Evil oil speculators in South America, led by Morgan, are trying to force Tiger Woman and her band of warriors from their jungle home. Allen Saunders of Inter-Ocean Oil wants to develop the oil, too, but fights with Tiger Woman, a white woman, might be the lost heiress to a vast fortune. Who is Tiger Woman? Starring Allan Lane, Linda Stirling, and Duncan Renaldo. A great retro-Jungle Girl feature!
In 1941, an American aviator, ‘Smilin’ Jack’ Martin wishes to resign as an advisor to the Nationalist Chinese Army in order to return to the United States to enlist as an aviator in America’s military buildup prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. He is delayed when the Chinese discover that the neutral Tibetan like Mandon “Province” contains a secret road from India to China crucial for the Allied war effort. Determined to obtain the secret for themselves, or equally determined to have the secret destroyed is the Japanese espionage organization “The Black Samurai” and the German intelligence agent Fräulein von Teufel who masquerades as an American newspaper reporter. Starring Tom Brown, Rose Hobart, and Edgar Barrier.
The Master Key-1945-Part 1. Set in 1938 with Nazi agents kidnapping scientist Professor Ellwood Henderson in order to get his Orotron machine that can extract gold from seawater. Operating under the secret leadership of “The Master Key,” with the operatives headed by a German agent posing as a private investigator named Garrett Donovan, the gang is trailed by Federal agent Tom Brant, aided by police detective Lieutenant Jack Ryan and newspaper reporter Janet Lowe. Also aiding in the quest is Police Chief William J. O'Brien and his secretary Dorothy Arnold. Starring Milburn Stone, Jan Wiley, and Dennis Moore. One of the great WWII spy serials!
Just before World War I, two adventurers are hired to bring back a hijacked train from Mexico. While this was a TV movie, it's pretty much as good as many theatrical Westerns of the late 60s and early 70s. The two stars, Taylor and Cole, have great chemistry and the tone is snappy with a distinctive story and a couple of unexpected twists. Luscious Luciana Paluzzi is on hand (playing a role in one of the surprises) along with Tisha Sterling and Melodie Johnson in the female department. Starring Rod Taylor, Dennis Cole, and Fernando Lamas. A great turn of the century Western!
In Singapore, two Marine Lieutenants, Tom Grayson and Frank Corby, uncover the threat of a masked terrorist called The Lightning, who uses an arsenal of powerful lightning-based weaponry in his bid for world conquest. These electrical fireballs are similar to the Foo Fighters that appeared during WWII. The battle becomes personal when The Lightning annihilates the officers’ unit and later kills Lt. Grayson’s father as he was helping the investigation of the weapon. Now, the marines have dedicated themselves to stopping The Lightning and bringing him to justice… This movie is famous for its main villain, The Lightning—the very first costumed supervillain. There is some speculation that George Lucas used The Lightning as a template for Darth Vader. Starring Lee Powell, Bruce Bennett, and Eleanor Stewart. A great action serial!
Mesquite banker Calvin Drake plans to profit from the Santa Fe Railroad’s acquisition of right-of-way by gaining control of the land in the territory. In the ensuing war of intimidation against the ranchers, Ira Withers is killed and Red Ryder and his father, Colonel Tom Ryder, form an organization to drive the gunmen and outlaws out of the territory. Colonel Ryder is killed by One-Eye Chapin and Red vows vengeance. Sheriff Dade is in league with the Drake faction, including Ace Hanlon. The Duchess, Red’s aunt, is about to lose her ranch. Red learns of a plan to dynamite a dam providing the water supply, and saves Beth Andrews, daughter of the former sheriff, Luke Andrews who was also murdered by Drake’s men. Starring Don ‘Red’ Barry, Noah Beery, Tommy Cook. One of the great Western serials!
