Tagged: film

REVIEW: The Muppets

When The Muppets opened in November, I wrote the following on my blog and it holds up now that the film is out this week on home video from Walt Disney.

There has been a tremendous amount of talk in our world about reboots, successful or not, and I just got back from experiencing the year’s single best relaunch of a tired property. Deb, Kate, her guy Mike, and I saw The Muppets and pretty much smiled all the way through, guffawing with pleasantly regularity and wiping away a tear every now and then.

Ladies and gentlemen, please pay attention, because this is how it’s done.

It starts with understanding the property, what has worked in the past and what has not. More than that, though, it is loving the property and all it is about. No one at Disney had the first clue what to do with the property since buying the characters from Jim Henson’s heirs. Yes, Henson wanted the House of Mouse to take care of his people after he was gone, and they’ve held on to them without really having anyone loving them. (more…)

REVIEW: The Descendants

It used to be, Tom Hanks was the everyman who took us into one film after another, giving us a chance to experience the mundane to the fantastic. That role in many ways has been ceded to George Clooney, who displays in one film after another, a charismatic vulnerability that makes you root for him regardless of the circumstances. He brings that empathy to Matt King, the lead figure in The Descendants, out this week from 20th Century Home Entertainment.

Yeah, we all now he was nominated for Best Actor but if you haven’t seen the film; you can watch the video and see the actor lose himself in the character. King is married, with two teen children, and has his world rocked, first by the wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) getting sick and then learning she has been having an affair. While she lingers in the hospital, he goes in search of Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard), his daughters — Alex (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller) — in tow.  Kaui Hart Hemmings’ acclaimed novel is well adapted by director Alexander Payne. (more…)

REVIEW: Immortals

immortals-dvd-7420285Considering director Tarsem Singh and screenwriters Vlas and Charley Parlapanides come from cultures steeped in mythology, you would think Immortals might have a touch of fidelity to the ancient source material. Instead, this incredibly generic looking film barely pays attention to even the most basic elements of the gods, goddesses, and creatures that interacted with man once upon a time. The film, out on home video now from 20th Century Home Entertainment, pays some lip-service to the stories once told to enthrall the masses and focuses on the handsome, well-oiled Theseus, our mortal hero. Played by the Man of Steel, Henry Cavill, he’s used to larger-than-life figures and gamely works his way through a bland script that pales in comparison with the best of Harryhausen and even the various myth-based films of the last few years.

The story in short involves the bad king Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), who wants to bring about the gods’ downfall by releasing their forbearers, the Titans, who languish in captivity within Mount Tartarus. His scheme begins by kidnapping the virgin oracle Phaedra (Frieda Pinto), so her powers can tell him how to bring his scheme to fruition. Along the way, Hyperion pillages a village, killing Theseus’ mother and dragging the peasant into the fray, setting him up to be the hero. While the gods come courtesy of Clash of the Titans, the film’s look owes royalties to 300 (which makes sense since it comes from the same producers without the vision of Zack Snyder) and Gladiator. (more…)

COMEDY, DRAMA, AND PULP, PULP, PULP! ALL FROM RADIO ARCHIVES!

  • News
  • March 10, 2012

newsletterheader-7946446
March 9, 2012
oldtimeradio-8144016
NEW Radio Set: Fibber McGee and Molly – The Lost Episodes, Volume 14

ra234-350-2721939

What makes classic radio comedy? The best comedy writing perhaps for any radio program in history. Memorable, lovable characters. The banter and jokes that people all across the country tuned in for every week. And the best possible leads for a show about an endearing, quirky couple living in small town America. That is why listeners still become fans today of ‘Fibber McGee and Molly.”

It’s not surprising, then, that “Fibber McGee and Molly” enjoyed one of the most successful runs in radio history, being heard on the air in one form or another for nearly twenty-five years. It’s also not surprising that today, over fifty years after they made their last appearance as a team, Jim and Marion Jordan remain a part of our culture; people of a certain age still say “Tain’t funny, McGee” when someone’s joke falls flat and many of the character types used so well on this show still populate Comedy shows today.

For many years, radio enthusiasts and the general public have been enjoying the antics of Fibber and Molly thanks to the generous recording library left by the Johnson’s Wax Company, the long-time sponsor of the series. To add to these programs, RadioArchives.com has acquired many classic episodes of their later fifteen-minute daily series for NBC and has been releasing them in a series of popular compact disc collections – hilarious adventures that literally haven’t been heard since they were first aired in the mid-1950s. Featuring the Jordans, along with neighbors like Wallace Wimple, the Old Timer, and Doc Gamble, played by Bill Thompson and Arthur Q. Bryan, the newly-discovered shows in these collections are just as warm and entertaining today as they were more than fifty years ago.

Providing great laughs and stories until the end, Fibber McGee and Molly – The Lost Episodes, Volume 14 is the final volume in this fantastic series. Transferred from the original NBC master recordings and fully restored for sparkling audio fidelity, enjoy twenty one full length broadcasts, a total of five hours, of hilarity and hijinks for only $14.98 for Audio CDs.

Special note about this fantastic collection. The last show in this set is the very last Fibber McGee and Molly show ever broadcast. Although short pieces would be done for a few more years on Monitor, the final episode in this collection was the last time Fibber McGee and Molly had their own stage to share their magic with the world.

ra220-250-3087364
The Soap Opera as we know it today is not much different than when it began back in the golden age of Radio. The only real difference between then and now is that shows are no longer sponsored by soap companies, hence the name originally attached to these episodic programs full of villains, passion, twists and turns, scandal and rumor and murderous melodrama. In 1947, however, a show that broke the mold and still stands out as a unique example of the soap opera hit the airwaves thanks to the sponsorship of Coca Cola. And this new take on soap operas had a name. Claudia.
The very elements that made Claudia different from other soap operas quickly became its strengths. People came back to “Claudia” for the interesting, fully developed characters, the lighthearted banter, and the familiarity of their day-to-day situations. Given this, most modern listeners view “Claudia” as a continuing daytime situation comedy, rather than as a soap opera — and enjoy it immensely.

