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Major Charles Rane is having a bad couple weeks. He arrives home after being a tortured P.O.W. in Hanoi for 7 years, only to find this wife ready to file for divorce(as she's met another fella) and his son quite estranged from him. Things only get worse from there.
It's easy to see why Tarantino took such a shine to this film and why he even went so far as to name his(sadly short lived) distribution company after it.
It's a pretty straightforward revenge movie at it's core. That being said, there is an earnestness to the characters that I think Tarantino really responds to. I think one of the great misunderstandings in QT's films is that a lot of people read irony where he intends no irony at all. I recall he once said of the use of TRUE ROMANCE as the title of that film that he meant it. He's a fairly non-ironic guy from what I can gather. Anyway, the characters in ROLLING THUNDER have a real genuine nature to them. They are damaged, most of them, but they are really trying their best to do the right thing. In rewatching the film again for the first time in many years, I found myself much more affected by it. Could be I've gotten older and gotten sappier. Regardless, the film is a unique concoction of mean exploitation movie and somewhat heartfelt drama. I really do think that that is often what Tarantino is going for with a lot of his films. DJANGO UNCHAINED certainly has elements of both. From what's conveyed in the "Making of ROLLING THUNDER" featurette on the disc(which speaks to William Devane, Tommy Lee Jones, Paul Schrader, Heywood Gould & others), Paul Schrader had originally intended a much less sentimental picture than what was finally made. He had apparently spent some time with Sam Peckinpah at one point and saw this script as his take on a WILD BUNCH kind of film. Some of that is still there obviously, however, it seems Heywood Gould's rewrites would seem to have softened the story a little bit in some parts and hardened it in others. I think the film benefits a bit from the sentimentality, which makes it more resonant.
One of my favorite lines ever from Tommy Lee Jones in anything is "I'll just get my gear." It says quite a lot without saying all that much. Lee Jones and William Devane are both excellent here and they convey a lot with a certain stoicism. Apparently this was one of the very early "Vietnam Vets coming home" movies made, which was a bit of a bi deal at the time. One can certainly see a bit of a parallel between these soldiers struggling to fit back into their everyday "normal" lives and the soldier that say Jeremy Renner plays in recent film THE HURT LOCKER. Different war, similar trauma.
This Shout Factory Blu-ray is another in a long line of wonderful genre film releases from them. The transfer has some grain to it, but it looks good. The disc isn't stacked with extras, but the aforementioned 'Making of ROLLING THUNDER' Featurette(about 22 mins) is a nice reflection on the film from most the principal players involved. I'm a big William Devane fan so it was really neat to see him in the present day talking about the film. It's also always interesting for me to hear what different writers bring to a given film. Here, Paul Schrader is credited with the story and gets a co-screenwriter credit with Heywood Gould. As I mentioned earlier, in hearing from both writers in this piece, one gets a better sense of the kinds of things that each brought to the final film we now know and love. Paul Schrader certainly brought the structure for the most part, and I would imagine the climax(which is somewhat reminiscent of TAXI DRIVER), while Gould brought in more of a sympathetic edge along with some gritty-ness. ROLLING THUNDER as a film, certainly benefits from both. It would have been nice to have heard from director John Flynn(who I am certainly a fan of), but as he sadly passed away in 2007 that was not to be.
ROLLING THUNDER is available via Shout Factory: HERE
Watching a bunch of these films in a row is like watching I Love Lucy or Nick at Nite variety comedy television. Very comfort food-y. These are fun little bite-sized comedic morsels(about 65 mins or so each). This is, I believe the longest running film series ever with something like 48 entries. Each of them features 'Slip'(Leo Gorcey) and 'Sach'(Huntz Hall) and the rest of the boys getting into a one episodic adventure or another in the neighborhood each time out. Inevitably, the plots often revolve around some ill-advised money-making scheme that Slip has come up with. The boys use Louie's Sweet Shop as their headquarters and it goes through all manner of destruction and transformation throughout the course of the series. Warner Archive has released two lovely volumes of Bowery Boys film so far. Below have a look at some of the highlights among the 25 films one can sample across these two sets!
LIVE WIRES(1946; Phil Karlson)
This early film is interesting in that the guys are relatively subdued. Huntz Hall is much calmer than he'd later become.
NEWS HOUNDS(1947; William Beaudine)
The boys invade the newspaper biz on the hunt for sports corruption.
