HERO SANDWICH!
THE SEVEN SOUVENIRS (1955)
A COLOUR episode from the syndicated ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN tv series, a major hit of the 1950s, which followed on from a highly successful career in comic books, radio and movies in the 1940s! A crook connives to trick SUPERMAN into converting an alloy used in phony feats-of-strength type souvenir-daggers - supposedly bent by Superman himself, but manufactured in a bench-vice and sold by a harmless but pathetic bric -a - brac dealer, scatty old codger, Mr Willie - into valuable radium by exploiting his X-ray vision. Prod: Whitney Ellsworth. Dir: George Blair. Wr: Jackson Gillis. Phot: Harlod Stine. Ed: Sam Waxmam. Cast: GEORGE REEVES, JACK LARSON, NOEL NEILL, JOHN HAMILTON, ROBERT SHAYNE, Phil Tead (as Mr. Willie), Arthur (Mr. Brown, NATIONAL VELVET) Space (as Jaspe), Louise Lewis (as Lady), Rick Vallin (as Scar Man), Steve Calvert (as Louie). 26 mins. NFVLS..
LIEUTENANT DARING CAPTURES A SPY (1921)
Silent English spy adventure, with popular "High Society" hero Lieutenant Daring! Dir: Dave Aylott. 15 mins. NFVLS.
Highly entertaining, pixillated Mountie-genre send-up involves DUDLEY DORIGHT-type, Sergeant Swell's pursuit of campy indian renegades after they abduct his (not so) hapless prairie gal-pal. Dir: Len Janson, Chuck Menville. 16 mins. NFVLS.
SAFETY WOMAN (1978)
Freelance architect and part-time lollipop lady Karen Kingsley has a close-encounter-of-the-third-kind with a bunch of intergalactic chipmonks who transform her into party-pooping Safety Woman, bestowing apon her silvered aviator sunnies - the "ancient ring of three torches" - a safety-shield ring (more like an orange plastic dustbin lid) capable of freezing time and space - the "teletaker" which does much the same thing, and the "reversal ray", which can run time backwards. Thus equipped, "Guardiana" embarks on a mission to recruit "Danger Dodgers", who are identified by a (somewhat offensive) three-fingered salute. Prod Co: Film Company of America. Prod/Dir: S. Marc Tapper, Karl H. Dempwolf. Created, Wr. Roger Lanoue. Starring Susan Valdes. 16 mins. CAC: HARM HIDES AT HOME.
Chapter one - the 'origin' episode - of Republic's ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL serial! Captain Marvel was the first comic-derived superhero serial. In this first episode of the twelve-chapter serial an archaeological expedition discovers a powerful multi-lensed device known as the Golden Scorpion in the Valley of the Tombs, Siam (that's Thailand to you). This device has the power to smash atoms. Meanstwhile, young broadcaster/ newshound/ radio operator Billy Batson discovers the power of the word 'Shazam!'. Prod Co: Republic Pictures. Dir: William Witney, John English. Wrs: Ronald Davidson... [et al.] Phot: William Nobles. Mus: Cy Fever. Eds: Edward Todd, Charles Thompson. Cast: Tom Tyler (Captain Marvel), Frank Coghlan, Jr. (Billy Batson), William Benedict (Whitey). 17 mins NFVLS.
THE GALLANT LITTLE TAILOR (1957)
A little tailor, plagued by flies, kills seven of them at one stroke. Pleased with his exploit, he embroiders on his belt the words 'Seven at one stroke'. When people read this he is taken for a great hero and sent to fight the giants. By trickery he manages to capture two of the giants and leads them back to the town, where he marries the King's daughter. Prod Co: Primrose Productions. Prod: Carl Koch, Louis Hagan, Vivian Milroy. Music by Freddie Phillips. Dir: LOTTE REINIGER. 10 mins. CAC.
Daffy as a western hero, The Masked Avenger, astride his faithful steed Tinfoil ( - Porky Pig is his sidekick, the 'Comedy Relief' - ) sets out to capture a despicable desperado, Nasty Canasta. As you will surely recall, Daffy fixes Nasty's little red wagon. A less menacing and more comic version of Nasty is seen in BARBARY COAST BUNNY (Jones, 1956), in which he makes the mistake of cheating Bugs out of some gold, and pays for it in a series of gambling losses that defy logic. Prod Co: Warner Brothers. Dir: CHUCK JONES. Scr: Michael Maltese. Anim: Ken Harris, Richard Thompson, Lloyd Vaughn, Ben Washam, Abe Levitow. Vocal Talent: MEL BLANC. 7 mins. NFVLS.
WILLOUGHBY'S MAGIC HAT (1943)
The premise of this rarely-seen Columbia cartoon, such as it is, involves a cap knitted from the hair ( - yecch!) of Samson by Delilah and which she then passes on to her other boyfriend Hercules. Subsequently the cap journeys through history bestowing strength and courage on new owners. When meek and mild Willoughby Wren, a timid little man, buys it and puts it on, it gives him super powers. He ends up fighting crime and evil on the street's of his city, battling a evil robot to save a damsel in distress, climaxing with her rescue from the path of oncoming trains. Eventually he destroys the robot and turns it into a Victory (WWII) scrap-pile. A major running-gag is that the hat keeps falling off at inopportune moments, causing Willoughby much discomfort. Fascinating cartoon from one of the most forgotten cartoon studios of Hollywood's golden age. The animation is highly reminiscent of UPA's early style; the backgrounds are very flat and expressionistic. Too bad it wasn't shot in color! Dir. Bob Wickersham. Anim. Phil Duncan, Howard Swift. Mus: Paul Worth. 6 mins. CAC.
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