Short Film Stop: AllClassicVideo

Dick Tracy (1937) is a 15-Chapter Republic movie serial starring Ralph Byrd based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by Alan James and Ray Taylor. Dick Tracy's foe for this serial is the crime boss and Masked Mystery Villain The Spider/The Lame One (both names are used) and his Spider Ring. In the process of various crimes, including using his Flying wing and sound weapon to destroy the Bay Bridge in San Francisco and stealing an experimental "Speed Plane", the Spider captures Dick Tracy's brother, Gordon. The Spider's minion, Dr. Moloch, performs a brain operation on Gordon Tracy to turn him evil, making him secretly part of the Spider Ring and so turning brother against brother. Cast: Ralph Byrd as Dick Tracy Kay Hughes as Gwen Andrews Smiley Burnette as Mike McGurk Lee Van Atta as Junior Robert E. Marcato as Chief Patton John Picorri as Dr Moloch Richard Beach as Gordon Tracy (pre-operation in Chapter 1) Carleton Young as Gordon Tracy (post-operation in Chapter 1) Fred Hamilton as Steve Lockwood Francis X. Bushman as Clive Anderson Dick Tracy was budgeted at $112,334 although the final negative cost was $127,640 (a $15,306, or 13.6%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial until S O S Coast Guard was released later in the year.[1] It was filmed between 30 November and 24 December 1936 under the working titles Adventures of Dick Tracy and The Spider Ring. The serial's production number was 420. In this serial, Dick Tracy is a G-Man (FBI) in San Francisco rather than a Midwestern city police detective as in the comic strip. Most of the Dick Tracy supporting cast and rogues gallery were also dropped and new, original characters used instead. Dick Tracy creator Chester Gould approved the script despite these changes. There were three sequels to this serial. They were all permitted by an interpretation of the original contract, which allowed a "series or serial". That meant that, Dick Tracy creator, Chester Gould was only paid for the rights to produce this serial but not for any of the sequels. Cline states that the Dick Tracy serials were "unexcelled in the action field," adding that "in any listing of serials released after 1930, the four Dick Tracy adventures from Republic must stand out as classics of the suspense detective thrillers, and the models for many others to follow." He goes on to write that Ralph Byrd "played the part [of Dick Tracy] to the hilt, giving his portrayal such unbridled, exuberant enthusiasm that the resulting excitement was contagious." Byrd become identified with the character following the release of this serial. The final chapter reunion between Dick and Gordon Tracy, as Gordon lies dying and his memory returns, is "one of the few moments of real emotional drama ever attempted in serials". This added to the human quality of Dick Tracy, which was present in both this serial and Chester Gould's original strip.