The title character and her husband are the best part of the show. Claudia, a bit younger than her years, is often impulsive, sometimes irresponsible, usually perky, and just a bit flighty. Her father had died when she was still a young girl and, as an only child, had been raised by her widowed mother. As she matures, she becomes a unique mixture of enthusiasm, incompetence and over-confidence — deeply in love with her somewhat older husband David, but frequently naive and too likely to trust in her insecurities rather than her instincts. Claudia’s loving and patient husband David came from a substantial family and he had trained to be an architect until World War II interrupted his plans. Like many a returning veteran, he’s working to get ahead in his field, but he sometimes questions whether he’s chosen the right career path.
Claudia, Volume 10 continues the story of Claudia and David restored to the highest audio quality possible, showing not only the success of the program, but also the level of writing involved. Clearly the characters, especially the two leads, grow and mature over the course of the series, as clearly heard in this latest volume now available from Radio Archives on Audio CDs for $17.98.

tommyhancock-1823972ra013-250-6606303

An exotic locale, an ancient city thrust into modern times surrounded by a mysterious desert. People of all types and nationalities, as mysterious as their surroundings and usually running to or away from something. A bar, its smoke filled liquor heavy air stirred by patrons crowding in to drown sorrows or make mischief. And at his own private table in the establishment, the bar’s owner, a man of intrigue himself who always ends up knee deep in danger.
For many Classic Movie fans, that description fits the legendary film “Casablanca” like Dooley Wilson fits a piano. It also applies to a wonderfully exciting radio show that has proven to be popular among collectors today, in part because so many episodes have survived. Rocky Jordan, Volume 1 definitely bears resemblance to the better known classic film on the surface, but really it stands on its own merits, owing more to the Pulp Detective shows and tales of the time than to a film making a not so veiled political statement.
Rocky Jordan, Volume 1 features well known radio character actor Jack Moyles in the title role. Having left the States for reasons never fully revealed, Jordan now owns the Café Tambourine, a nightclub in Cairo that everyone seems to want to buy, hide in, steal from, or die within its walls. And each time, Jordan ends up involved, accused, pursued, or otherwise with his neck in a proverbial noose. Helped or sometimes chased by Captain Sam Sabaaya of the Police, Jordan ends up hard boiling his way through the mystery and mayhem just as each episode comes to a close.
General similarities aside, “Rocky Jordan” is much more Philip Marlowe or Michael Shayne if they happened to own a bar in Egypt that it is ‘Casablanca’. Tough as nails and twice as sharp, Jordan takes no guff off anyone, but Moyles brings a necessary duality to his portrayal of Rocky, making him a guy who can throw his fists like wildfire, yet still give a plug nickel about the common joe. The stories are strong, well paced and tightly plotted tales, guaranteed to excite and wow in the short time given.
audiobooks-2577200
ra409-350-8587955

In the flood of pulp magazines featuring the hard-hitting exploits of a single hero, only one magazine read as if its stories had been torn out of the headlines. That was G-Men, starring the closest equivalent to Eliot Ness and his Untouchables the pulps dared offer up.
The origins of this exemplary series are obscure. Leo Margulies, editor-in-chief of the Thrilling chain, may have been eyeing rival titles such as Secret Service Operator #5 and Secret Agent X, thinking there’s gold in fictionalizing the exploits of undercover men. Early in 1935, Margulies let it be known in the trade that he was planning to issue Secret Service Detective Stories—a bland and uninspiring title if one was ever floated.
But Secret Service Detective Stories never materialized. In April, James Cagney starred in a blockbuster film, G Men.  That July, a radio program by that same name debuted to strong ratings. It later became even more famous as Gang Busters. Pulp editors always looked to Hollywood and the headlines for inspiration. Margulies didn’t need to be hit over the head.  He scrapped the Secret Service concept and appropriated the popular title, which had been coined by gangster George “Machine Gun” Kelly when, after being surrounded by armed F.B.I. agents in 1933, threw up his hands and cried, “Don’t shoot, G-Men! Don’t shoot, G-Men!” Or so the legend goes. G-Man stood for Government Men, specifically F.B.I. agents.
These were the days of iron-fisted Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover battling back the gangster tide that was overrunning major cities all across America. Seeing the local law-enforcement was outnumbered and outgunned—if not compromised—by organized crime he reorganized the old Bureau of Investigation into America’s first national police force—sanctioned to cross state lines in the pursuit of justice. In the pulps, the urban menace of mobster crime had given rise to The Shadow and all the superhuman crime-fighters who followed.
Five years into this ever-shifting reality, Margulies and his editors must have decided the reading public was ready for a crime-crusher who didn’t wear a black cape or a weird mask, and who operated within the law. They were ready for the real deal.
So they created Special Agent Daniel Fowler. Young but hardened, the product of the FBI’s new scientific investigation methods, Fowler and his aides, Larry Kendal and Sally Vane, formed a special roving unit of the Bureau, willing and able to rush to any state in the Union to combat counterfeiters, extortionists and sundry foreign spies.
To write the exploits of such a non-nonsense hero, they understood that they needed a writer of a different cut than the boys who were grinding out The Phantom Detective every month. Maybe they tried a few of their Phantom authors and they flopped. In any case, they called in George Fielding Eliot, a former major in U. S. intelligence.
Titled after an underworld slang term for kidnapping, with the Lindbergh baby kidnapping fresh in the public consciousness, and inspired by the notorious Purple Gang, the premier exploit of Dan Fowler and his team was called Snatch! It was an instant success among readers who had been reading daily newspaper accounts of the F. B. I.’s successful crusade against John Dillinger and “Baby Face” Nelson, and other otherwise-unstoppable Public Enemies. Their bodies were fast piling up—filled with government lead, with no sign of The Shadow or the Spider anywhere in real life.
Seared by crime, trained by Hoover, and motivated by a stern sense of justice, Special Agent Fowler went on to a long and successful career spanning nearly two decades, and a single 1937 film, Federal Bullets. Only the death of the pulp magazine industry put an end to his fame.
In order to do justice to this riveting hero, we’ve recruited the impeccable-voiced Richard Epcar to narrate Snatch! If you like Richard’s hard-hitting performance as much as we do, expect to hear a big announcement regarding Richard Epcar and Radio Archives next month. We can’t wait!
Available for only $14.98 on Audio CDs, 5 Hours of G-Man Action from Will Murray’s Pulp Classics and Radio Archives!
ra407-250-1852961

