Reviews (4)

the jade mask
hardie albright and al bridge are the best of character players!they made the jade mask a 4 star movie thank you

Your Pass Please
I have enjoyed Charlie Chan movies ever since I was a child. Most of them are a lot of fun. This one is the exception. It is absolutely the worst I have watched. After buying this film and watching it one time, I donated it to a charity auction.

Take a pass on this one.

Middling Monogram Chan, but fans will enjoy it
This is one of the low-budget "Charlie Chan" mysteries produced by Monogram Pictures. This time the murder victim (more precisely, the first of several victims!) is a scientist that everyone has good reason to hate. Chan steps in on the government's behalf to solve the mystery of how "dead men walk." Some decent performances (Mantan Moreland, Frank Reicher, Hardie Albright, and especially Alan Bridge as the hayseed sheriff), but the characters aren't as colorful, the direction not as brisk, and Charlie's inquisitive offspring not as engaging as usual. The mystery will definitely keep you guessing, however. This and star Sidney Toler are the main assets.

A good Monogram entry with an eerie mystery and good humor!
This is one of my favorite Chan films from Monogram studios. The opening resembles a Monogram horror movie with spooky music at the foggy, eerie Harper estate. This film introduces Chan's Number 4 son Eddie, a pseudo-intellectual played by Edwin Luke, brother of Keye Luke. This was his only appearance in a Charlie Chan movie. Chan is assisted by the self-deprecating, hayseed Sheriff Mack. Their collaboration makes this Chan entry more interesting than some others. The murder mystery holds your interest and keeps you guessing all through the film. The comic, Mantan Moreland as Birmingham has some funny material here, and I find the ending of this film with the hayseed sheriff and Birmingham one of the funniest endings to a film I have ever seen! Chan's classic saying here is "Murder know no law of relativity". Strongly recommended for Chan fans! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Westward Ho (2 1/2 Stars)
The older surviving brother of a wagon train ambush, seeks revenge on the leader of the gang responsible for the murder of his parents and the kidnapping of his younger brother. Years later, he is the leader of a group of 'vigilantes' who oppose lawlessness and unknowingly confronts his 'long-loss-brother' who has since learned the tricks-of-the-trade from the outlaws. ... Read more

Description

Days of Jesse James--Roy Rogers tinkers with history to "prove" that Jesse James did not commit the infamous robbery of the Northfield, Minnnesota Bank. 1939 - USA - 63 min. - B&W

King of the Cowboys--a special investigator (played by Roy), goes on the trail of Nazi saboteurs. Jam-packed with action and songs, King of the Cowboys is one of the best of the consistently high-quality Roy Rogers vehicles of the 1940s. 1943 - USA - 53 min. - B&W

Roll on Texas Moon--A deadly feud between cattle ranchers and sheepherders. Working on behalf of the cattlemen, Rogers tries to avoid an all-out range war, finding time to champion the cause of gorgeous sheep rancher Jill Delaney (Dale Evans). USA - 68 min. - B&W ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good Old Fashioned Western
A great trio of films with the BEST cowboy EVER. Being a Brit who grew up going to Saturday morning pictures,its great to be able to see some of his films in SUPERB clarity and pretty good sound. A nice touch was the Roy Rogers Club short which is also the great thing about DVD, you get a lot for your money. All in all, a great deal and good films. Please keep them coming! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Early Zorro
Adapted from the serial or not this was an action serial and belongs to those days, Don't compare and you will enjoy. I didn't like Zorro singing, Yakima Canutt did all the stunt work and they cheated the kids on some the cliffhanger endings, but it was an enjoyable one with a good story line.

ZORRO LOVERS THIS MOVIE ROCKS
This action packed zorro movie is one of the best movies i ever saw.It has great stunts and lots of gun shooting.I hope you buy this film (you will love it). -Brad Sprentz ... Read more

Description

Wild Bill Hickok, Union Army hero and personal scout for General Ulysses Grant, is now working as a U.S. Deputy Marshal. Hickok's latest investigation takes him to the small town of Milton, New Mexico to see why large shipments of cattle purchased by his army buddy, Steve Norris, have been mysteriously disappearing during cattle drives.Wild Bill picks up the trail of the missing herds with help from his old friend "Whiney" Roberts and discovers a canyon where the cattle are hidden. Under the cover of night, he tracks down the deadly gang of rustlers, who are led by the ruthless "One Shot" Folsom. Hickok and Roberts must now rely on their frontier bravado and their skill with a revolver to bring the merciless band of thieves to justice. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

family fare
My 2year old horse lover can never get enough of this film. He loves not only the horses but Dale, Roy and Grandpa. Trigger, Jr. can outrace "Bert and Ernie" on any day.

Family film
Trigger, Jr. provides my two-year old horse lover with just enough action to keep him occupied through the entire film. He never tires of watching Trigger's mane, the birthday party and
he loves Roy, Dale and Grandpa. Trigger outraces Bert and Ernie
everytime!