BLUES BUSTERS(1950; William Beaudine)
A routine tonsillectomy for Sach leaves the boys in the hole to Louie for a whole lotta dough, but thankfully the procedure has left him with a magical Crosby-esque crooners voice. Slip sees dollar signs before his eyes and convinces Louie to turn the shop into a nightclub, the glorious 'Bowery Palace'. Slip and Sach screw things up as usual.
MASTER MINDS(1949; Jean Yarbrough)
Sach eats too much candy and gets a bad toothache, but gains the ability to see the future. Slip takes the act to the public. Enter the mad scientist(played by Alan Napier, Alfred from the 60s Batman) plot. Dr. Druzik has an ISLAND OF LOST SOULS-y man-creature in need of a brain and Sach's brain looks like a great option. The mind switch goes quite well as you might imagine. I'm a sucker for this kind of ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEETS FRANKENSTEIN KIND OF COMEDY/horror business so this might be my favorite in the set.
It's positively condescending!
HOLD THAT BABY!(1949; Reginald Le Borg)
Boys are saddled with an unexpected toddler and wackiness happens. This was better than I expected. The sanitarium scenes alone are pretty fantastic. The imaginary card game is reminiscent of a Marx Bros bit. Certainly one of my favorites of all their films.
CRAZY OVER HORSES(1951; William Beaudine)
What starts as a "collection agency" action by the boys on behalf of Louie turns into a barter for a horse....but it's Allen Jenkins' horse! I really needn't say more than that. Jenkinsians(hardcore Allen Jenkins fans) take note.
THE BOWERY BOYS MEET THE MONSTERS(1954; Edward Bernds)
Whilst trying to find a spot for the local kids to play baseball, the boys end up as guinea pigs for some scientists. These scientists have a groovy robot. A groovy decapitated robot, that could use a human head.
This one also features another crazy monster-man a la MASTER MINDS and old woman cannibal and a mad gorilla(suit)! As before, when the Boys intermingle with fantastic elements, it's pretty silly fun. This film, as wacky as it was and even as presented in lovely widescreen, is a little dopey, but fun nonetheless.
BOWERY BUCKAROOS(1947; William Beaudine)
The boys go out west in this gold huntin', gun slignin' adventure. Louie "the Lout''s old western past comes back to haunt him when the sheriff from Hangman's Hollow comes looking for him after 20 years. The boys then have to get him exonerated, find the girl who's dad he was framed for shooting and use Louie's map (on his back) do find the gold he hid way back when. The boys must take on aliases. Slip is "Deadeye Dan", Gabe is "The Klondike Kid" and Sach is confused.
PRIVATE EYES(1953; Edward Bernds)
Yet another head injury(this time from a youngster's uppercut)cause more superpowers("Mental Telegraphy") for Sach. Slip decides to open a detective agency to put Sach's new mind readin' skills to good use. One the best entries in the series.
Here's a follow-up list from one of my favorite contributors - Ms. Ariel Schudson.
here's the first round of Underrated comedies from Ariel:
http://rupertpupkinspeaks.blogspot.com/2013/03/favorite-underrated-comedies-ariel.html
Ariel
Schudson is the Student Chapter President of the Association of Moving
Image Archivists (AMIA) at UCLA. See her social media outlets below:
AMIA Twitter-https://twitter.com/AMIAatUCLA
AMIA Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/amiastudentchapteratucla
AMIA Student Chapter Blog-http://amiastudentchapteratucla.blogspot.com/
Her film blog: http://sinaphile.wordpress.com/
Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sinaphile
Check out the upcoming 'Something Old, Something Saved' Screening at the
New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles:
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Once again, I am writing a list of favorite films when I should be doing something else quite important scholastically. But in many ways, I feel that contributing to this website is an archival endeavor. Everyone who puts their $.02 in has value and memories and it’s an electronic time capsule only…it’s crowdsourced from all areas of the film community. It’s super cool.
Anyways, my last list of “underrated comedies” was done under some duress (I’m not sure why I feel the need to explain, but to hell with it!) as I was also writing my final exams for some of my last classes of my grad school career.
Now, as I prep to write my final Big Grad School Comprehensive Exam paper, I’m doing yet another list. But I wanna make up for a few of those titles. They were all great. I stand by them all. But…they are slightly better known and appreciated. I’d like to bring some out of the woodwork if possible. So…here we go.
