Customer Reviews

Jack Armstrong [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

JACK ARMSTRONG is the 1947 movie version of the popular radio series. The stalwart of Hudson High looks somewhat older (in the person of John Hart, who went on to play The Lone Ranger), and you won't see much of Hudson at all -- most of this is an outdoor adventure, almost a jungle serial with its native tribes and superstitions, with an occasional hint of space-age technology. Good direction and stuntwork throughout, with some imaginative twists on stock perils (like a fistfight aboard a moving dump truck!). On the minus side, Jack's pal Billy is played in dumb-oaf fashion by Joe Brown, Jr., and his antics may become annoying. (He's always snacking on something; when we saw him with gun in hand, we thought he'd eat it.) Pierre Watkin, almost always cast in movies as distinguished bankers, attorneys, and men of distinction, is surprisingly good in the strenuous role of Jack's two-fisted uncle. Fans of Columbia serials will recognize Jack Ingram, Wheeler Oakman, John Merton, Stanley Blystone, Harold Brauer, and Don C. Harvey among the heavies.

But the unsung star of JACK ARMSTRONG is Charles Middleton, famous among serial fans as "Emperor Ming" in the Flash Gordon serials. Middleton was a last-minute addition to the cast (relieving Wheeler Oakman of some of the action), and he does not receive any billing. Middleton is terrific as the trading-post proprietor who will stop at nothing to become master of the universe. The way he gets his reward in the last chapter is one of the simplest and cleverest devices we've ever seen. Middleton's grave face and ominous voice lend some distinction to a standard adventure story.

VCI deserves a bow for releasing these seldom-seen cliffhangers on DVD. The quality of the merchandise is excellent.

VCI Entertainment and Columbia Pictures present "Jack Armstrong the All-American Boy" (1947) (Dolby digitally remastered), adapted from the radio feature15 Chapters of vintage serial episodes loaded with action sequences...story line involves one of the most popular radio show dramas on the airwaves adapted to the big screen in a serial with episodes keeping you guessing all the way through all 15 Chapters...Columbia keeps this serial in tune, right down the line with the original radio serials formula and it works... Armstrong, who we all know is the "All-American Boy" has his hands full battling the no good and rotten to the core Dr.Jason Grood...is it possible there may be a death ray orbiting Earth aboard Grood's spacecraft....what advenures lie ahead for Jack, Betty and Billy Fairfield with the help of Uncle Jim (James Fairfield) owner of an aircraft company...can this very intelligent and outstanding athlete in high school foil the plans of all the henchman Jack Ingram, Eddie Parker, Terry Frost and mastermind bossman Charles Middleton who has to be the meanest man on the planet....all we need now is a full signed confession from this group of evildoers or will there trouble afoot...and who is Vic Hardy really?...keep that thought as each chapter is more exciting than the previous one...return next week to this local theater for another episode of action and adventure that will keep you thrilled until the next chapter.

Under director Wallace W. Fox, producer Sam Katzman, associate producer Melville De Lay, story treatment by George H. Plympton, with original screenplay by Lewis Clay, Arthur Hoerl, Royal K. Cole and Leslie Swabacker, music score by Lee Zahler...the cast include John Hart (Jack Armstrong), Rosemary La Planche (Betty Fairfield), Joe Brown Jr (Billy Fairfield), Claire James (Princess Alura), Pierre Watkins (Uncle Jim Fairfield), Wheeler Oakman (Prof. Hobart Zorn), Jack Ingram (Blair, chief henchman), Eddie Parker (Slade - henchman), John Merton (Gregory Pierce), Charles Middleton (Dr. Jason Grood), Terry Frost (Jackman - henchman), George DeNormand (Traffic Cop), Hugh Prosser (Vic Hardy) and Knox Manning (Narrator-voice) ...special behind the scenes note that actor John Hart was the perfect choice for radio-comic strip hero Jack Armstrong in the 1947 Columbia Serial...Hart also was called upon in 1952 to play the "Masked Man" in 52 episodes for "The Lone Ranger" television series...television again called upon Hart to star in James Fenimore Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans", his role this time was "Hawkeye"...not a bad resume when you remember Hart's beginnings was acting on the stage of the renowned Pasadena Playhouse as a young man before turning to pictures and television...now back to the feature at hand Columbia Pictures stuntwork is always good till the last drop and this serial is no exception...there is a great deal of entertainment here for the cliffhanger fans out there...all courtesy of VCI Entertainment, who in my humble opinion is the best there is in restoring early serials and features.

