April 12, 2016

It must have been so gloriously invigorating, making films during the first decade since the inception of sound. It seemed both in the pre-Code era and in serials (which I unabashedly adore) that writers and filmmakers threw everything but the kitchen sink at unsuspecting viewers. Though the cynical among contemporary cinephiles could just as well toss it off as creaky filmmaking, since Lord Almighty, it's in black-and-white with no CGI, it's a l… read the rest.

It must have been so gloriously invigorating, making films during the first decade since the inception of sound. It seemed both in the pre-Code era and in serials (which I unabashedly adore) that writers and filmmakers threw everything but the kitchen sink at unsuspecting viewers. Though the cynical among contemporary cinephiles could just as well toss it off as creaky filmmaking, since Lord Almighty, it's in black-and-white with no CGI, it's a load of fun (although it does carry the racial stereotypes that were prevalent in cinema at that time, unfortunately).

The mid-30's weren't too different from 2016, four full generations later, in that current successes=tons of spinoffs (just like the plethora of ultraviolent comedies after 'Pulp Fiction', and gazillions of comic book films in the wake of 'Iron Man'). Since then-recent smash hits like 'King Kong', Johnny Weissmuller's 'Tarzan' films and mad-scientist of James Whale's outstanding 'Frankenstein' movies made those aspects hugely popular, they all get tossed together here in a cinematic ratatouille, with a crazed scientist in an desolate African jungle, of all places, threatening the world with global domination, by destroying hundreds of cities worldwide through electrical storms. An electrical engineering genius, Bruce Gordon, discovers this, and plots an expedition there to find the root cause and destroy it. Along the way, he and his party are continually double-crossed by everyone and their half-brother, as each person with any sense of duplicity whatsoever puts the two-and-two together that kidnapped elderly scientist Dr. Manyus' ability to make zombie-like giant slaves from the African natives could mean a fortune in dubious hands.

One of my favourite character actors of the era, George 'Gabby' Hayes, plays one of those dubious people, the explorer Butterfield, and Claudia Dell is downright deliciously captivating as Dr. Manyus' daughter, the picture's damsel in distress. Yes, there are excruciating plot holes galore, but that's never the point with these delightful films. Just turn your brain off for the 3+ hours, that the 2 parts of the film (edited from the 4-hour, 12-part serial) have to offer. Not everything has to be Hamlet.

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