Part of my love of Classic Pulp heroes stems from their method of operating.  Unlike most modern heroes of today who are content with simply picking up a gun and blasting away at the bad guys until there’s nobody left alive to blast, those Classic Pulp heroes were on a whole other level.  There’s more thought and planning going into their war on evildoers and indeed, for being good guys they had to be far more devious than the bad guys in order to succeed.  Many of the Classic Pulp guys could have become quite formidable supercriminals in their own right if they had decided to go over to the Dark Side.  Take Secret Agent “X” for instance.
Here’s a guy who’s true identity isn’t known to anybody.  Not even his operatives.  There’s a great moment in The Torture Trust where X identifies himself to his main girl Betty Dale by writing the letter ‘X’ on one of her apartment walls in glow-in-the-dark ink.  That’s because every time he shows up to bring Betty into a new case, he looks like a different man.  Secret Agent “X” gets his money from a consortium of millionaires who just dump money into a secret bank account and trust him to do the right thing with it.  Lotta people take this guy X on a lotta faith, if you ask me.
But my paranoia has nothing to do with the sheer exuberant fun of listening to The Torture Trust and a large part of that is the exuberant fun of X himself.  He truly delights in his outwitting his enemies at every turn and escaping the police by just thatmuch.  Before this, I didn’t know that much about Secret Agent X and listening to The Torture Trust is a wonderful introduction to the character and his world. 
As usual, the voice work is excellent.  Radio Archives obviously doesn’t pinch pennies when it comes to acquiring vocal talent for their audiobooks.  I usually go to bed at night intending to listen to just two or three chapters of an audiobook before going to sleep but usually end up listening to the whole thing, so compelling is the voice I’m listening to and so well communicates the energy and excitement of the story.  By all means, give Secret Agent “X” – The Torture Trust a listen. Five hours on Audio CDs for only $14.98 from Radio Archives!
ebooks-7550067

The Best Pulp From Yesterday for Your Digital Reader Today! Radio Archives guarantees that is what you will get with Will Murray’s Pulp Classics line of eBooks!
Find the greatest heroes and best action in these five new exquisitely reformatted classic tales!
Never before had any criminal dared give open challenge to the Spider! Until now. And while they fought — the Spider and the Fly — a new and fearless criminal army was flocking to the dark banner of that gentlemanly killer whose battle cry was “Kill the Spider — and the world is ours!” As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction: “Meet the Spider” especially for this series of eBooks.
“When your people need you most… When Death walks the earth like a man…” spoke Mar-lar-delan, Richard Wentworth’s counsellor in the ancient mysticism of the East, “… in that hour, my son — you will die!” That black hour had come. In such a crisis, the Spider undertakes what may be his last foray! As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction: “Meet the Spider” especially for this series of eBooks.

Doomed to darkness by a murder monger, the Black Bat makes darkness his weapon — and a Mysterious Avenger is born! The foul, ruthless rule of a Lord of Crime, striking terror to a city, calls for the daring and swift justice of Tony Quinn. The Black Bat was the featured story in Black Book Detective magazine beginning in July of 1939, and running through 1953. Blinded former District Attorney Anthony Quinn was the costumed crusader who regained his sight to an amazing extent: he could now see in the dark. With super hearing, an enanced sense of touch and smell, he battled the dark underbelly of crimedom. Around him he gathered a small band of aides, Carol Baldwin, daughter of a small-town policeman, Butch O’Leary, none too bright, but a staunch battler, and Silk Kirby, an ex-crook, now Quinn’s valet.


Unseen, impregnable, the strange war engine of a foreign power hovered over America, waiting the fatal moment to hurl death upon a thousand cities and towns. Foredoomed to destruction and desolation before the ravaging hordes of the Yellow Empire, bleak despair gripped the nation’s millions. And then men held their breath in agonizing hope — as Operator 5, single-handed, seized the last grim chance to save the United States! As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of Operator #5 eBooks.

Men with skulls for faces — these were the victims of that terrible trio who met in a hidden room. And Secret Agent “X” went against them, daring the bottled torment of their deaf-mute slaves, in a desperate battle of wits at the gateway of destruction! From 1934 to 1939 America thrilled to the adventures of Secret Agent “X” — the “man of a thousand faces” — as he battled futuristic weapons and mad scientists. The true identity of Secret Agent “X” was never revealed. He used his mastery of disguise to work undercover for the U.S. government. With his aide, newspaper reporter Betty Dale, and his secretive government handler K-9, he battled weird and fantastical threats to America for forty-one amazing issues.
When you purchase these beautifully reformatted eBooks from RadioArchives.com you receive all three formats in one ZIP file: PDF for PC or Mac computer; Mobi for Kindle and ePub for iPad/IPhone, Android, Sony eReader, and Nook. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your eBook novels to your new device without the need to purchase anything new.
All Radio Archives eBooks are in the Kindle Store and coming very soon to the iBook Store!

Will Murray’s Pulp Classics eBooks are $2.99 each from Radio Archives!

sh58-250-7052899

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! The pulp era’s greatest crimebuster journeys to Maine on golden quests in two thrilling pulp novels by Walter Gibson writing as “Maxwell Grant.” First, The Shadow and G-man Vic Marquette hunt enemy agents sabotaging maritime shipping from a mysterious Castle of Crime. Then, a sea captain’s dying words lead to serial slayings along the long-buried trail to a Dead Man’s Chest and Cuban gold! This instant collector’s item reprints the classic color cover paintings by George Rozen and Graves Gladney and the original interior illustrations by Edd Cartier and Paul Orban, with historical commentary by Will Murray. Yours for only $14.95!
The pulp era’s greatest superman returns in classic pulp thrillers by Laurence Donovan and Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Doc and Patricia Savage attempt to discover the secret behind the baffling series of “black spot murders” that confounds the law. Then, an auction gallery bidding war leads to the abduction of Monk Mayfair. Can the Man of Bronze uncover the sinister secret of The Terrible Stork in time to save his right-hand aide? This special collectors edition showcases the original color pulp covers by Walter M. Baumhofer and Modest Stein, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and a behind-the-scenes article by Will Murray, writer of nine Doc Savage novels. Yours for only $14.95!
The double life of Police Commissioner James Gordon is explored in a pair of two-fisted thrillers that inspired classic Batman stories! First, The Whisperer goes undercover to close down a “School for Murder” that prepares teenagers for criminal careers! Then, Wildcat Gordon investigates corruption in the trucking industry in “Murder on the Line.” BONUS: an adventure of Norgil the Magician by The Shadow’s Maxwell Grant! This historic collector’s item showcases both original color pulp covers by Spider artist John Newton Howitt, classic interior illustrations by Paul Orban and golden-age great Creig Flessel, and historical commentary by Will Murray and Anthony Tollin. Now at Radio Archives for $14.95!
sp22-1935-250-4538695