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc One)
1. Mystery of the Cosmic Ray
2. The Far World
3. Island of Desception
4. Into the Chasm
5. The Space Ship
6. Tunnels of Treachery
7. Cavern of Chance
8. The Secret Room
9. Human Targets

BIOS: (Disc One)
1. John Hart
Birth Date: 12/13/1917 - Los Angeles, CA
Currently Living
2. Rosemary La Planche
Birth Date: 10/11/1923 - Los Angeles, CA
Died: 5/06/1979 - Glendale, CA
3. Wallace W. Fox (Director)
Birth Date: 3/09/1895 - Purcell, OK
Died: 6/30/1958 - Hollywood, CA

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc Two)
11.Battle of the Warriors
11.Cosmic Annihilator
12.The Gortto of Greed
13.Wheels of Fate
14.Journey Into Space
15.Restribution

SPECIAL FEATURES: (Disc Two)
VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS:
1. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe)
2. Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Bobby Jordan)
3. Drums of Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon)
4. Jungle Girl (Frances Gifford)
5. The Phantom (Tom Tyler)
6. Zane Greys "King of the Royal Mounted" (Allan "Rocky" Lane)
7. Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke)
8. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don "Red" Barry)
9. Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon)
10.Zorro's Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling)
11.Dick Tracy's G-Men (Ralph Byrd)
12.Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Buster Crabbe)
13.Jungle Jim (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton)
14.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr)

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure then this is the place for all of the above...check out another release from VCI Entertainment and Columbia Pictures present "Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere" (1951) (digitally remastered), 15 Chapters.finally for the first time on video the really great Columbia Serial that broke the mold...we have everything a serial fan would want...the tinted sequences by Cinecolor and unique inventions that were unlike any other serial out there in the '50s...get out there as they're going fast, this is the one you've been waiting for.

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "Jack Armstrong the All-American Boy" (1947), the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '30s, '40s & '50s...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure from the "King of Serials" VCI...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 270 mins on 2 DVD's ~ VCI Entertainment 8323 ~ (4/27/2004)

"Jack Armstrong" is a 13 chapter serial, produced by Sam Katzman for Columbia Pictures in 1947, directed by Wallace Fox and loosely based on the radio program "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy."

Uncle Jim Fairfield (Pierre Watkin), owner of a company manufacturing aviation equipment, with his niece Betty and nephew Billy (Rosemary La Planche and Joe Brown, Jr.) and their friend, Jack Armstrong (John Hart) try to discover the whereabouts of kidnapped scientist Vic Hardy (Hugh Prosser) who has been taken by Blair and Slade (Jack Ingram and Eddie Parker), underlings of one of Fairfield's customers, Gordon Pierce (John Merton). Hardy was abducted and taken to an island near Hollywood to assist Dr. Zorn (Wheeler Oakman) in perfecting an annihilation ray, part of a plan for world conquest by Jason Grood (Charles Middleton), posing as the proprietor of a trading post. Grood and Zorn have an "aeroglobe" spacecraft, from which they intend targeting any point on Earth. Also on the island is a native tribe, influenced by Grood who has caused their god Exalta to speak via a hidden loudspeaker.

It does not appear that a lot of care was taken with this serial. The acting suggests it was made very quickly; even Wheeler Oakman doesn't seem assured in his lines, though the role isn't his normal style. John Hart has similar problems in the title role, and the two Fairfield kids are even worse. Rosmary La Planche was far better in Republic's "Federal Agents vs. Underworld Inc." two years later, and the "comic relief" of Joe Brown, Jr. (not related to comic Joe E. Brown) is repetitive and badly delivered. The "island natives" look like they came from a beach party and didn't plan on staying very long, though Princess Alura (Claire James) helps relieve the monotony. Carmen D'Antonio, who was Emperor Ming's dancing girl in the third Flash Gordon serial shows up a couple times as the "Panther Woman" with a dance to bring forth Exalta, but it is pretty ludicrous. Even announcer Knox Manning sounds depressed in some of the "next week" teasers. But Pierre Watkin acts like he believes in his role, an unusually active one for him. Bad guys Jack Ingram and John Merton are on familiar ground, as is Charles Middleton, and the others improve somewhat in the later chapters. It is possible the "science fiction" elements proved a burden to the filming schedule, especially in the early chapters, and this was made a year before the first Superman serial. The "aeroglobe" may look silly today, but it is up to the standards used in other serials and television programs through the mid-1950's. Still, the view from the ground as it ascends would have been more impressive had the clouds not also been ascending. It is unclear why Charles Middleton's name isn't in the credits, but some of Columbia's earlier serials only list a few cast members, and the Superman credits left out Kirk Alyn, who played the title role.

