Johnny stars as a character named Johnny Weissmuller rather than Jungle Jim in the first of three such pictures made after the last of the Jungle Jim movies, are well-nigh indistinguishable save for new names for the protagonist and the chimp. This time around, Johnny investigates reports of thefts of cobalt from a uomine operated …
Read the full post →“<em>Cannibal Attack</em> (Columbia, 1954)”
Inspector Crane (Thurston Hall) turns to Michael Lanyard, the Lone Wolf (Warren William), for advice about safeguarding some jewels that are intended to finance a foreign nation’s war effort, but his trust turns to suspicion when the goods are targeted by thieves. Crane’s less-than-brilliant assistant Dickens (Fred Kelsey) is on hand again, as is Lanyard’s …
Read the full post →“<em>Secrets of the Lone Wolf</em> (Columbia, 1941)”
Special effects by Ray Harryhausen are the highlight of this epic tale of Jason’s quest to Colchis to find the Golden Fleece, but it proves an exciting adventure film as well. To rid himself of the rightful heir to the throne, the usurper Pelias (Douglas Wilmer) sets the young Jason (Todd Armstrong) an impossible task: …
Read the full post →“<em>Jason and the Argonauts</em> (Columbia, 1963)”
Aliens destroy a space station and then bring their attacks to the Earth’s surface as well, prompting the nations of the world to work together, first to send a scouting party to find the aliens’ base on the Moon, and then to battle the aliens’ attack force. A fair amount of action and some good …
Family is at the center of this Durango Kid outing, as Sheriff Jeff Clinton (George Chesebro) and outlaw Black Murphy (Steve Darrell) are grandfathers to a young girl (Anita Castle) who plays an important part in the plot, both as welcome family and as target for a villain. Steve Rollins (Charles Starrett) initially is helping …
Read the full post →“<em>West of Sonora</em> (Columbia, 1948)”
A diamond smuggler works with one tribe to war against another tribe and thereby gain unfettered access to the diamond mine whose owners he has killed. It’s up to Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller), working with Inspector Bernard (Richard Stapley), and with the dubious assistance of the chimp Tamba, to put an end to the scheme …
Read the full post →“<em>Jungle Man-Eaters</em> (Columbia, 1954)”
Someone is setting homesteaders and ranchers against each other to start a range war. Marshal Steve Collins, aka the Durango Kid (Charles Starrett), investigates and finds clues pointing to more than one suspect. Some evidence implicates the local attorney, though his daughter blames the banker instead. Steve is also aided by Smiley (Smiley Burnette), who …
Read the full post →“<em>Phantom Valley</em> (Columbia, 1948)”
District Attorney Thatcher Colt (Adolphe Menjou) heads out of town for a brief vacation, accompanied by his secretary (Ruthelma Stevens), but they don’t find the upstate New York town of Gilead particularly restful. A small circus comes to town, with a love triangle at the center of its prominent acts, and murder follows. Dwight Frye …
Read the full post →“<em>The Circus Queen Murder</em> (Columbia, 1933)”
Middling entry in the Jungle Jim series is another with the air of the fantastic, as mad scientists testing animals as part of germ warfare research intrude into the lands of a giant apeman that begins a rampage. Enjoyable for what it is, but not the place to start with the films. Mildly recommended. Otto …
Clever series entry has the villain Decker (Hugh Prosser) tricking Steve Norris (Charles Starrett) into thinking he had gunned down the local sheriff. After Decker forces Steve to take on the lawman’s role as his tool, it’s up to Steve’s alter ego, the Durango Kid, to thwart Decker’s lawless activities. Smiley Burnette is again on …