Dick Tracy Chapter 6: Dangerous Waters (1937) - Classic Serial

Dick Tracy Chapter 5: Brother Against Brother (1937) - Classic Serial

Friday, December 20, 2013

Dick Tracy Chapter 2: The Bridge of Terror (1937) - Classic Serial

Friday, December 13, 2013

Adventures of Don Quixote (1933) - Full Classic Movie

Adventures of Don Quixote (1933) is the English title of a film adaptation of the classic Miguel de Cervantes novel, directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst, starring the famous operatic bass Feodor Chaliapin. Although the film stars Chaliapin, it is not an opera. However, he does sing three songs in it. It is the first sound film version of the Spanish classic. The supporting cast in the English version includes George Robey, René Donnio, Miles Mander, Lydia Sherwood, Renée Valliers, and Emily Fitzroy. The film was made in three versions—French, English, and German—with Chaliapin starring in all three versions. Cast: Feodor Chaliapin as Don Quixote George Robey as Sancho Panza René Donnio as Carrasco (as Donnio) Renée Valliers as Dulcinea Emily Fitzroy as Sancho Panza's wife Sidney Fox as Maria the niece Miles Mander as Duke of Fallanga Wally Patch as Gypsy King Oscar Asche as Police Captain Lydia Sherwood as Duchess of Fallanga Frank Stanmore as Priest The producers separately commissioned five composers (Jacques Ibert, Maurice Ravel - who wrote three songs -, Marcel Delannoy, Manuel de Falla and Darius Milhaud) to write the songs for Chaliapin. Each composer believed only he had been approached. Ibert's music was chosen for the film, but this caused him some embarrassment as he was a close friend of Ravel's. Ravel considered a lawsuit against the producers. He dropped the action, and the two composers remained close friends. EMI released excerpts from the soundtrack of the French version on 78-rpm and LP discs. The film condenses the novel significantly and scrambles up the order of Don Quixote's adventures. There are several changes. Don Quixote is "dubbed" a knight not by an innkeeper, but by a traveling actor who is appearing as a king in a play that Don Quixote mistakenly believes to be real. As in the later 1957 Russian film version of the novel, the attack on the windmills is moved to near the end of the film. The mill workers are seen returning from their labor, and unlike the novel, Don Quixote is caught up by the windmill but not thrown. The windmill is stopped by the mill workers, who then assist Sancho is carrying Quixote down. The final scene is the most radically changed of all. Totally defeated, and brought home imprisoned in a cage, Don Quixote sees that his niece, the village priest, and Sanson Carrasco (who in this version is the niece's fiancee, as in Man of La Mancha) have burnt his beloved books of chivalry. The shock literally kills Don Quixote; he collapses and dies in Sancho's arms, while the townsfolk, who only a few moments prior, were laughing and jeering at him as he sat in the cage, are deeply moved and now kneel in respect for the dead "knight". In a bit of trick photography, the pages of the original 1605 edition of Cervantes's novel arise from the flames rather than being consumed by them - a sign that Don Quixote has achieved immortality. Dulcinea, who actually appears in the film, is depicted as a not-too-bright milkmaid, and cruelly, she is among those who laugh the hardest when Don Quixote is brought back in a cage. Don Quixote's name is actually Don Quixote in this version. He is never referred to as Alonso Quixano.

H.G. Wells: Things to Come (1936) - Full Classic Movie

Things to Come (1936) is a British science fiction film produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies. The film stars Raymond Massey, Ralph Richardson, Cedric Hardwicke, Pearl Argyle and Margaretta Scott. The cultural historian Christopher Frayling calls Things to Come "a landmark in cinematic design." The dialogue and plot were devised by H. G. Wells as "a new story" meant to "display" the "social and political forces and possibilities" that he had outlined in 1933 in The Shape of Things to Come, a work he considered less a novel than a "discussion" in fictional form that presented itself as the notes of a 22nd-century diplomat. The film was also influenced by previous works, including his 1897 story "A Story of the Days to Come" and his 1931 work on society and economics, The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind; speculating on the future had been a stock-in-trade for Wells ever since The Time Machine (1895). Cast: Raymond Massey as John Cabal/Oswald Cabal Edward Chapman as Pippa Passworthy/Raymond Passworthy Ralph Richardson as Rudolf a.k.a. The Boss Margaretta Scott as Roxana Black/Rowena Cabal Cedric Hardwicke as Theotocopulos Maurice Braddell as Dr Edward Harding Sophie Stewart as Mrs Cabal Derrick De Marney as Richard Gordon Ann Todd as Mary Gordon Things to Come sets out a future history from 1940 to 2036. (In the screenplay, or "treatment"[3] that Wells published in 1935, before the film was released, the story ends in the year "A.D. 2054.".[4]) It is set in the fictional British city of 'Everytown'. Successful businessman John Cabal (Raymond Massey) cannot enjoy Christmas Day, 1940, with the ominous news of possible war. His guest Harding (Maurice Braddell) shares his worries, but over-optimistic friend Passworthy (Edward Chapman) believes it will not come to pass, or even if it does, it will do good by accelerating technological progress. A bombing raid on the city that night results in general mobilisation and global war. Some time later, Cabal, now piloting a biplane, shoots down a one-man enemy bomber. He lands and pulls the badly injured enemy (John Clements) from the wreckage. As they dwell on the madness of war, they have to put on their gas masks, as poison gas drifts in their direction. When a little girl runs towards them, the wounded man insists she take his mask, saying he is done for anyway. Cabal takes the girl to his aeroplane, pausing to leave the doomed man a revolver. The man dwells on the irony that he may have gassed the child's family and yet he has saved her. He then shoots himself. The war continues for decades, long enough for the survivors to have forgotten why they are fighting in the first place. Humanity enters a new Dark Age. The world is in ruins and there is little technology left apart from the firearms used to wage war. In 1966, a plague called the "wandering sickness" is spread by the unnamed enemy using its last few remaining aircraft. Dr. Harding and his daughter Mary struggle to find a cure, but with little equipment, it is hopeless. By 1970, a local warlord called the "Chief" or the "Boss" (Ralph Richardson) has risen to power in the south of England and eradicated the sickness by shooting the infected. He dreams of conquering the "hill people" to obtain coal and shale to render into oil so his biplanes can fly again. On May Day 1970, a futuristic aeroplane lands outside the town. The sole pilot, John Cabal, emerges and proclaims that the last surviving band of "engineers and mechanics" have formed a civilisation called "Wings Over the World". They are based in Basra, Iraq, and have renounced war and outlawed independent nations. The Boss takes the pilot prisoner and forces him to work for Gordon, a mechanic working on repairing the few remaining aeroplanes. Together, they manage to fix a plane. When Gordon takes it up for a test flight, he flees to alert Cabal's friends. Wings Over the World attacks Everytown with gigantic aeroplanes and drops sleeping gas bombs on the town. The Boss orders his biplanes to attack but they are shot down. The people of Everytown awaken shortly thereafter, to find it occupied by the Airmen and the Boss dead.