Two Triggers in one movie
Roy and his sidekicks operate a circus and run afoul of a range patrol protection racket. Roy actually owned two Triggers, but this movie and "The Golden Stallion," to which this is a semi-sequel, were the only ones in which Little Trigger, a backup for "the smartest horse in the movies," actually got to play a separate horse, as Trigger Jr. This is not for viewers saddened by horses dying in movies; the plot involves the baddies setting a killer stallion loose on ranchers' stock. Trigger is temporarily blinded battling the white "phantom" horse (who is a pretty good actor himself), but their return match under Witney's direction is great. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Where are the last six chapters?
This is one of the first cliff hangers available on DVD, and (I truly hope), one of many future Republic Studios serials. It is quite good for the genre and evokes the pre-War atmosphere of America, as well as the old autos, fashions, argot and naive fears of things scientific in the late 1930's. However, try as I may, I cannot access the last six chapters. I have checked the case the DVD came in for another disk, tried the single disk on the other side, tried to scroll down after Chapter six on the single disk, but I cannot (or do not have)the last six chapters.

The VHS reviews do not mention any trouble with subsequent chapters. I cannot locate a website for Roan Group Archival Entertainment. Has Roan neglected to add the last chapters, or am I a dolt? Please send advice to me at jsmarr@javanet.com. Thanks, jsmarr

Non-stop action...really!
S.O.S. COAST GUARD is a flavorful 12-chapter serial featuring Ralph "Dick Tracy" Bird as eager Coast Guard Lieutenant Terry Kent and Bela Lugosi as his adversary Boroff. The nasty Boroff has invented a disintegration gas and is trying desperately to sell it to foreign powers. Boroff employs the services of Thorg (Richard Alexander), a burly henchman with a good talent for swimming. On Kent's side, ace reporter Jean Norman (Maxine Doyle in a spirited performance) and photographer Snapper McGee (Lee Ford providing comic relief) help move things along.

The plot may be simple, but it's perfect serial stuff. Boroff is a clever foe, but human (in other words, he's not "supervillain" material) and almost likeable. Kent is a live wire, like a butterfly he never settles in one place very long. Along the way we're treated to wall-to-wall action, and that's really no exaggeration. Boat crashes, car and motorcycle chases, underwater fights, gunboats firing, buildings disintegrating... it's all here, along with more male fistfights than FIGHT CLUB.

In comparison with FLASH GORDON, another serial with which I am very familiar, S.O.S. COAST GUARD's action and adventure is just as exciting, just far less sci-fi-fantastic thanks to its earthbound setting. Whereas a boy could only imagine himself to be on one of Ming's spaceships, he could actually find himself on a boat, dock or in the mountain valley in which once stood Lt. Kent fighting the evil Boroff. Nevertheless, there is a certain element of science fiction in Boroff's disintegrator gas and Lugosi himself fulfills this standard "evil scientist" role more than admirably. I very much enjoyed the special effects showing the gas doing its work - the scene with the mountains melting, for example, is quite simply but very effectively done.

The chapter lengths vary; Chapter One is about thirty minutes long while later chapters can be as short as fifteen minutes. The total running time is approximately 3 hours 40 minutes and each chapter is presented with full opening titles, recaps and end cards. Chapters are spread over both sides of the single-DVD release. Picture quality is good; not as sharp as the FLASH GORDON serials but clear and with good contrast. I did notice a bit of pixelation at times, but it certainly did not detract from my enjoyment. Chapter stops are a bit odd - they use multiple titles (for example, the serial's Chapter 3 might be coded as Title 2, Chapter 1) but you have the option of selecting any chapter individually or playing them all straight through.

S.O.S. COAST GUARD is one of the best examples of the world of movie serials, full of excitement and adventure. With this DVD and the excellent Image FLASH GORDON discs leading the way, I'm hoping we'll see many more of the classic chapterplay films released in the future.

Lugosi's Best Serial
"S.O.S. Coast Guard" is one of the finest Republic serials and a terrific showcase for Bela Lugosi. Most of Lugosi's serials were low-budget affairs -- except for this 1937 effort. In "S.O.S. Coast Guard," Lugosi plays the diabolical Boroff, who wants to control the world with his deadly disintegrating gas. He certainly gives the heroic Ralph Byrd a run for his money in 12 episodes of serial excitement. Lugosi is in his element as Boroff and the action scenes are first-rate. Bela never made a better chapterplay than this one. ... Read more

Description

Dust off your best ten-gallon hat and polish up your spurs as America's first and favorite singing cowboy gallops across the silver screen into your living room! Gene Autry, star of TV, records, radio, rodeo and film, invented the musical Western, capturing America's hearts as a gun-toting, guitar-slinging good guy. Riding his magnificent trick stallion, Champion, he became a beloved American hero whose popularity remains strong today. Now, for the first time on DVD, these rollicking big screen adventures and unforgettable tunes are brought home in these Western classics fully restored and uncut from Autry's personal film archives. Rancher Autry takes a job singing on the radio to aid farmers and ranchers whose lands were destroyed by raging floods. Blaming crooked politicians, he goes to Washington and tries to put through a flood control bill and finds he has a lot to learn. In this classic release, Gene introduces his immortal theme song, "Back in the Saddle Again," which has gone on to become a piece of American history. ... Read more