The Spider, Volume 22 – 1935 & 1940 Variant Cover Editions 
Pulp fiction’s legendary Master of Men returns in two classic novels from the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction, written by Norvell Page under the pseudonym of Grant Stockbridge. First, in “Overlord of the Damned” (October 1935), the Boss unleashes horrible death with his demonic acid guns… with a vat of the same deadly corrosive reserved for those who talk too much! With his beloved Nita van Sloan a hostage to a terrible doom, the Spider faces the soul-tearing prospect of planting the Spider seal on his friend Stanley Kirkpatrick, Commissioner of Police! Then, in “Dictator’s Death Merchants!” (July 1940), The jaws of death gape open when El Crocodilo feasts! With uncanny skill, he forestalls even the Spider’s best attempts to trap him. Striking without mercy, this menace from the past rises anew by demolishing a banking institution each night, in a mad scheme to take control of nothing less than all of America’s finances! This volume is available in two editions and features the original artwork from the October 1935 or the July 1940 edition of “The Spider” magazine. Both versions feature reformatted text and original interior illustrations to accompany each story. Available now for $14.95!
johnolsen-1450080

By John Olsen

sh08-250-2309571

Castle of Doom was originally published in the January 15, 1936 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Now we’re talking! To me, this is what The Shadow is all about. Stealthily stalking through the night, he uncovers strange plottings in an old English castle. Secret passages, ghostly visitations, hidden treasure. Only The Shadow can unravel the secrets of the Castle of Doom!
The Shadow travels to London, England. Tales of crime have crossed the seas to Manhattan, where The Shadow hears of the swift, mysterious crime wave. The theft of gold, jewels, jade, tapestries and much more. Valuables worth a million and a half dollars. Along with the thefts, also murder; two and counting. So, disguised as Lamont Cranston, The Shadow makes a prompt trip to the British capital.
The strange tale gradually unwinds set against a backdrop of a three-hundred-year-old castle sitting high on a cliff overlooking the raging ocean on the rural English coast.  It’s an amazingly intricate story that’s a real joy to read.
This is The Shadow as he is meant to be read about. He is at his full power, with stealth abilities bordering on invisibility. He spends nearly the entire story in the background, skulking about in the dark of night. He appears only occasionally in disguise; he prefers his black cloak and slouch hat. He only rarely needs the assistance of his agent, Harry Vincent. And his mastery of languages now includes the Afghan language, as well as so many others.
We see The Shadow with his portable make-up kit, that small flat box which he uses to manipulate his waxlike features. He only appears briefly as Lamont Cranston. And similarly makes brief appearances as a rustic farmer in one scene, and as Professor Roderick Danglar, of Cambridge, in two others. No one sees any similarity between the three characters, so effective is his skill at disguise.
But it’s as his black-garbed true self that he spends most of his time, here. As he slides across the wide green lawns at midnight, he appears as a flickering shadow cast by the fringe of trees surrounding the estate.
This is one Shadow pulp mystery that I can recommend unconditionally. Mystery and intrigue abound in this atmospheric adventure. Set among ancient underground passages, hidden rooms, secret chambers, spiral staircases, spy rooms and mysterious vaults filled with flapping bats, this story weaves a tale of strange murder! It all makes for a story not to be missed! And You can enjoy “Castle of Doom” and another great Shadow tale in The Shadow, Volume 8 for only $12.95 from Radio Archives!
Comments From Our Customers!
Shaun Pettit:
I ordered “The Whistler – Volume 1” and it is great…The sound quality is superb! I hope to order “The Whistler Vol. 2” real soon!! Thanks to everyone at Radio Archives for the excellent products and customer service.
Ernest Spellmeyer:
Thank you for your prompt response and the quality of your products. I look forward to doing business with you in the future.
Michael Johnson:
Love these pulp reprint books. Thanks!
Clay Carter:
A great story on Jack Benny.  My dad got us interested in Jack’s show when we first listened to him on radio and of course followed by TV.
Dennis Roy:
I’ve recently become interested in your “Will Murray’s Pulp Classics” Audiobooks, after getting the first couple of Doc Savage CD sets. Let me commend you on the selection of pulp stories you have produced thus far.
Allen Hickerson:
LOVED the Spider audiobook! Is there a new one coming out soon?
If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UNSUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.

ra234-350-2721939

What makes classic radio comedy? The best comedy writing perhaps for any radio program in history. Memorable, lovable characters. The banter and jokes that people all across the country tuned in for every week. And the best possible leads for a show about an endearing, quirky couple living in small town America. That is why listeners still become fans today of ‘Fibber McGee and Molly.”

It’s not surprising, then, that “Fibber McGee and Molly” enjoyed one of the most successful runs in radio history, being heard on the air in one form or another for nearly twenty-five years. It’s also not surprising that today, over fifty years after they made their last appearance as a team, Jim and Marion Jordan remain a part of our culture; people of a certain age still say “Tain’t funny, McGee” when someone’s joke falls flat and many of the character types used so well on this show still populate Comedy shows today.

For many years, radio enthusiasts and the general public have been enjoying the antics of Fibber and Molly thanks to the generous recording library left by the Johnson’s Wax Company, the long-time sponsor of the series. To add to these programs, RadioArchives.com has acquired many classic episodes of their later fifteen-minute daily series for NBC and has been releasing them in a series of popular compact disc collections – hilarious adventures that literally haven’t been heard since they were first aired in the mid-1950s. Featuring the Jordans, along with neighbors like Wallace Wimple, the Old Timer, and Doc Gamble, played by Bill Thompson and Arthur Q. Bryan, the newly-discovered shows in these collections are just as warm and entertaining today as they were more than fifty years ago.

Providing great laughs and stories until the end, Fibber McGee and Molly – The Lost Episodes, Volume 14 is the final volume in this fantastic series. Transferred from the original NBC master recordings and fully restored for sparkling audio fidelity, enjoy twenty one full length broadcasts, a total of five hours, of hilarity and hijinks for only $14.98 for Audio CDs.

