only adequate as their teacher. Gene Roth as Sheriff Cagle nearly steals the movie away from the spider. Gordon also directed The Cyclops, The Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People and many others. To read more about this film see Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. 

Verdict: A lowercase Tarantula but fun. **1/2.

CAPTAIN VIDEO, MASTER OF THE STRATOSPHERE

CAPTAIN VIDEO, MASTER OF THE STRATOSPHERE (1951). 15 chapter Columbia serial. Directed by Wallace A. Grisell and Spencer Bennet.

Captain Video (Judd Holdren) and his Video ranger (Larry Stewart) are up against Vultura (Gene Roth), the tyrannical ruler of Atoma, who not only wants to conquer the planet Theros but the Earth as well. A renowned earth scientist named Tobor (George Eldredge) is assisting him and trying to thwart or destroy the good Captain at every turn. Our heroes dodge a mass of cosmic debris, are frozen stiff as a board, thrown out of flying platforms (to land delicately on Earth due to a sonic air cushion), defeat a spreading radioactive liquid called planenite, and have to deal with some very fast moving mechanical men. The spaceships are just cartoon animation; the planet Atoma is tinted red while Theros is tinted green (Earth is in the usual sepia). There is no love interest or supporting female character. Holdren and Stewart are adequate as the good guys, but they have little humor and virtually no personality. Stewart and Roth (with his big belly comically clad in a tight uniform) are dull villains – Vultura is certainly no Ming the Merciless – and Roth is a particularly poor actor [at least in this; he was fine in Earth vs. the Spider and other films], not even on the same planet as Ming’s Charles Middleton. Tobor’s cackling sinister assistant is more on the mark.

Verdict: This is not a great serial, but it is fun in a minor fashion. **1/2.