1) Forgotten Silver – 1995 – Peter Jackson – So, before there were hobbits and dwarves, there was Peter Jackson doing some damn fine work. I did enjoy the LOR stuff (in IMAX it was AWESOME!!!) but Heavenly Creatures and Forgotten Silver remain two of my faves. As a moving image archivist, I am somewhat bound by profession to adore this film. But…I loved it long before I decided that this was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. It’s great.
2) Silver Streak - 1976 – Arthur Hiller – OK. I don’t know if this counts as underrated. But I really wanted this on here. It remains, to this day, one of the funniest films I have ever seen in my life. My mother showed it to me as a kid and I love it to bits. You should too. Use it as your daily exercise- I guarantee you’ll burn mad calories laughing!
3) The Linguini Incident – 1991 – Richard Shepard – Can you really argue with a film that stars David Bowie & early 90s Rosanna Arquette & involves restaurant insanity, criminality and…Houdini? Yeah. Not so much. I found this when I was working at one of the many video stores I’ve worked in and it has a very very special place in my heart. It has that lovely early 90s indie film energy and kookiness that we never see anymore. Plus…David Bowie.
4) Traveling Saleslady – 1935 – Ray Enright – It’s hard for me not to just gush and gush about this film because it’s an 1930s picture with Joan Blondell and she’s one of THE most underrated actresses in my opinion. I LOVE HER. This is a movie that is all charm, all fun, all about drinking alcohol and brushing your teeth. YES. You don’t have to go and re-read that. It’s all about toothpaste and booze, my friends. With Glenda Farrell, and a slew of other greats, this is another supreme example of what WAC has to offer & what was produced in the past that still holds up today. Watch this puppy!
5) The Dream Team – 1989 – Howard Zieff – I’m going out on a limb here with this one because I haven’t revisited it in some time. However, any film that stays with you as long as this one has stayed with me and continues to make me smile…I’m pretty sure when I go back to it, I will be so pleased. You know those films that just keep you grinning the entire way through, and when you’re not laughing, you’re just smiling so much your entire face starts to hurt? I remember that there are aspects of this film that do that. The performances are tremendous (DUH. You have Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle and Michael Keaton in his prime!) and I’ll stand by the film. Go Dream Team.
Angela is a classic film fan from Detroit. She writes about her love of classic films over at The Hollywood Revue:
http://hollywoodrevue.wordpress.com/
Facebook here:https://www.facebook.com/TheHollywoodRevue
1. It’s Love I’m After (1937)
The fact that It’s Love I’m After isn’t considered one of all-time great comedies absolutely kills me. Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, and Olivia de Havilland aren’t typically remembered for their comedies, but between its sharp writing and excellent performances, It’s Love I’m After proves to be a real highlight of each of their careers. If you only know Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind, you are in for a very pleasant surprise here.
2. The Oyster Princess (1919)
You can’t say that Enrst Lubitsch is an underrated director, but his silent films, particularly the ones he made while he was still in Germany, are often very overlooked. But his silents were often every bit as stylish, sophisticated, and witty as his sound films and that is exactly why I love The Oyster Princess. Plus you get to see the delightful Ossi Oswalda, who was thought to be Germany’s answer to Mary Pickford. Oswalda starred in sixteen of Lubitsch’s early films and in The Oyster Princess, it’s easy to see why he was so fond of her.
3. Hands Across the Table (1935)
Not only do I think this is an underrated comedy, I think Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray are a very underrated on-screen duo. The first time I saw Hands Across the Table, it was the chemistry between Lombard and MacMurray that really drew me in. If this movie had had a lesser cast, I think it might been a pretty forgettable movie, but the two of them took the material to a higher level and added tons of charm to it. I simply cannot resist this movie.
4. This is the Night (1932)
I once heard This is the Night (directed by Frank Tuttle) as a “poor man’s Ernst Lubitsch movie.” If that’s the case, I’m glad I’m not rich because this movie is a riot. The entire cast is absolutely perfect for this witty, very pre-code material. Roland Young and Charles Ruggles in particular are comedy gold. Most notably, This is the Night was the film debut of Cary Grant, who makes his grand entrance singing while carrying a bunch of javelins. That moment alone makes it a movie worth checking out.