Special note about this fantastic collection. The last show in this set is the very last Fibber McGee and Molly show ever broadcast. Although short pieces would be done for a few more years on Monitor, the final episode in this collection was the last time Fibber McGee and Molly had their own stage to share their magic with the world.

ra220-250-3087364
The Soap Opera as we know it today is not much different than when it began back in the golden age of Radio. The only real difference between then and now is that shows are no longer sponsored by soap companies, hence the name originally attached to these episodic programs full of villains, passion, twists and turns, scandal and rumor and murderous melodrama. In 1947, however, a show that broke the mold and still stands out as a unique example of the soap opera hit the airwaves thanks to the sponsorship of Coca Cola. And this new take on soap operas had a name. Claudia.
The very elements that made Claudia different from other soap operas quickly became its strengths. People came back to “Claudia” for the interesting, fully developed characters, the lighthearted banter, and the familiarity of their day-to-day situations. Given this, most modern listeners view “Claudia” as a continuing daytime situation comedy, rather than as a soap opera — and enjoy it immensely.

The title character and her husband are the best part of the show. Claudia, a bit younger than her years, is often impulsive, sometimes irresponsible, usually perky, and just a bit flighty. Her father had died when she was still a young girl and, as an only child, had been raised by her widowed mother. As she matures, she becomes a unique mixture of enthusiasm, incompetence and over-confidence — deeply in love with her somewhat older husband David, but frequently naive and too likely to trust in her insecurities rather than her instincts. Claudia’s loving and patient husband David came from a substantial family and he had trained to be an architect until World War II interrupted his plans. Like many a returning veteran, he’s working to get ahead in his field, but he sometimes questions whether he’s chosen the right career path.
Claudia, Volume 10 continues the story of Claudia and David restored to the highest audio quality possible, showing not only the success of the program, but also the level of writing involved. Clearly the characters, especially the two leads, grow and mature over the course of the series, as clearly heard in this latest volume now available from Radio Archives on Audio CDs for $17.98.

tommyhancock-1823972ra013-250-6606303

An exotic locale, an ancient city thrust into modern times surrounded by a mysterious desert. People of all types and nationalities, as mysterious as their surroundings and usually running to or away from something. A bar, its smoke filled liquor heavy air stirred by patrons crowding in to drown sorrows or make mischief. And at his own private table in the establishment, the bar’s owner, a man of intrigue himself who always ends up knee deep in danger.
For many Classic Movie fans, that description fits the legendary film “Casablanca” like Dooley Wilson fits a piano. It also applies to a wonderfully exciting radio show that has proven to be popular among collectors today, in part because so many episodes have survived. Rocky Jordan, Volume 1 definitely bears resemblance to the better known classic film on the surface, but really it stands on its own merits, owing more to the Pulp Detective shows and tales of the time than to a film making a not so veiled political statement.
Rocky Jordan, Volume 1 features well known radio character actor Jack Moyles in the title role. Having left the States for reasons never fully revealed, Jordan now owns the Café Tambourine, a nightclub in Cairo that everyone seems to want to buy, hide in, steal from, or die within its walls. And each time, Jordan ends up involved, accused, pursued, or otherwise with his neck in a proverbial noose. Helped or sometimes chased by Captain Sam Sabaaya of the Police, Jordan ends up hard boiling his way through the mystery and mayhem just as each episode comes to a close.
General similarities aside, “Rocky Jordan” is much more Philip Marlowe or Michael Shayne if they happened to own a bar in Egypt that it is ‘Casablanca’. Tough as nails and twice as sharp, Jordan takes no guff off anyone, but Moyles brings a necessary duality to his portrayal of Rocky, making him a guy who can throw his fists like wildfire, yet still give a plug nickel about the common joe. The stories are strong, well paced and tightly plotted tales, guaranteed to excite and wow in the short time given.
audiobooks-2577200
ra409-350-8587955

In the flood of pulp magazines featuring the hard-hitting exploits of a single hero, only one magazine read as if its stories had been torn out of the headlines. That was G-Men, starring the closest equivalent to Eliot Ness and his Untouchables the pulps dared offer up.
The origins of this exemplary series are obscure. Leo Margulies, editor-in-chief of the Thrilling chain, may have been eyeing rival titles such as Secret Service Operator #5 and Secret Agent X, thinking there’s gold in fictionalizing the exploits of undercover men. Early in 1935, Margulies let it be known in the trade that he was planning to issue Secret Service Detective Stories—a bland and uninspiring title if one was ever floated.
But Secret Service Detective Stories never materialized. In April, James Cagney starred in a blockbuster film, G Men.  That July, a radio program by that same name debuted to strong ratings. It later became even more famous as Gang Busters. Pulp editors always looked to Hollywood and the headlines for inspiration. Margulies didn’t need to be hit over the head.  He scrapped the Secret Service concept and appropriated the popular title, which had been coined by gangster George “Machine Gun” Kelly when, after being surrounded by armed F.B.I. agents in 1933, threw up his hands and cried, “Don’t shoot, G-Men! Don’t shoot, G-Men!” Or so the legend goes. G-Man stood for Government Men, specifically F.B.I. agents.
These were the days of iron-fisted Federal Bureau of Investigation director J. Edgar Hoover battling back the gangster tide that was overrunning major cities all across America. Seeing the local law-enforcement was outnumbered and outgunned—if not compromised—by organized crime he reorganized the old Bureau of Investigation into America’s first national police force—sanctioned to cross state lines in the pursuit of justice. In the pulps, the urban menace of mobster crime had given rise to The Shadow and all the superhuman crime-fighters who followed.
Five years into this ever-shifting reality, Margulies and his editors must have decided the reading public was ready for a crime-crusher who didn’t wear a black cape or a weird mask, and who operated within the law. They were ready for the real deal.
So they created Special Agent Daniel Fowler. Young but hardened, the product of the FBI’s new scientific investigation methods, Fowler and his aides, Larry Kendal and Sally Vane, formed a special roving unit of the Bureau, willing and able to rush to any state in the Union to combat counterfeiters, extortionists and sundry foreign spies.
To write the exploits of such a non-nonsense hero, they understood that they needed a writer of a different cut than the boys who were grinding out The Phantom Detective every month. Maybe they tried a few of their Phantom authors and they flopped. In any case, they called in George Fielding Eliot, a former major in U. S. intelligence.
Titled after an underworld slang term for kidnapping, with the Lindbergh baby kidnapping fresh in the public consciousness, and inspired by the notorious Purple Gang, the premier exploit of Dan Fowler and his team was called Snatch! It was an instant success among readers who had been reading daily newspaper accounts of the F. B. I.’s successful crusade against John Dillinger and “Baby Face” Nelson, and other otherwise-unstoppable Public Enemies. Their bodies were fast piling up—filled with government lead, with no sign of The Shadow or the Spider anywhere in real life.
Seared by crime, trained by Hoover, and motivated by a stern sense of justice, Special Agent Fowler went on to a long and successful career spanning nearly two decades, and a single 1937 film, Federal Bullets. Only the death of the pulp magazine industry put an end to his fame.
In order to do justice to this riveting hero, we’ve recruited the impeccable-voiced Richard Epcar to narrate Snatch! If you like Richard’s hard-hitting performance as much as we do, expect to hear a big announcement regarding Richard Epcar and Radio Archives next month. We can’t wait!
Available for only $14.98 on Audio CDs, 5 Hours of G-Man Action from Will Murray’s Pulp Classics and Radio Archives!
ra407-250-1852961

