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Post by Xenorama ™ on Feb 21, 2008 20:54:59 GMT -8
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, thug [Chs. 6-8]
John Tyrrell ... Dirk, lead thug
Stanley Brown ... Green, thug [Chs. 1, 2, 4]
Beatrice Curtis ... Rest Home Nurse [Chs. 3,10]
Robert Sterling ... Henchman
Sam Ash ... George Regan, hypnotist [Chs. 3-5]
Lester Dorr ... Gray, gas station thug [Chs. 8-9]
(OK, sue me, changed my mind from Holt)
* 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
* 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
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Feb 22, 2008 23:22:05 GMT -8
Mandrake is performing on board a ship when he gets a note from Betty Houston. she's worried about her father. he's working on platanite (or something like that). of course, the show must go on, and we get treated to a nice act.
in the middle of the act, assassins shoot his box full of holes! meanwhile, the Houstons get ready for Mandrake to show up. this is where The Wasp shows up, or at least his voice and image do. he wants Houston to keep up the good work.
his men are trying to stop Mandrake. they rig his plane, but he escapes. the gang is annoyed and go after him. a fistfight breaks out. some more of the cast shows up, introductions are made and Mandrake spoils some illusions about the Wasp. they later plan on a demonstration of Houston's deadly machine.
the gang takes the prof, but doesn't fool Mandrake. another fistfight breaks out over the platanite. the thug turns the machine on Mandrake!
next~ Trap of the Wasp
Betty has some newly redubbed lines early on in this chapter, as do some of the other actors. they have voiceovers for the previews next week chapters. this was the 7th Columbia serial.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Feb 23, 2008 0:03:39 GMT -8
the narration continues for the recap, also!
the Wasp's man tries to get out, but Andre stops him. Mandrake "disappeared" to save himself and he and Andre rush out and give chase to the thugs. but the thugs get away.
Mandrake looks for clues and finds out some men went to Harper Drive. when they get there, a fistfight breaks out. Mandrake uses tear gas bombs to confuse his foes and escape.
Mandrake goes back to the Houstons, and discusses his plans for the platanite. however, he knows he's being listened to, and plants a phony story. Mandrake gets captured, and Lothar and Betty follow him. of course a fistfight breaks out. Lothar wades in as well. Betty is trapped in the elevator with a thug and the power gets knocked out, down they plunge as Mandrake and Lothar get gassed!
next~ A City of Terror
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Post by Shonokin on Feb 24, 2008 8:57:23 GMT -8
I was always afraid that this one would be awful. But it sounds interesting so far and the chapter titles are fun. I'll have to look it up.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 1, 2008 21:26:23 GMT -8
well, Columbia always had good looking serials. this one is good so far.
Mandrake wakes up and saves LoTHAR before they get steamed. someone used the emergency break to save Betty. they return to the house and Mandrake tells them his plans to question the prisoner.
unfortunately the Wasp's men have bugged the building and Brown gets a blowdart to the neck. the Wasp sends his men a hypnotist to help combat Mandrake.
Mandrake puts a fast one over on him though. while in "his" power, Mandrake finds out info and lights a smoke bomb, and then Lothar shows up for the fistfight. the gang gets away, and our heroes head back to save Betty from the Wasp induced tower quake!
next~ The Secret Passage
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 1, 2008 22:57:01 GMT -8
Mandrake braces himself against a beam to save Betty, then Lothar helps out to save both of them. then he returns to Betty's place and discusses future plans. he looks for the Leland impostor from his agent.
naturally when they arrive at Mandrake's apartment, a fistfight breaks out. they capture two more of them. meanwhile, Tommy hides in one of the gang's trunk, overhears where the fake Leland is doing his act and returns to tell Mandrake where Regan is doing his act. then he blabs to Betty and the crooks overhear.
Mandrake impersonates Regan and does his act. naturally, the Wasp's gang shows up and bedlam breaks loose!
next~ The Devil's Playmate
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 7, 2008 22:01:04 GMT -8
Mandrake escapes certain death and helps Lothar in the fistfight outside. the gang hotfoots it away.
as our heroes return, the Wasp's identity is discussed. Mandrake finds the "bug" from the Wasp, and then feeds some false info to the gang. he is going to "trade" Betty's father for some platanite.
Mandrake catches one of the gang, which annoys the Wasp. he also plots to wreck a plant, and almost traps Mandrake and Lothar. naturally a fistfight breaks out and our heroes are captured and the plant is about to go up!
next~ The Fatal Crash
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 8, 2008 0:21:21 GMT -8
Lothar and Mandrake walk out of the collapsing building, just in time to engage in another fight. they get away, and Mandrake has a clue (a knife). the Wasp later kills the man who let Mandrake get away.