The New Adventures of Tarzan Chapter 7: Flaming Waters (1935) - Classic Serial

The New Adventures of Tarzan is a 1935 American film serial in 12 chapters starring Herman Brix. The serial is a more authentic version of the character than most other adaptations, with Tarzan as a cultured and well educated gentleman as in the original Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. It was filmed during the same period as the Johnny Weissmuller/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Tarzan films. Film exhibitors had the choice of selecting the serial or the episodes edited into two separate films, The New Adventures of Tarzan and Tarzan and the Green Goddess. The serial was filmed in Guatemala, and Tarzan was played by Herman Brix (known post-war as Bruce Bennett). The final screenplay was credited to Charles F. Royal, and from Episode 6 onward, also Basil Dickey. It was produced by Ashton Dearholt, Bennett Cohen and George W. Stout under the corporate name of "Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises, Inc." (which also distributed) and was directed by Edward Kull and Wilbur F. McGaugh. Several plot elements bring the characters together in search (and pursuit) of the Guatemalan idol known as The Green Goddess: Tarzan's friend D'Arnot has crash landed in the region and is in the hands of a lost tribe of jungle natives. Major Martling is leading an expedition to find the fabled artefact for a powerful explosives formula hidden within it. Ula Vale's fiancé died in an earlier expedition to rescue the artefact for its archaeological benefit and so she starts one of her own in his honour. Raglan has been sent by Hiram Powers, Ula's lawyer, to steal the valuable idol for himself - in addition to containing the explosives formula, it also holds a fortune in jewels.Tarzan, Ula and Major Martling find the idol and rescue D'Arnot from the natives that worship it in the 70-minute-long first episode. However, Raglan escapes with the Green Goddess and heads through the jungle for the coast. Tarzan and the others pursue him across the jungle, encountering many perils, including recapture by the natives to whom the idol belonged. The adventures end out at sea where, during a hurricane, they are able to permanently secure the idol while Raglan is killed by another of Powers' agents because of his failures. The murderer perishes when the ship sinks. Returning to Greystoke Manor in England with Tarzan, Ula consigns the explosives formula to fire in the final episode, where she and Tarzan also recount several adventures from the first part of the serial to an assembled party of friends and colleagues. Brix performed his own stunts in the serial, including swinging from real jungle vines, but this presented further problems. Despite testing a vine for safety beforehand with a 200 lb weight, when Brix tried himself, with a run up, he over shot the pool of water he was meant to land in. "I still have the scars from that fall," he told the Monitor. The scene where Brix bursts the ropes binding him is real.