Customer Reviews

Mandrake the Magician

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

 

 

Columbia's cliffhangers tend to be campy or silly by serial standards, but this early effort (1939) is a very enjoyable adventure. The personable Warren Hull is excellent in the title role. Movie buffs will recognize many of the cast members from Columbia's "B" pictures and Three Stooges movies. Slick production and good direction by Sam Nelson and Norman Deming (who were usually assistant directors) push this one head and shoulders above the general run of Columbia serials. (Watch for a beautifully staged wrap-up in the last chapter, when the masked villain finally gets his!) A note about this video edition: the soundtrack of Chapter 1 was damaged, so the video producers hired actors and technicians to fake a new synchronized soundtrack. The repair job is rather distracting (the suave, pencil-mustached Kenneth MacDonald suddenly has a twangy Texas tenor), but it only lasts a few minutes; the rest of the serial is fully intact and the source print is in top shape. Picture and sound are excellent. The 2-DVD set also includes a selection of trailers from Mascot, Republic, and Universal serials. Highly typical of Saturday-matinee adventures, and a fine choice for first-time serial viewers or for fans who've never seen this long-unavailable film. (Let's hope VCI or Columbia will release the even better "Spider's Web" serial to home video.)

Okay, I'm going to start this review by admitting that I never liked heroic magicians in fancy suits, top hats, and tails. Even Zatanna, who had great legs, grated on me. So MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN began with a strike against it. On the other hand, it has Warren Hull, who was so excellent in THE SPIDER'S WEB (and pretty good in THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN, too). And of course Mandrake himself was created by Lee "The Phantom" Falk, so that's a third hand. And if you think that's impossible, well, he IS a magician.

A mysterious arch-criminal known as "The Wasp" (he actually wears a rather effeminate silk mask and cape, not a fierce-looking wasp get-up, unfortunately) is after a new invention that can... well, it can do something pretty terrible, I'll bet. Into the fray stumbles Mandrake, who, with his faithful giant African manservant Lothar, foils the various machinations of Mr. Silky Drawers. Only Lothar is, not a muscular ebon giant, but instead a rather doughy guy who looks like a Philippino and dresses like an extra in a Sinbad picture.

I liked the first couple of chapters; Mandrake does a magic trick or two, and occasionally tosses those nifty little smoke capsules and then sprints out of the room, leaving the villains wondering how the heck he did that. It gets tiresome, however, and pretty soon even Mandrake loses interest, tossing the capsules and then just standing there, waiting for the smoke to clear and the fisticuffs to continue. Not long into the serial, the magic angle is completely forgotten, the eveningwear goes in the closet, and for all intents and purposes Mandrake turns into Dick Tracy.

Ultimately, the darn thing is disappointing. A Mandrake serial should have done more with the mystical aspect of the character, even if only having its hero pull bunnies out of his hat to throw at the villains. It runs out of steam midway through, and - although at 12 chapters, it's the shortest of the 57 Columbia chapterplays - becomes rather tedious in the second half. Co-directors Sam Nelson and Norman Deming did one more serial together (OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON) and then Columbia dumped them and handed over the serial reins to James W. Horne, who directed the next ten Columbia serials all by his lonesome.

VCI's DVD is good, not great. Some of the soundtrack of chapter one has decayed over the years, and voices were overdubbed for the DVD release, but if you cared about stuff like that, you wouldn't have read this far into the review anyway. Bonuses include a poster gallery, biographies, and serial trailers.

Of all the comic book heroes translated to film in the form of serials, Mandrake is the most disappointing. He is "out of uniform" most of the time, does not wear the pecil thin moustache and any magic, cetainly not "black" as announced on the DVD cover, is not used to overcome the bad guys. Not once did he "gusture hypnotically" nor did he have a villain project his thoughts onto a wall. Worst of all, Lothar had a full head of hair.
But, if as I do you like serials as a genre, it is a good example of the fare provided for boys and girls on Saturday afternoons 60 - 70 years ago.Mandrake the Magician

Having read hundreds of the mandrake comics during childhood, wanting to see and own a movie with real actors bringing to life Mandrake and Lothar, ended up in sheer disappointment. And I am not talking about the quality of the DVD, its the cast. Mandrake looks like an old coot, Lothar looks like a aged filippino, XANADU looked better in the comic books.
An absolute disappointment.