5. The Patsy (1928)
The Patsy is one movie that will never fail to make me laugh. If you saw Citizen Kane and mistook the character of Susan Alexander for a caricature of Marion Davies, The Patsy will completely change your mind about her. Davies was a gifted comedienne, a far cry from the talentless Susan Alexander, and The Patsy is a perfect vehicle for her to showcase that. Not only do you get Marion Davies at the top of her game, Marie Dressler is a major scene stealer in it, too.
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Laura G. runs the lovely blog Laura's Miscellaneous Musings, which is a must for any classic film fans!
http://laurasmiscmusings.blogspot.com
She can be found on Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/LaurasMiscMovie
IF YOU COULD ONLY COOK (1935)
IF YOU COULD ONLY COOK is a Depression-era charmer starring Jean Arthur, Herbert Marshall, and Leo Carrillo. When out-of-work Arthur spots a dejected Marshall on a park bench, she assumes he's also jobless and suggests they pose as husband and wife to win a position as butler and cook. Marshall is really a wealthy auto designer, but he's so taken with Arthur -- who wouldn't be? -- and frustrated with his own life that he willingly goes along with her idea. They end up working for a gangster (Carrillo) with very particular gourmet tastes. This film has been in the shadow of better-known Arthur films, and it's deserving of rediscovery. It's a bit too short, but otherwise it's a great example of a movie made simply to entertain, and it does so wonderfully, with some laugh-out-loud funny moments.
It's available on DVD
JOHNNY DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1944)
JOHNNY DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE is an engaging spin on the Washington, D.C., housing shortage during WWII. A Monogram release, it hasn't had the attention of better-known films on the same topic, such as Columbia's THE MORE THE MERRIER (1943) or the Warner Bros. release THE DOUGHGIRLS (1944), but it's a creative movie with a unique lead performance by French actress Simone Simon. Simon plays Kathie, a French Canadian who arrives in D.C. to work at a defense plant, only to discover her intended roommate has married. Three's a crowd, but Kathie manages instead to sublet an apartment from Johnny (William Terry), who is leaving for military service. Johnny forgets to mention that a number of his friends have keys to the apartment, and one by one they drop in, including Mike (James Ellison) and Jeff (Robert Mitchum), with riotous consequences. Simon combines a pouty innocence with a great way with one-liners, and the final sequence in front of a judge (Alan Dinehart) leads to a hilariously unexpected ending. This film was a terrific discovery.
It's available via Warner Archive
IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (1944)
When people think of Dick Powell and the '40s, naturally his career-changing turn as the tough Philip Marlowe in MURDER, MY SWEET (1945) comes to mind. Powell's beautiful comedic work in Rene Clair's comedy-fantasy IT HAPPENED TOMORROW is equally deserving of attention. In this period piece set in the 1890s, Powell plays Larry, who experiences a strange week where he receives early editions of newspapers which predict the future. This enchanting film combines humor, romance, mystery, and nostalgia in equal measure. Those familiar with Powell's noir work know he has a way with a wisecrack, but in IT HAPPENED TOMORROW he also reveals himself as a gifted physical comedian; the movie's hilarious final sequence is brilliantly choreographed and carried off by Powell, who approaches what he believes is his impending doom with humorous resignation. Powell is well matched with lovely Linda Darnell. Highly recommended.
It's available on DVD from Kino.
ONCE MORE, MY DARLING (1949)
ONCE MORE, MY DARLING is a relatively little-known film, due in part to being a Universal movie which hasn't played on TV for many years; I suspect its last airing in the U.S. may have been in the late, lamented commercial-free days of American Movie Classics. This is one of a handful of excellent films directed by Robert Montgomery in the late '40s. Montgomery also stars in the film as a well-off attorney turned movie actor, and he's paired with the much younger Ann Blyth as a ditzy debutante who falls head over heels for him. One of the movie's charms is that instead of ignoring that Montgomery was over two decades older than his leading lady, it's faced head-on as a significant story angle, with the age difference somewhat mitigated by the way Blyth chases after Montgomery. (An ad slogan was "Man About Town Meets Girl About Nineteen!") While Blyth is a bit too manic at times, there is wonderful deadpan, snarky humor supplied by Montgomery, Jane Cowl, Charles McGraw, and John Ridgely. My favorite of many great bits of dialogue is when Montgomery asks a family friend how he was in his last movie, and the friend awkwardly responds "Tall. Very tall."