Part of my love of Classic Pulp heroes stems from their method of operating.  Unlike most modern heroes of today who are content with simply picking up a gun and blasting away at the bad guys until there’s nobody left alive to blast, those Classic Pulp heroes were on a whole other level.  There’s more thought and planning going into their war on evildoers and indeed, for being good guys they had to be far more devious than the bad guys in order to succeed.  Many of the Classic Pulp guys could have become quite formidable supercriminals in their own right if they had decided to go over to the Dark Side.  Take Secret Agent “X” for instance.
Here’s a guy who’s true identity isn’t known to anybody.  Not even his operatives.  There’s a great moment in The Torture Trust where X identifies himself to his main girl Betty Dale by writing the letter ‘X’ on one of her apartment walls in glow-in-the-dark ink.  That’s because every time he shows up to bring Betty into a new case, he looks like a different man.  Secret Agent “X” gets his money from a consortium of millionaires who just dump money into a secret bank account and trust him to do the right thing with it.  Lotta people take this guy X on a lotta faith, if you ask me.
But my paranoia has nothing to do with the sheer exuberant fun of listening to The Torture Trust and a large part of that is the exuberant fun of X himself.  He truly delights in his outwitting his enemies at every turn and escaping the police by just thatmuch.  Before this, I didn’t know that much about Secret Agent X and listening to The Torture Trust is a wonderful introduction to the character and his world. 
As usual, the voice work is excellent.  Radio Archives obviously doesn’t pinch pennies when it comes to acquiring vocal talent for their audiobooks.  I usually go to bed at night intending to listen to just two or three chapters of an audiobook before going to sleep but usually end up listening to the whole thing, so compelling is the voice I’m listening to and so well communicates the energy and excitement of the story.  By all means, give Secret Agent “X” – The Torture Trust a listen. Five hours on Audio CDs for only $14.98 from Radio Archives!
ebooks-7550067

The Best Pulp From Yesterday for Your Digital Reader Today! Radio Archives guarantees that is what you will get with Will Murray’s Pulp Classics line of eBooks!
Find the greatest heroes and best action in these five new exquisitely reformatted classic tales!
Never before had any criminal dared give open challenge to the Spider! Until now. And while they fought — the Spider and the Fly — a new and fearless criminal army was flocking to the dark banner of that gentlemanly killer whose battle cry was “Kill the Spider — and the world is ours!” As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction: “Meet the Spider” especially for this series of eBooks.
“When your people need you most… When Death walks the earth like a man…” spoke Mar-lar-delan, Richard Wentworth’s counsellor in the ancient mysticism of the East, “… in that hour, my son — you will die!” That black hour had come. In such a crisis, the Spider undertakes what may be his last foray! As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction: “Meet the Spider” especially for this series of eBooks.

Doomed to darkness by a murder monger, the Black Bat makes darkness his weapon — and a Mysterious Avenger is born! The foul, ruthless rule of a Lord of Crime, striking terror to a city, calls for the daring and swift justice of Tony Quinn. The Black Bat was the featured story in Black Book Detective magazine beginning in July of 1939, and running through 1953. Blinded former District Attorney Anthony Quinn was the costumed crusader who regained his sight to an amazing extent: he could now see in the dark. With super hearing, an enanced sense of touch and smell, he battled the dark underbelly of crimedom. Around him he gathered a small band of aides, Carol Baldwin, daughter of a small-town policeman, Butch O’Leary, none too bright, but a staunch battler, and Silk Kirby, an ex-crook, now Quinn’s valet.


Unseen, impregnable, the strange war engine of a foreign power hovered over America, waiting the fatal moment to hurl death upon a thousand cities and towns. Foredoomed to destruction and desolation before the ravaging hordes of the Yellow Empire, bleak despair gripped the nation’s millions. And then men held their breath in agonizing hope — as Operator 5, single-handed, seized the last grim chance to save the United States! As a special Bonus, Will Murray has written an introduction especially for this series of Operator #5 eBooks.

Men with skulls for faces — these were the victims of that terrible trio who met in a hidden room. And Secret Agent “X” went against them, daring the bottled torment of their deaf-mute slaves, in a desperate battle of wits at the gateway of destruction! From 1934 to 1939 America thrilled to the adventures of Secret Agent “X” — the “man of a thousand faces” — as he battled futuristic weapons and mad scientists. The true identity of Secret Agent “X” was never revealed. He used his mastery of disguise to work undercover for the U.S. government. With his aide, newspaper reporter Betty Dale, and his secretive government handler K-9, he battled weird and fantastical threats to America for forty-one amazing issues.
When you purchase these beautifully reformatted eBooks from RadioArchives.com you receive all three formats in one ZIP file: PDF for PC or Mac computer; Mobi for Kindle and ePub for iPad/IPhone, Android, Sony eReader, and Nook. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your eBook novels to your new device without the need to purchase anything new.
All Radio Archives eBooks are in the Kindle Store and coming very soon to the iBook Store!