Columbia's cliffhangers tend to be campy or silly by serial standards, but this early effort (1939) is a very enjoyable adventure. The personable Warren Hull is excellent in the title role. Movie buffs will recognize many of the cast members from Columbia's "B" pictures and Three Stooges movies. Good direction by Sam Nelson and Norman Deming (who were usually assiatant directors) and slick production push this one head and shoulders above the general run of Columbia serials. A note about this video edition: the soundtrack of Chapter 1 was damaged, so the video producers hired actors and technicians to fake a new synchronized soundtrack. The repair job is rather distracting (the suave, pencil-mustached Kenneth MacDonald suddenly has a twangy Texas tenor), but most of the serial is intact. Tape is recorded at the standard-play speed, picture and sound are good. Highly typical of Saturday-matinee adventures, and a fine choice for first-time serial viewers or for fans who've never seen this long-unavailable film.

I am a personal friend of the The Amazing Kreskin, each year I am invited to his home for Christmas Eve along with many of his other close friends. Kreskin for many years enjoys Mandrake and as a gift I puchased this DVD and when he opened it he was "Amazed".

Mandrake the Magician is a 12-chapter Columbia serial released in 1939, directed by Norman Deming and Sam Nelson. It is at present the earliest Columbia serial to be commercially issued on DVD, likely of greater interest to fans of serials than those of the newspaper feature by Lee Falk upon which it is based.

Mandrake (Warren Hull) has been off in Tibet, getting a formula for mixing a rare element, "platinite," with steel to help perfect a Radium Energy Machine, being developed by his friend, Professor Houston (Forbes Murray) for the good of mankind. We are never told just what good is supposed to come from the machine, because it has destructive powers that are of far more interest to the bad guy and producers of the serial. The masked villian, known as "The Wasp" has no trouble in stealing the machine and abducting Professor Houston. Little magic is used by Mandrake in advancing the plot, but he and his assistant Lothar (Al Kikume) do battle in traditional serial-movie style with the many henchmen of The Wasp, occasionally rescuing the Professor's daughter Betty (Doris Weston) and son Tommy (Rex Downing). There are also associate scientists Dr. Andre Bennett, James Webster and Frank Raymond (Edward Earle, Kenneth MacDonald and Don Beddoe) one of whom may be The Wasp, who through most of the serial only appears to his henchmen via a television-like apperatus on a projection screen.

Columbia was not known for brilliant writing nor for outstanding special effects, and expectations are not exceeded here. The plot could (and did) serve for many a serial, with little here that would suggest the title character was involved. Mandrake gives a magic show in the first chapter, and another while disguised as a bad-guy magician, but magic doesn't get used when battling The Wasp's henchmen. The Wasp's motives are never clear; mostly, he wants to destroy things with the Radium Machine, though occasionally these acts seem at odds with other parts of his plans. Warren Hull made a fine hero in other serials, and where given the chance he is good enough here. Al Kikume is a little unbelievable as his able-bodied assistant, except when stopping adversaries by bulk alone. The rest of the characters are rather bland, though fortunately none are of the "comic" variety, and they read their lines adequately. Cheapness is evident in the mockup "equipment" in the power plant that gets destroyed, and special effects are less than spectacular, such as the "shaking building" where the walls collapse while loose objects on tables stay neatly in place. Still, the general look of the film is fairly decent. The music, by Morris Stoloff has a lot of churnings and fanfares, but like the plot there is little substance. The strident announcements of what would be seen next week didn't help, with the repeated "Mandrake is attacked by agents of The Wasp!!" being especially annoying, but I became somewhat numb to them after a few chapters, increasing my appreciation for the serial. And there is some great nostalgia, such as Mandrake having the car filled with gasoline for $2.