This film very much deserves a release by one of the Universal "MOD" DVD programs. Fingers crossed.
YOU NEVER CAN TELL (1951)
One more Dick Powell film on my list, and it's also another Universal film which has been hidden away from the public for far too long. It has an utterly bizarre plot which works surprisingly well and provides many laughs; one of the poster tag lines was "A picture for people who think they've seen everything!" King, a German shepherd left a fortune by his late owner, is murdered; he comes back to earth in human form as Rex Shepherd (Powell), private investigator, so he can investigate his own murder! As if that's not enough, Rex is assisted by Goldie Harvey (Joyce Holden), who was actually once a racehorse named Golden Harvest. Powell's Rex eats kibble and snarls at cats, and Goldie's purse is a feedbag! Lou Breslow was the credited director, but Holden explained in an interview that the real behind-the-scenes director was Powell, a multi-talented man who would soon go on to be the credited director of several films, starting with SPLIT SECOND (1953).
This is another film which needs a DVD release!
DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY(1974; John Hough)
This film has one of the all-time great titles. Not sure why I like it so much, but it's just memorable. My history with this film goes back to Christmas of 1997. I saw(and loved) Tarantino's JACKIE BROWN then. I was still riding a post-PULP FICTION Tarantino high and like I'd done with his other movies, I was happy to dive in and look at all the little details in this one. What soundtracks was he drawing from for the music in the film? What books were people reading in the movie? And most importantly, what films were they watching. I remember seeing a brief clip of DMCL in JACKIE BROWN. Bridget Fonda's character is watching it on TV. At the time, I didn't know what film it was, but I recognized Peter Fonda and the lovely Susan George so that was enough to get me started trying to unravel the mystery. At that time, the film was quite difficult to see. It had only seen a brief vhs release in the early days of video via the somewhat legendary(to me because of the rarity factor) Magnetic Video.
That being said, it was not easy to track down, so I wouldn't be able to see the film for some time. I would later read online about the film lineup at Tarantino's infamous QT Fests in Austin Texas and how he had programmed this movie as part of a "Good Ol Boy Car Chase" Night with WHITE LIGHTNING and JACKSON COUNTY JAIL. So, for me, DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY started to take on a certain mythical status.When I did finally get to see it, it had a lot to live up to for sure. And it did. First off, the cast is out-of-the-gate excellent. The aforementioned Peter Fonda and Susan George are a great foundation, but on top of that you've got Vic Morrow, Roddy McDowall(in a small role) and the excellent, underappreciated Adam Roarke(who is very reminiscent of a young Alec Baldwin here). Let's talk about Adam Roarke for a second. For those unfamiliar, Roarke has quite a cult filmography. He gained some notoriety for several biker films including THE SAVAGE SEVEN, HELLS ANGELS ON WHEELS, THE LOSERS & HELL'S BELLES. He's also great in Frank Perry's outstanding(but as-yet-not-on-dvd) PLAY IT AS IT LAYS. He and Peter Fonda are certainly a good pairing as they both have biker movie entries on their resumes. They're not bikers here, but rather a minor league race-drivin' duo who set up a scheme to rob a supermarket in order to bankroll a vehicle upgrade(and their ticket to the big time). They pull it off, but their getaway is impeded by Fonda's one-night-stand from the previous evening(Susan George) who tags along. Enter the local sheriff, Vic Morrow who is in hot pursuit and attempting to close a dragnet on them in a very expedited fashion. Talk about 'good 'ol boy car chases'. This films got em in spades. It's easy to see why it has a cult following. Between this cast, the car action and the dialogue(which is a lot of fun), it's really a home run.
Director John Hough is an interesting one. This film an interesting anomaly in his filmography, wedged in between his earlier horror films(THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, TWINS OF EVIL) and some Disney fare like the WITCH MOUNTAIN films and WATCHER IN THE WOODS(the 1st film of his I ever saw). He's featured on this disc's commentary track, one of a few special features ported over from a previous release. Also included is "Ride the Wilde Side" A documentary featuring interviews with Hough as well as Peter Fonda and Susan George. Blu-ray transfer looks lovely.