Helping this serial more than the actors is the print used by VCI for their 2-disc edition, # 8323, which is crisp corner-to-corner, quite clean with good gray scale, and shows only occasional damage. The opening titles look a little gray, but this seems to be how they were made. The sound is slightly limited in high frequencies but otherwise has good fidelity, with very little noise in most chapters. There is the usual "cheat" with the same opening credits used on all chapters, having MPAA certificate number 12031, while the individual chapter titles have the correct numbers, going in sequence to 12043. The "extra" features include "Bios" of John Hart, Rosemary La Planche and director Wallace W. Fox; there are trailers for Columbia serials "The Secret Code," "The Vigilante," "Superman" and "Riding with Buffalo Bill" with shorter clips in a "Promos" section for other serials available from VCI.

Better serials are not difficult to find, but "Jack Armstrong" improves somewhat in the later chapters, the print is quite good, and the plot isn't boring. The pseudo-science helps, for those tolerant of such things, as does Charles Middleton as Grood. Being in the right frame of mind is required for enjoying this one, and as usual, a day or more between chapters is the best plan.

I purchased this for my husband who well remembered many of the old serials & loved them. I was quite surprised to see the clarity of the pictures and voices despite the age of the originals, of course. He has been thoroughly enjoying this serial once again.

I care not what other reviewers say about this serial. It is a good serial for the year it was made in. Thanks for the timely delivery of a very good print.

I spoke with my grandfather who loved this radio series as a child. I thought he might be the best capable to give this review, I have heard him talk about it so many times. I called him and asked him to tell me about it again... he said:

"I couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 years old... My friend Robert and I used to run home from working (no child labor laws then.. ha!) or school lessons to listen to the adventures of Jack... Robert's parents were the only one with a radio to pick up the program. We used to love these programs. I know he wasn't the Lone Ranger, or anything.. everyone was into cowboys then...but Jack was different...and he was pretty good. You know, (laughing) Jack used to get into something every week. The problem is that every time Jack would be captured... or into the mix.. the radio would go out.. Robert would run to fix the antenna... but then they would have the advertisements for next week.. *sigh*. Cliffhangers. But we loved it then.. I think that made it even better. It would probably be a little silly now.. but, you know, I would really like to know what happened to old Jack"

This is one of many serials I saw at the Uptown Theater in Dover, NH, and one of the few I clearly remember. "Jack Armstrong" was one of my favorite radio serials for years, and I was thrilled when it was announced as the next movie serial at the Uptown. All I actually remember is the first chapter with that special car, which I thought was extremely cool at the time. The previews made us think the car was part of the story, but after the first chapter it never appears again.

The rest of the story is disappointing. It has a weak script and poor production values. The fights are not well choreographed. The chapter endings are mediocre. There's a little too much sci-fi nonsense to make this serial really enjoyable--for example in a late chapter they're going to communicate with "supersonic sound"--that would be sound that's faster than sound, excuse me? Dr. Grood's rocket ship looks suspiciously like the one in "Atom Man vs. Superman," and some of the weapons are more than faintly reminiscent of Luthor's in that same serial. Three of the bad guys resemble the Three Stooges.

John Hart looked like a movie star but he wasn't much of an actor. He played the Lone Ranger on TV from 1952 to 1953 replacing Clayton Moore for a year, after which Moore was brought back by popular demand. Rosemary LaPlanche was Miss America of 1941, and she toured extensively during the War selling war bonds. She could have been used to better advantage here, as could Claire James as Princess Alura. In fact, Miss James looks every bit as much Miss America-like as Rosemary does.

Pierre Watkin makes a fine Uncle Jim, albeit without the hair he sported as Perry White in "Superman." He may be the best actor in the film. Joe Brown, Jr. sure isn't--he can't deliver one line convincingly. As Billy, he's a pain in the arse--as an
actor, he's a complete disaster.

Columbia got really weird with the release of this film. Charles Middleton, as big a name as ever appeared in serials and who plays Dr. Grood, was not even listed in the credits. Middleton passed away only two years after this serial was made, and he's looking a little worn-out here.