Helping matters greatly in VCI's release, # 8349 on two DVD's, is the decent-quality print used, which if not flawless is clean and reasonably sharp with good contrast. Some of the opening titles are a bit gray on the left third of the screen, and a few chapters have a lesser amount of this, but it is clearly from a fine-grain original. In the first chapter a few spoken lines had to be dubbed-in to cover a deteriorated soundtrack; the voices used are not exact matches but are no more distracting than where the sound starts to drop out in the original. VCI found a good balance between historic "completeness" and keeping it understandable. Otherwise the sound is much better than expected for 1939 with good frequency response and low distortion. The same "extras" are included on both discs: a short "picture gallery" mostly from the film, "bio's" of Warren Hull, Doris Weston, Rex Downing, Al Kikume and the two directors, and original trailers for seven serials, not including Mandrake the Magician, listed as being "Now Available on VHS and DVD from VCI." I don't think they were all on DVD, but the list, from this 2003 release is:

Zorro Rides Again (Republic, 1937)
Dick Tracy's G-Men (Republic, 1939)
Radar Men from the Moon (Republic, 1952)
The Royal Mounted Rides Again (Universal, 1945)
The Mysterious Mr. M (Universal, 1946)
The Hurricane Express (Mascot, 1932)
The Shadow of the Eagle (Mascot, 1932)

Mandrake the Magician is not one of the great serials, but it is interesting to see what Columbia was doing in 1939, and when watched with a day or so between chapters its faults aren't too apparent. Unlike many serials, the story line holds up fairly well in the later chapters, the repetition kept down by the 12-chapter length. For the price asked VCI's edition is a reasonable value, given the generally good sound and picture quality.

"Mandrake, the Magician"(1939 - 214 minutes - 12 episodes), is one of the classics B&W cinema serials of Columbia, directed by Sam Nelson and Norman Deming. Based on the known Comics created by Lee Falk and Phill Davis in 1924 and written by Joseph F. Poland, Basil Dickey and Ned Dandy. Mandrake (the actor Warren Hull) is a sagacious detective who is traveling in a maritime cruise when he knows the professor Hudson (the actor Forbes Murray), the author of a machine that uses the energy of the radio waves. Developed for the good, the powerful device becomes a dangerous weapon when it falls in the hands of an evil genius known as "Wasp". Mandrake and his faithful assistant, Lothar (the actor Al Kikume), will fight Wasp and his gang, living an intensely battle between the good and the evil. The Mandrake's dress style with the black and red layer, ternary and top-hat, had immortalized the figure of the magician. The English word "Mandrake" is the name of a root that was always associated with magical powers and miraculous cures. Lothar was an African prince and one of the first black character treated in a serious way in Comic books, he was always considered as an intelligent and loyal ally. With original special effects for that time, the film deserves reverence to the great performance of Warren Hull, that gave life to one of the biggest icons of the Comic books of all times.

VCI Entertainment and Columbia Pictures present Lee Falk and Phil Davis comic strip King feature "Mandrake the Magician" (1939) (Dolby digitally remastered), 12 Chapters of vintage serial loaded with action sequences...story line thus far has our favorite magician doing battle with "The Wasp", who is out to steal another scientist invention...will our villain of villains succeed in taking the radium energy machine and use it against Mandrake...can good triumph over evil...with Mandrake's assistance can Professor Hudson keep his invention out of the clutches of the henchman sent to do him in...will "The Wasp" blow up a dam, a power plant, a radio station and the entire sound stage at Columbia Pictures before he's stopped...does Hudson's daughter Betty have her sites set on Mandrake, well that may be more dangerous than "The Wasp" ever was...don't even think about touching that dial...there's more to follow and it gets better with every episode.

