Todd’s Serial Blog

I was watching Overland Mail (1942) last week and an interesting thought came to me as I was watching it.  Would Lon Chaney, Jr. have been happier, or had a better career if he had become a western star instead of a horror star.  The unhappiness of his later years is well documented, as is his sporadic work after leaving Universal.  With the exception of his Wolf Man films he never really seemed to invest much in his horror roles.  Yet here in this innocuous little oater he seems to be having the time of his life, shooting it out with renegade Indians, duking it out with hired outlaws, joking with his saddle pals, and all the while romancing the boss’ daughter.  Perhaps if Universal had steered him in that direction instead of trying to capitalize on his father’s name he might have had a career like John Wayne or Randolph Scott.  Or he might have passed into obscurity after TV  came around, like Sunset Carson and Lash LaRue did.  He also might not be as revered as his is today for being one of the great horror icons along with Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.  Still it is interesting to imagine what if.

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Summer is usually an emotionally mixed time for me.  On the one hand my birthday is this month and the small boy deep down inside of me relishes the thought of presents (Somethings you never outgrow I guess), while on the other hand it reminds me of the trip I took back in 1994 to North Carolina to attend the Western Film Fair in Charlotte and finally meet Bill Cline.  I had been corresponding with him for months up to that point, having  taken a  big step for me and writing him a fan letter when his book Serials-ly Speaking was published.  As we exchanged letters we became friends.  It was a thrill to finally meet him in person, I don’t think there was ever a more generous and friendly man, he genuinely never had a bad thing to say about anyone.  His passing was a sad event for all serial fans, he was our public voice, championing an overlooked part of film history and giving it a dignity that it hadn’t had up to that point.  I miss his heartfelt letters of friendship and being able to discuss the intricate minutia of our shared hobby.  The world is a little more lonely without him in it.

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I got The Icons of Horror: Sam Katzman Collection out of the library the other day to watch Chapter Two of Mysterious Island (1951) that was included in the special features section. I wasn’t really interested in the movies themselves, having seen them all when I was a kid and with the exception of the great transformation seen in The Werewolf (1956) where the man changes into a wolf while talking to someone, had never been too thrilled with them, Katzman’s horror films are usually the opposite of his serials, long on talk, short on action (Some of you could argue that, citing Earth vs the Flying Saucers (1956), but come on, with the exception of the ending where the saucers blow up half of Washington, most of the film is just scientists and generals standing around talking about what to do.)

But that isn’t what I really wanted to talk about.  What I wanted to talk about was the inclusion of a serial chapter in the two disc set.  I’m not sure why they did this.  For a serial fan like me, it’s great, I get to see part of a serial I’ve not had the opportunity to view, but for someone not familiar with serials they would be completely lost, seeing a snippet of a story in which everybody just seems to run around from one place to the next for no apparent reason.  If Sony/Columbia was wanting to give a taste of Katzman’s serials why not use Chapter One, as it is serial fans are frustrated because they don’t get to see the whole thing, and horror fans are frustrated because all they get is a confusing hodgepodge of action without barely any explanation behind it.

So I have an idea to propose to Sony/Columbia.  You have access to Katzman’s serials, there is a big serial buying public interested in them as you have obviously learned with the Superman and Batman releases (not to mention seeing VCI’s success in selling suck titles as Captain Video (1951) and Jack Armstrong (1947)), what would make better sense than to start releasing his serials.  You could call it The Sam Katzman Serial Collection and could put out individual titles or box sets.  Can’t you just see it?  The Sam Katzman Sci-Fi Serial Collection with Brick Bradford (1948),  Mysterious Island (1951), and The Lost Planet (1953); or the Sam Katzman Jungle Serial Collection with Congo Bill (1948), King of the Congo (1952), and The Adventures of Captain Africa (1955), and maybe even including a feature film as a special bonus like It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955) or Jungle Jim (1948).  Better yet the Sam Katzman/ Buster Crabbe Serial Collection with The Sea Hound (1947), Pirates of the High Seas (1950), and King of the Congo (1952).  Trust me, you put out a premium product and we would buy it.

Just think about it okay?

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