Reviews (3)

Where Are My Family Jewels??
The search for the crown jewels of the czar continues! Meanwhile, the true identity of the Whispering Shadow grows foggier by the minute! Just who IS he?? Is it Professor Strang (Bela)? The odd Mr. Steinbeck? Someone else? There are many suspects in this last half of the story and those wacky jewels just keep hopping along, winding up with almost everyone at least once! Can Foster and inspector Raymond solve the mysteries before it's too late? Watch and see...

The sinister Professor Strang--Bela Lugosi no less
Actually the good (or is he good?) professor is the focal point of this serial. Basic plot line has the young hero tracking down his brother's murderer who is known as the whispering shadow; and it sure as heck looks like Professor Strang is one and the same. One little difficulty, our hero falls in love with the professor's daughter while he's trying to prove that her dad is a criminal mastermind. I don't think I'm spoiling the plot for anybody if I suggest that maybe Bela isn't the bad guy after all, although he does a darn good job of trying to convince us he is!

The other review here complains about the long flashbacks. Don't forget, this is a 13 chapter serial which was originally shown one chapter a week over a three month period, so the flashbacks are obviously necessary. And no, they should not be edited out for today's audiences...we serial fans want them exactly as they were.

btw, I do suggest viewing this serial a chapter a day, or at least no more than three chapters a day. That way, you will get more out of it with less feeling of repetition.

Weak Plot, Weak Acting
A rather weak 12-episode serial (228 minutes) starring Bela Lugosi. Lugosi plays Professor Strang, the strange owner of a wax museum, who is accused of being the "Whispering Shadow" that has been terrorizing the drivers of a storage warehouse in search of some priceless jewels. Aside from a few of the veteran actors (Lugosi, Henry B. Walthall of Birth of a Nation fame, and Karl Dane, who was excellent in silent films like The Big Parade), the acting in this serial is pretty bad (comical at times). The epsiodes do not flow together very well (a lot of long flashbacks are used which was probably very appropriate when it was first released, but are quite redundant in video form). The numerous silent fist fighting scenes are odd (where did the sound go?) and tiring. Karl Dane is genuninely comical in his role as the dopey radio dispatcher. Unfortunately, Shadow would prove to be his last acting credit as he would commit suicide the next year (his thick Danish accent getting in the way of employment in the Talkies era). It's interesting to watch those old vehicles in the car chasing scenes. I am the worst at whodunnits, but I was able to guess the Shadow's identity by the second episode. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

THREE TEXES
Somebody needs to say that all three of these star Tex Ritter and one is directed by serial expert John English.

GOOD OLD TEX
I met a man who told me he had a large collection of westerns I asked him if he had any of Tex Ritters. His reply was he did`nt rate him as a western star or Roy Rogers, Lash Larue or any of the old Saturday cinema hero`s . I found it difficult to control myself. These were my boyhood hero`s. He only had the major stars James Stewart, Audie Murphy, John Wayne ect. Not that there is anything wrong with these people as they also rate highly in my own collection. But imagine my delight to find this on DVD and to be the first to review it..Don`t expect it to be first class quality as it is not it has scratches, it jumps and in one of the three movies a large piece is missing. But this is how I remember it from those bygone years when I was the front row kid in our local theatre now sadly gone and it is wonderful to see my great hero once again.Any of you who are the right age to remember those days I urge you to buy this DVD and to the people who produced it how about some more. Johnny Mack Brown, Charles Starret, Rocky Lane,Buck Jones and Tim McCOY are names that come to mind. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Robin Hood of the West,"The CISCO Kid" comes to DVD!
Of all the Western heroes in the 1940's and 1950's the "Cisco Kid" (Duncan Renaldo) and his sidekick Poncho (Leo Carrillo)were the most loved and easily recognized. They were the first internationally accepted western stars.

Now through VCI Entertainment we have 3 great samples of "The Kid". The first installment a 1945 movie, "South of the Rio Grande" (Standard Format / Black & White - digitally remastered, excellent quality) is about the daring duo go to the aide of a rancher friend to thwart a terrorizing dictator. The second movie (1950), "The Girl from San Lorenzo" (also a Standard Format/ Black & White - not digitally remastered, fair quality) - has Cisco & Poncho tracking down a criminal gang which has been robbing stagecoaches disguised as them. (Cisco & Poncho) The third film is from "The Cisco Kid" tv show of the 1950's (Standard Format / in Color - not digitally remastered (fair quality).

The extra features include; Photo & Poster Gallery, Biographies & Interview with Duncan Renaldo.

You get alot with this double feature DVD. A great introduction or re-introduction to "The Cisco Kid". Duncan Renaldo is "Cisco" and Leo Carillo was the perfect "Poncho". For many movies & for several years this duo graced the big screen and our television sets with their lovable personalities.

This is fun family stuff. A real touch of western nostalgia. Enjoy. ... Read more

Description

Three spine-tingling classics of fear and mystery! In Phantom of 42nd Street, an unknown killer haunts the world of the theater, leaving a quotation from a classic drama pinned to each victim's body. Can a theater critic turned detective protect a distinguished actor and his daughter from becoming the next targets? Then a noted philanthropist is fingered as the terrifying Phantom Killer, thanks to a deaf-mute janitor witness. Finally, a Phantom of Chinatown strikes during a lecture on the discovery of a lost tomb and swipes a valuable scroll. Only detective Jimmy Wong (Keye Luke) can find the killer and solve the secret of the missing artifact! ... Read more