Set in Earth's distant future, this serial tracks the adventures of a group of fighters for truth and justice, known as The Video Rangers. They are led by Captain Video (no first name ever was mentioned). The Video Rangers operated from a secret base on a mountaintop whose location was unspecified. The Captain received his orders from “The Commissioner of Public Safety” (surname Carey), whose responsibilities took in the entire solar system as well as human colonies on planets around other stars. A great early 50s serial with a cool secret base for the Video Rangers, this was tremendously popular in the early 50s, the start of a new future and the race into space!
On a neutral island in the Pacific called Shadow Island run by American gangster Lucky Kamber, both sides in World War II attempt to control the secret of Element 722, which can be used to create synthetic aviation fuel. The U.S. sends in Secret Agent X-9 to foil the plot. Chinese agent Ah Fong becomes X-9's partner. A Japanese submarine is standing by to take a surgically altered spy to America. A French couple, Hotel owners Papa and Mama Pierre also figure in the plot. A mysterious figure known only as Solo spends most of the picture playing tiddley winks on Kamber's bar. Double crosses and triple crosses abound as X-9 tries to gain the secret of “Element 722". Staring Lloyd Bridges as Phil Corrigan aka Secret Agent X-9; Keye Luke as Ah Fong, Chinese agent; Jan Wiley as Lynn Moore, Australian agent; Victoria Horne as Nabura, villainous Japanese agent; and Samuel S. Hinds as Solo. Before there was James Bond there was Secret Agent X-9. Before Element 115, there was Element 722! An action-packed movie!
In a story-line very similar to Raiders of the Lost Ark, American agent Secret Service Agent Rex Bennett (Rod Cameron), along with British reporter Janet Blake (Joan Marsh) and Chief of Police Captain Pierre LaSalle (Duncan Renaldo) attempt to thwart the Nazis from obtaining a sacred Arab religious artifact that will unite all the Arabs and they will serve the Third Reich. In order to do this Nazi agent Baron von Rommler (Lionel Royce) captures and impersonates Sultan Abou Ben Ali (also Lionel Royce), leader of all the Arabs. One of the most action-packed of all the serials and the inspiration for the most-watched film of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
John Hart stars as Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy, who battles the evil Dr. Grood, who has placed a death ray aboard his spaceship orbiting Earth. In this exciting serial, Jack Armstrong and his friends attempt to rescue a renowned scientist, the inventor of a revolutionary atomic engine, from the clutches an arch-villain bent on world-dominion by means of a death ray place on board a aircraft capable of flying into the ionosphere. Their quest takes the adventurers to a remote island where they must not only contend with the criminal mastermind's henchmen, but a fierce tribe who have their own reasons for thwarting our heroes. One of the great radio shows and exciting serials of the 1940s.
Nabonga-1944. Starring Buster Crabbe with Julie London in her first film role, is the story of young Ray Gorman who travels to Africa to try to track down the money embezzled from his father’s bank years earlier. After a long trek through the jungle Gorman finds the money in the care of beautiful ‘white witch’ Doreen, daughter of the now long-dead embezzler. Gorman finds his goal difficult to accomplish as not only does Doreen, guarded by a huge, ferocious gorilla, not want to give up the money, but greedy guide Carl Hurst has followed Gorman’s trail, intent on getting the money himself by any means necessary. A great jungle-girl-lost city-gorilla movie!
Starring Buster Crabbe, as a famous detective who sets out to discover who stole $2 million in bonds. The plot soon evolves into a game of “Bonds, Bonds, Who Has the Bonds?,” it has so many groups, and their armies of henchmen, acquiring and re-acquiring the bonds that, in a chapter or two, the people who have the bonds don't appear to know they are the current holders. Wing Fu, brings the bonds to the USA to buy war planes for an unnamed county, and quickly loses them to Quong Lee, a Eurasian underworld chief, but they are re-taken in chapter two by Red Barry. Ballet dancer Natacha, representing a ruthless group of Russians, acquires them in chapter three, but Barry gets them back in chapter four. In action-packed scene after scene the race to control the valuable War Bonds continues over 13 chapters of cliff-hanging adventure of conspiracy and murder!
