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MandrakeRating:
Release Date: 29 April, 2003 Retail Price: $19.99 OUR Price: $17.99 You SAVE: $2.00! Cast: |
Mandrake Reviews
"another great feature from the King of Serials on DVD...VCI Entertainment"
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)
An intriguing and magical cinema serial
"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.
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