Mandrake tells the circle of friends about his theory, and one of them steals the knife. Mandrake then shows us another magic trick. then Betty's father calls and tries to get some help.
the Wasp then has Houston transferred, and Mandrake takes his plane to find him. the Wasp hits the plane with his machine and sends it crashing to Earth!
next~ Gamble For Life
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 14, 2008 22:45:30 GMT -8
Mandrake lands safely on the ground and saves the Prof. later on at his home the Prof will be making a new radium machine. naturally the Wasp sends his men over to get the Prof again. Mandrake shows up and a fistfight breaks out.
Mandrake and Lothar beat up the thugs. later, the Wasp's men show up at a construction site and knock down some telephone poles. the foreman finds Mandrake and guess what? it's a fistfight!
during the melee, Mandrake battles a thug out over the canyon and the cable breaks!
next~ Across the Deadline
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 14, 2008 23:15:29 GMT -8
Mandrake climbs out of the car before it falls off the cable, and goes back to join the fistfight in progress, but the four gangsters get away. our heroes head out after them.
after dodging a Wasp-induced landslide, our heroes lose the thugs. later on, some "telephone" men show up at the Houston's to check the lines. a fistfight breaks out and the thugs try to escape Mandrake's vast array of tricks.
later, Mandrake and Lothar help with the mining of the platanite ore. the Wasp sends his men out there and a fistfight breaks out. then he trains his machine on the dam and it explodes! Lothar and Mandrake apparently fall into the raging water!
next~ Terror Rides the Rails
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Post by Shonokin on Mar 15, 2008 15:34:14 GMT -8
Seems like more fist fights than magic in this one.  |
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 15, 2008 17:41:25 GMT -8
they tend to average about 2 fistfights per episode, whereas the magic tricks (all slight of hand so far, for the most part) and not used that much. you'd think they have him doing some more cool stuff with it.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 23, 2008 16:58:55 GMT -8
Lothar and Mandrake climb out of the way of the rushing water just in time. they go to a filling station (it cost Mandrake $2.00 to fill his tank) to investigate some "private property". Mandrake offers the attendant a bribe for info on the Wasp.
he calls, but when Mandrake arrives it's too late, the Wasp has used the machine to destroy the station.
Mandrake and co. leave on a train. naturally the Wasp prepares the machine...
next~ The Unseen Monster
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Mar 23, 2008 18:19:38 GMT -8
the train crashes, probably killing hundreds. Lothar searches for Mandrake and finds him unconscious. Mandrake is taken to the hospital, but then he is captured by the Wasp's gang.
naturally Mandrake faked it to be taken by the Wasp's men. meanwhile, Mandrake's friends search the hospitals for him. Andre gets caught by one of the gang as well.
naturally, a fistfight soon breaks out. meanwhile, Mandrake is prepped to meet the Wasp! that doesn't quite work out, and another fight breaks out. just as he's about to leave with Betty, the room explodes!
next~ At the Stroke of Eight
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Apr 2, 2008 14:11:03 GMT -8
Mandrake and Betty easily survive the explosion. the gang takes the machine, and then our heroes run into two possible "Wasp"s. Mandrake goes about looking for clues.
Mandrake arrives back at the Houston's place and has a plan for 8:00 tonight. they trail Dirk to the eatery, where a fistfight breaks out. Dirk gets away, but the Wasp turns on him for knowing too much.
at the meeting, Mandrake tells the crew that the prof has a new machine that will render the Wasp's machine useless. the Wasp then turns his machine on the house and...
next~ The Reward of Treachery
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Apr 2, 2008 15:04:01 GMT -8
everyone easily escapes the house. Mandrake and Lothar search through the house and find a clue to the Wasp's identity. Mandrake finds the Wasp's nest, but ends up in the same room that the Wasp killed Dirk in.
he uses one of his powders to escape and unmask the Wasp, and it's Dr. Bennett, who wanted as much power as he could get. then a fistfight breaks out between them. Andre overpowers Mandrake and runs out of the building.
Lothar and Mandrake chase him in the car, until he has a blowout and heads over a cliff. you know since this is the last chapter he's not going to survive miraculously.
Mandrake and Betty then have a private moment!
thoughts: Lothar doesn't look very African, but he's not treated poorly at all. there is a lot of action in this one, more than magic. too bad the fights aren't the level of the Republic serials. Hull is excellent though as our hero, very likable performer.
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