A gang of criminals, which includes a piano player and an imposing former convict known as 'Gruesome', has found out about a scientist's secret formula for a gas that temporarily paralyzes anyone who breathes it. When Gruesome accidentally inhales some of the gas and passes out, the police think he is dead and take him to the morgue, where he later revives and escapes. This puzzling incident attracts the interest of Dick Tracy, and when the criminals later use the gas to rob a bank, Tracy realizes that he must devote his entire attention to stopping them. Starring Boris Karloff, Ralph Byrd, and Anne Gwynne. Karloff is great as Gruesome. The comic strip come to life!
On a scientific expedition to Siam young Billy Batson is given the ability to change himself into the super-powered Captain Marvel by the wizard Shazam, who tells him his powers will last only as long as the Golden Scorpion idol is threatened. Finding the idol, the scientists realize it could be the most powerful weapon in the world and remove the lenses that energize it, distributing them among themselves so that no one would be able to use the idol by himself. Back in the US, Billy Batson, as Captain Marvel, wages a battle against an evil, hooded figure, the Scorpion, who hopes to accumulate all five lenses, thereby gaining control of the super-powerful weapon. Captain Marvel's is granted his powers by 6 patron deities, whose name spells his catch-phrase “Shazam.” The deities are Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles and Mercury. With Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel, Frank Coghlan Jr. as Billy Batson, plus William 'Billy' Benedict, Louise Currie, and Robert Strange.
Young David Worth and Joan Lawrence are children with a group of explorers that are seeking African radium deposits. They are playing in the basket of the party’s air balloon when the bag takes off with Joan aboard, last seen sailing over the back-lot jungle. A flash forward of about 18 years finds that the now-adult David Worth has returned to Africa to search for his long-lost childhood friend. Unknown to David, she was discovered by an African tribe and became their queen. He hits the trail and is quickly captured by jungle tribesmen. Starring Mary Kornman, Marilyn Spinner, and Reed Howes. A lost retro-jungle girl serial from the 30s!
On the day of Alice Wentworth's wedding, mad scientist Dr. Lorenz sends the young bride an unusual orchid, the scent of which places the young woman in a state of suspended animation resembling death. He then spirits her body away to the basement laboratory of his isolated mansion and extracts glandular fluid from behind her ears to inject into his vain and aged wife in order to renew her youth and beauty. This is only the latest in a series of brides who appear to die at the altar and whose corpses subsequently vanish en route to the hospital or mortuary, and the police are thoroughly baffled. Starring Bela Lugosi, Luana Walters and Tristram Coffin.
An alien being with the power of invisibility lands in Santa Monica. Killing two people who attacked him due to the menacing appearance of his spacesuit, the creature takes it off while being pursued by government authorities. Starring Ted Cooper, Tom Daly, and Steve Acton. Looks like trouble!
A civilization of gorgeous cavewomen abduct men for mating purposes. One of their victims is Engor, who seems to be smarter than the rest of the men. He discovers fire, battles a monstrous giant and attempts to win the hand of the prehistoric queen. Starring Laurette Luez, Allan Nixon, and Joan Shawlee.
A Japanese man claiming to be Mr. Moto, of the International Police, is abducted and murdered soon after disembarking from a ship at Port Said in Egypt. The real Mr. Moto is already in Port Said, investigating a conspiracy against the British and French governments. The dead man was his colleague, impersonating him to throw the conspirators off his scent. Mr. Moto recognizes one of the conspirators as a British Secret Service agent, and together they discover that the gang have mined the harbor in preparation for the arrival of the French fleet. Their aim is to throw the blame onto the British, which may start a second World War. Starring Peter Lorre, Ricardo Cortez, and Virginia Field. A great movie with lots of pre-WWII intrigue!
When a chemical manufacturer is killed after asking detective James Wong to help him, Wong investigates this and two subsequent murders. He uncovers a international spy ring hoping to steal the formula for a poison gas being developed by the first victim's company. Starring Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, and Maxine Jennings. No mad scientist can out smart this detective!