Will Murray’s Pulp Classics eBooks are $2.99 each from Radio Archives!

sh58-250-7052899

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows! The pulp era’s greatest crimebuster journeys to Maine on golden quests in two thrilling pulp novels by Walter Gibson writing as “Maxwell Grant.” First, The Shadow and G-man Vic Marquette hunt enemy agents sabotaging maritime shipping from a mysterious Castle of Crime. Then, a sea captain’s dying words lead to serial slayings along the long-buried trail to a Dead Man’s Chest and Cuban gold! This instant collector’s item reprints the classic color cover paintings by George Rozen and Graves Gladney and the original interior illustrations by Edd Cartier and Paul Orban, with historical commentary by Will Murray. Yours for only $14.95!
The pulp era’s greatest superman returns in classic pulp thrillers by Laurence Donovan and Lester Dent writing as “Kenneth Robeson.” First, Doc and Patricia Savage attempt to discover the secret behind the baffling series of “black spot murders” that confounds the law. Then, an auction gallery bidding war leads to the abduction of Monk Mayfair. Can the Man of Bronze uncover the sinister secret of The Terrible Stork in time to save his right-hand aide? This special collectors edition showcases the original color pulp covers by Walter M. Baumhofer and Modest Stein, Paul Orban’s classic interior illustrations and a behind-the-scenes article by Will Murray, writer of nine Doc Savage novels. Yours for only $14.95!
The double life of Police Commissioner James Gordon is explored in a pair of two-fisted thrillers that inspired classic Batman stories! First, The Whisperer goes undercover to close down a “School for Murder” that prepares teenagers for criminal careers! Then, Wildcat Gordon investigates corruption in the trucking industry in “Murder on the Line.” BONUS: an adventure of Norgil the Magician by The Shadow’s Maxwell Grant! This historic collector’s item showcases both original color pulp covers by Spider artist John Newton Howitt, classic interior illustrations by Paul Orban and golden-age great Creig Flessel, and historical commentary by Will Murray and Anthony Tollin. Now at Radio Archives for $14.95!
sp22-1935-250-4538695

The Spider, Volume 22 – 1935 & 1940 Variant Cover Editions 
Pulp fiction’s legendary Master of Men returns in two classic novels from the Golden Age of Pulp Fiction, written by Norvell Page under the pseudonym of Grant Stockbridge. First, in “Overlord of the Damned” (October 1935), the Boss unleashes horrible death with his demonic acid guns… with a vat of the same deadly corrosive reserved for those who talk too much! With his beloved Nita van Sloan a hostage to a terrible doom, the Spider faces the soul-tearing prospect of planting the Spider seal on his friend Stanley Kirkpatrick, Commissioner of Police! Then, in “Dictator’s Death Merchants!” (July 1940), The jaws of death gape open when El Crocodilo feasts! With uncanny skill, he forestalls even the Spider’s best attempts to trap him. Striking without mercy, this menace from the past rises anew by demolishing a banking institution each night, in a mad scheme to take control of nothing less than all of America’s finances! This volume is available in two editions and features the original artwork from the October 1935 or the July 1940 edition of “The Spider” magazine. Both versions feature reformatted text and original interior illustrations to accompany each story. Available now for $14.95!
johnolsen-1450080

By John Olsen

sh08-250-2309571

Castle of Doom was originally published in the January 15, 1936 issue of The Shadow Magazine. Now we’re talking! To me, this is what The Shadow is all about. Stealthily stalking through the night, he uncovers strange plottings in an old English castle. Secret passages, ghostly visitations, hidden treasure. Only The Shadow can unravel the secrets of the Castle of Doom!
The Shadow travels to London, England. Tales of crime have crossed the seas to Manhattan, where The Shadow hears of the swift, mysterious crime wave. The theft of gold, jewels, jade, tapestries and much more. Valuables worth a million and a half dollars. Along with the thefts, also murder; two and counting. So, disguised as Lamont Cranston, The Shadow makes a prompt trip to the British capital.
The strange tale gradually unwinds set against a backdrop of a three-hundred-year-old castle sitting high on a cliff overlooking the raging ocean on the rural English coast.  It’s an amazingly intricate story that’s a real joy to read.
This is The Shadow as he is meant to be read about. He is at his full power, with stealth abilities bordering on invisibility. He spends nearly the entire story in the background, skulking about in the dark of night. He appears only occasionally in disguise; he prefers his black cloak and slouch hat. He only rarely needs the assistance of his agent, Harry Vincent. And his mastery of languages now includes the Afghan language, as well as so many others.
We see The Shadow with his portable make-up kit, that small flat box which he uses to manipulate his waxlike features. He only appears briefly as Lamont Cranston. And similarly makes brief appearances as a rustic farmer in one scene, and as Professor Roderick Danglar, of Cambridge, in two others. No one sees any similarity between the three characters, so effective is his skill at disguise.
But it’s as his black-garbed true self that he spends most of his time, here. As he slides across the wide green lawns at midnight, he appears as a flickering shadow cast by the fringe of trees surrounding the estate.
This is one Shadow pulp mystery that I can recommend unconditionally. Mystery and intrigue abound in this atmospheric adventure. Set among ancient underground passages, hidden rooms, secret chambers, spiral staircases, spy rooms and mysterious vaults filled with flapping bats, this story weaves a tale of strange murder! It all makes for a story not to be missed! And You can enjoy “Castle of Doom” and another great Shadow tale in The Shadow, Volume 8 for only $12.95 from Radio Archives!
Comments From Our Customers!
Shaun Pettit:
I ordered “The Whistler – Volume 1” and it is great…The sound quality is superb! I hope to order “The Whistler Vol. 2” real soon!! Thanks to everyone at Radio Archives for the excellent products and customer service.
Ernest Spellmeyer:
Thank you for your prompt response and the quality of your products. I look forward to doing business with you in the future.
Michael Johnson:
Love these pulp reprint books. Thanks!
Clay Carter:
A great story on Jack Benny.  My dad got us interested in Jack’s show when we first listened to him on radio and of course followed by TV.
Dennis Roy:
I’ve recently become interested in your “Will Murray’s Pulp Classics” Audiobooks, after getting the first couple of Doc Savage CD sets. Let me commend you on the selection of pulp stories you have produced thus far.
Allen Hickerson:
LOVED the Spider audiobook! Is there a new one coming out soon?
If you’d like to share a comment with us or if you have a question or a suggestion send an email to Service@RadioArchives.com. We’d love to hear from you!
The products you’ve read about in this newsletter are just a small fraction of what you’ll find waiting for you at RadioArchives.com. Whether it’s the sparkling audio fidelity of our classic radio collections, the excitement of our new line of audiobooks, or the timeless novels of the pulp heroes, you’ll find hundreds of intriguing items at RadioArchives.com.
If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, or if this newsletter has been sent to you in error, please reply to this e-mail with the subject line UNSUBSCRIBE and your name will immediately be removed from our mailing list.