RACE WITH THE DEVIL(1975; Jack Starrett)
The story is pretty simple. Two vacationing fellas(Peter Fonda & Warren Oates) and their wives(Loretta Swit & Lara Parker) encounter some trouble when they witness a satanic ritual murder in the middle of nowhere. When they attempt to report it they are met with a less than enthusiastic response from the local authorities. As they attempt to high-tail it outta town, things start to get a bit creepy and it never really lets up from there.
This is a very solid horror action-er for my money and without a doubt one of the wildest PG-rated movies ever made. It takes the Hitchcock extrapolations from BLOW-UP and THE CONVERSATION into a gritty grimy, truly terrifying realm. This film is the direct line between Hitchcock and THE HITCHER. It's part of a wonderful lineage. If De Palma had been cranking out drive-in genre fair for Roger Corman in the late 70s, he might have made something like RACE WITH THE DEVIL. Director Jack Starrett(also a Tarantino favorite) could have just hung it up between this and THE DION BROTHERS(which is criminally still MIA on DVD) but he did plenty of other notable stuff like SLAUGHTER, CLEOPATRA JONES, THE LOSERS and HOLLYWOOD MAN. He was a somewhat unsung workman who is truly in fine form here. He delivers genre thrills, action and a delightfully menacing atmosphere. RACE WITH THE DEVIL exists in very much the same paranoid universe as DELIVERANCE and it carries with it a sense of dread that can't really be equaled today. I'm a sucker for the pure fear of being trapped in the middle of nowhere in very bad company. Not to rag on cell phones too much, but they really have wrecked the movies a bit in an irreparable way. No longer can I feel the true isolation and terror of a scenario like this the way I used to. This film really holds up though in my opinion. I might even prefer it to DELIVERANCE. I'm not a huge fan of Satan worshipper movies either. I typically find the portrayals of said worshippers to be pretty ineffectual and less than threatening(I always think of ROSEMARY'S BABY for example). That is not the case here. The
cast is just peppered with a lot of eerie looking people and that helps
a lot(as does having R.G. Armstrong as an unsettling sheriff
character). These folks are pretty darned scary(and quite tenacious).
This Blu-ray transfer looks quite nice and the extras are solid(if all ported over from previous editions). The commentary track included features Executive Producer Paul Maslansky and Actress Laura Parker. There's also a featurette called "Hell On Wheels" with Peter Fonda himself.
This Blu-ray set is available from Shout Factory: HERE
Before the release of this set I'd never heard of Nick Carter. It's odd too because I am a fan of both Jacques Tourneur(who directed 2of the 3 films) and Walter Pidgeon. Also Nick Carter as a character was pretty well known as he had a popular radio mystery series.
NICK CARTER, MASTER DETECTIVE(1939; Jacques Tourneur)
"If I'm wrong, I'll apologize." This is New York flat foot detective Carter's catchphrase and he establishes it well in this film. Some plans for a new secret plane that many folks would like to get their mitts on function as the MacGuffin here. Nick is joined in his sleuthing by an eccentric beekeeper(Bartholomew the Bee Man) who really wants to play detective(played by the very memorable character actor Donald Meek). The Bee Man functions more as a comic foil in this film, but he comes into his own in the next.
PHANTOM RAIDERS(1940; Jacques Tourneur)
Nick is summoned by Bartholomew the Bee Man(Donald Meek returns) whilst on vacation in Panama to investigate a mysterious rash of ship disappearances
at sea. A London insurance company that's been paying through the nose
on a bunch of seemingly legit claims suspects sabotage but cannot figure
out how or why it's happening. This film really felt to me like the series hitting its stride. Walter Pidgeon and Donald Meek are a fun duo and I liked their chemistry quite a bit in this one. A hero needs a good and inventive stooge and Meek fills that role well. The Bee Man(known affectionately as 'Beeswax' to Nick) always carries bees with him and sometimes uses them to great effect. This installment features remote bombings by sound wave and
deadly knife-throwing. Fun stuff.
SKY MURDER(1940; George B. Seitz)
A murder on a private plane becomes Nick's new case. In the mix are a "Fifth Column" group of propaganda peddlers very serious about keeping their organization a secret. The dynamic duo of Carter and Beeswax must try to get to the center of this ring of dangerous spies! Cast includes Tom Conway(the Falcon himself!), Tom Neal(DETOUR) and the always creepy Milton Parsons(THE HIDDEN HAND). Zippy little espionage tale.
This set is available as an MOD DVD via Warner Archive: HERE
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