Under director's Norman Deeming and Sam Nelson, producer Jack Fier with screenplay by Ned Dandy, Basil Dickey, Lee Falk (comic strip), Joseph F. Poland, original music by Sidney Cutner, Floyd Morgan and Morris Stoloff (musical director)...the cast Warren Hull (Mandrake the Magician), Doris Weston (Betty Houston), Al Kikume (Lothar, Mandrake's Assistant), Rex Downing (Tommy Houston), Edward Earle (Dr. Andre Bennett), Forbes Murray (Professor Houston), Kenneth MacDonald (James Webster), Don Beddoe (Frank Raymond), Dick Curtis (Dorgan - Henchman), John Tyrell (Dirk - Henchman), George Chesebro (Baker - Henchman), Tom London (Mill River Inn - Henchman), Tom Steele (Powerhouse - Henchman)...great stunt work by George DeNormand stunt double for Warren Hull, Eddie Parker stunt double for Al Kikume and Chuck Hamilton who performed all the rest of the stunts...entire cast brings to life the characters based upon the King Features Newspaper...can't wait for next weeks episode at your favorite neighborhood theater.

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc One)
1. Shadow on the Wall
2. Trap of the Wasp
3. A City of Terror
4. The Secret Passage
5. The Devil's Playmate
6. The Fatal Crash

SPECIAL FEATURES: (Disc One)
BIOS:
1. Warren Hull
2. Doris Weston
3. Al Kikume
4. Rex Dowling
5. Sam Nelson (Director)
6. Norman Deming (Director)

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc Two)
7. Gamble for Life
8. Across the Deadline
9. Terror Rides the Rails
10.The Unseen Monster
11.At the Stroke of Eight
12.The Reward of Treachery

If you're into vintage serials as I am, why not pick up a copy of the following titles from VCI Home Video:
VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS:
1. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don "Red" Barry)
2. Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Bobby Jordan)
3. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe)
4. Captain Midnight (Dave O'Brien)
5. Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (Judd Holdren & I. Stanford Jolley)
6. Dick Tracy's G-Men (Ralph Byrd)
7. Don Winslow of the Navy (Don Terry)
8. Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (Don Terry)
9. Drums of Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon)
10.Fighting Kit Carson (Johnny Mack Brown)
11.Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Buster Crabbe)
12.The Green Archer (Victory Jory)
13.Jungle Girl (Frances Gifford)
14.Jungle Jim (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton)
15.Lost City of the Jungle (Russell Hayden & Keye Luke)
16.Mandrake the Magician (Warren Hull & Dick Curtis)
17.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr)
18.The Painted Stallion (Ray "Crash" Corrigan)
19.The Phantom (Tom Tyler)
20.The Return of Chandu (Bela Lugosi)
21.Riders of Death Valley (Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo & Buck Jones)
22.Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon)
23.Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke)
24.Sky Raiders (Donald Woods & Billy Halop)
25.Undersea Kingdom (Ray "Crash" Corrigan)
26.Winners of the West (Dick Foran, Harry Woods, Roy Barcroft & Charles Stevens)
27.Zane Greys "King of the Royal Mounted" (Allan "Rocky" Lane)
28.Zorro's Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling)

Coming soon January 2006 from VCI Home Video on DVD..."FLAMING FRONTIERS" (1938), Universal Serial with 15 chapters, featuring Johnny Mack Brown, Eleanor Hansen, John Archer, James Blaine and Ralph Bowman..."OREGON TRAIL" (1939), another Universal Serial with 15 exciting chapters featuring Johnny Mack Brown, Fuzzy Knight, Roy Barcoft and Charles King..."THE TALL TEXAN" (1953), full length feature starring Lloyd Bridges, Lee J Cobb, Luther Adler and Marie Windsor...watch for more details on VCI Entertainment and Amazon your two favorite sites for serials and B-Western

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the digital transfers with a clean, clear and crisp print of "Mandrake the Magician"...looking forward to more of the same from the '30s & '40s vintage serial era...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch serial from VCI...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 215 mins on 2 DVD's ~ VCI Entertainment 8349 ~ (4/29/2003)

VCI Entertainment and Columbia Pictures present Lee Falk and Phil Davis comic strip King feature "Mandrake the Magician" (1939) (Dolby digitally remastered), 12 Chapters of vintage serial loaded with action sequences...story line thus far has our favorite magician doing battle with "The Wasp", who is out to steal another scientist invention...will our villain of villains succeed in taking the radium energy machine and use it against Mandrake...can good triumph over evil...with Mandrake's assistance can Professor Hudson keep his invention out of the clutches of the henchman sent to do him in...will "The Wasp" blow up a dam, a power plant, a radio station and the entire sound stage at Columbia Pictures before he's stopped...does Hudson's daughter Betty have her sites set on Mandrake, well that may be more dangerous than "The Wasp" ever was...don't even think about touching that dial...there's more to follow and it gets better with every episode.

Under director's Norman Deeming and Sam Nelson, producer Jack Fier with screenplay by Ned Dandy, Basil Dickey, Lee Falk (comic strip), Joseph F. Poland, original music by Sidney Cutner, Floyd Morgan and Morris Stoloff (musical director)...the cast Warren Hull (Mandrake the Magician), Doris Weston (Betty Houston), Al Kikume (Lothar, Mandrake's Assistant), Rex Downing (Tommy Houston), Edward Earle (Dr. Andre Bennett), Forbes Murray (Professor Houston), Kenneth MacDonald (James Webster), Don Beddoe (Frank Raymond), Dick Curtis (Dorgan - Henchman), John Tyrell (Dirk - Henchman), George Chesebro (Baker - Henchman), Tom London (Mill River Inn - Henchman), Tom Steele (Powerhouse - Henchman)...great stunt work by George DeNormand stunt double for Warren Hull, Eddie Parker stunt double for Al Kikume and Chuck Hamilton who performed all the rest of the stunts...entire cast brings to life the characters based upon the King Features Newspaper...can't wait for next weeks episode at your favorite neighborhood theater.

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc One)
1. Shadow on the Wall
2. Trap of the Wasp
3. A City of Terror
4. The Secret Passage
5. The Devil's Playmate
6. The Fatal Crash

SPECIAL FEATURES: (Disc One)
BIOS:
1. Warren Hull
2. Doris Weston
3. Al Kikume
4. Rex Dowling
5. Sam Nelson (Director)
6. Norman Deming (Director)

PHOTO GALLERY (Disc One)
(stills from "Mandrake the Magician" serial & Lobby Cards)

VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS: (Disco One)
1. Zorro Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling)
2. Radar Men from the Moon (Clayton Moore & Roy Barcroft)
3. Mysterious Mr. M (Richard Martin, Dennis Moore & Pamela Blake)
4. Dick Tracy's G-Men (Ralph Byrd)
5. The Royal Mounted Rides Again (Bill Kennedy, Milburn Stone & Robert Armstrong)
6. The Hurricane Express (John Wayne & J. Farrell MacDonald)
7. The Shadow of the Eagle (John Wayne)

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc Two)
7. Gamble for Life
8. Across the Deadline
9. Terror Rides the Rails
10.The Unseen Monster
11.At the Stroke of Eight
12.The Reward of Treachery

SPECIAL FEATURES: (Disc Two)
BIOS:
(Same as Disco One)

PHOTO GALLERY (Disc Two)
(Same as Disc One)

VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS: (Disco Two)
(Same as Disc One)

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure then this is the place for all of the above...if you enjoyed this serial 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 the digital transfers with a clean, clear and crisp print of "Mandrake the Magician"...looking forward to more of the same from the '30s & '40s vintage serial era...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch serial from VCI...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 215 mins on 2 DVD's ~ VCI Entertainment 8349 ~ (4/29/2003)