Production Finally Begins on Disney’s The Lone Ranger

lone-ranger_clayton-moore-mask1-300x178-1762115BURBANK, Calif. (February 28, 2012) — Production has commenced on location in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado on Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ epic adventure “The Lone Ranger.” The film reunites the filmmaking team of the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” blockbusters—producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski—with Johnny Depp, who created Captain Jack Sparrow in his iconic, Academy Award®-nominated performance and contributed the voice of the title character of Verbinski’s Academy Award-winning “Rango.”

Depp plays spirit warrior Tonto in “The Lone Ranger,” with Armie Hammer (“The Social Network,” “J. Edgar”) starring in the title role. Depp and Hammer are joined by a prestigious international cast which includes Tom Wilkinson, two-time Academy Award nominee (“Michael Clayton,” “In the Bedroom”) and Golden Globe® and Emmy® winner (“John Adams”); William Fichtner (Jerry Bruckheimer’s productions of “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Black Hawk Down”); Emmy Award-winner Barry Pepper (TV’s “The Kennedys,” “True Grit,” “Saving Private Ryan”); James Badge Dale (“The Grey,” TV’s “The Pacific” and “Rubicon”); Ruth Wilson (television’s “Jane Eyre” and “Luther”); and two-time Academy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe nominee Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech,” “Alice in Wonderland”). The film is slated to open on May 31, 2013.

disney-logo-300x72-7170628“The Lone Ranger” is a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

“The Lone Ranger” is written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Eric Aronson and Justin Haythe. The executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Eric Ellenbogen and Eric McLeod.

Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski are joined by a remarkable team of behind-the-scenes artists, including director of photography Bojan Bazelli (Verbinski’s “The Ring,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”); visual consultant Mark “Crash” McCreery (production designer of Verbinski’s “Rango); costume designer Penny Rose (“Pirates of the Caribbean” films); film editor James Haygood (“Panic Room,” “Fight Club”); visual effects supervisor Tim Alexander (“Rango,” three “Harry Potter” films); Academy Award®-winning special effects supervisor John Frazier, a 10-time nominee whose previous collaborations with Jerry Bruckheimer have included “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor” and, with Verbinski as well, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”; and stunt coordinator Tommy Harper (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”).

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Gore Verbinski has enjoyed tremendous box office success as the innovative director of both character-driven franchises and thoughtful genre-bending fare.  Most recently, Verbinski released his first animated film, the smash hit “Rango,” starring Johnny Depp. Grossing over $240 million worldwide, the film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as BAFTA and Annie awards, and received Golden Globe® and PGA nominations. Verbinski previously helmed the hit franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean,” directing the first three films starring Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley. The films have collectively grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide since release. He made his directorial debut with “Mouse Hunt,” starring Nathan Lane, followed by the road movie “The Mexican,” starring Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini. He also directed the smash horror film “The Ring,” starring Naomi Watts.

Verbinski is also a successful award-winning commercial director, having been honored with four Clio Awards and a Cannes Silver Lion Award for his work on an assortment of memorable advertising spots. In addition, he directed music videos for bands including Bad Religion and Crystal Method.

First in partnership with Don Simpson, and then as the chief of Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Bruckheimer has produced an unprecedented string of worldwide smashes, impacting not only the industry, but mass culture as well. Bruckheimer’s films include (producing with Don Simpson) “Top Gun,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Beverly Hills Cop 2,” “American Gigolo,” “Flashdance,” “Bad Boys,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Rock,” and (producing solo) “Con Air,” “Armageddon,” “Enemy of the State,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Coyote Ugly,” “Remember the Titans,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Bad Boys II,” “Veronica Guerin,” “King Arthur,” “National Treasure,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” and the 2011 blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

On television, Bruckheimer had an unprecedented 10 television series airing in the 2005-6 season, a record in the medium for an individual producer. JBTV’s series include “C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation” and its spinoffs “C.S.I.: Miami,” “C.S.I.: NY” and “Without a Trace,” “Cold Case” and the eight-time Emmy® Award-winner “The Amazing Race.”

Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Television have been honored with 41 Academy Award® nominations, six wins, eight GRAMMY® Award nominations, five wins, 23 Golden Globe® nominations, four wins, 105 Emmy® Award nominations, 21 wins, 30 People’s Choice nominations, 15 wins, numerous MTV Awards, including one for Best Picture of the Decade for “Beverly Hills Cop.”

“The Lone Ranger” will film exteriors and studio work in New Mexico, followed by locations in Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

The Point Radio: James Frain From TRON to TRUE BLOOD

From TRON LEGACY to TRUE BLOOD, James Frain has carved out his place in the sci-fi genre and now has even more on his plate including a new car chase thriller, TRANSIT and the LONE RANGER reboot. We talk with James about his new film and why he won’t be involved with a remake of BLADE RUNNER. Plus more Comics In Court – Spidey settles while Tarzan looks for Dynamite.

The Point Radio is on the air right now – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or mobile device– and please check us out on Facebook right here & toss us a “like” or follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

sw-phanto-menace-expanded-visual-dictionary-300x362-2777958

Review: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Expanded Visual Dictionary

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Expanded Visual Dictionary
By Jason Fry
DK Publishing, 104 pages, $19.99

sw-phanto-menace-expanded-visual-dictionary-300x362-2777958Timed for the 3-D release of the most reviled movie in the six film set, it might be appropriate to take this opportunity to reassess the first installment in the modern era trilogy. Jason Fry, a DK veteran, updates and, well, expands the original edition of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Visual Dictionary, originally written by David West Reynolds. Obviously, this edition can now put the characters and settings into context since the subsequent two films are now part of the public consciousness while the 1999 edition could only cover what was seen in this first part.

In keeping with the format, we get two page looks at people, places and things, providing details with large color pictures and cutaways. The opening spread sets the stage and explains what the Phantom Menace is, the galactic politics at the time and the threat posed by Darth Maul and his acolyte.

Of course, over the course of the four dozen entries, we get our favorite characters, droids, hardware, spacecraft, and other elements. It’s a feast for the eyes and the writing is clear and sharp, making it easily comprehendible for young readers on up.

It’s the visual designs that cause us to reconsider. Yes, the story was lacking, the acting flat, and Jar Jar Binks is just plain annoying. I’ll stipulate to all of that so we can note that George Lucas and his design team really took advantage to bring these alien worlds, races, and tools to life. Of late, Lucas has made much of the compromises he had to make on the initial movie where the budget and production realities of the mid-1970s couldn’t possibly bring his vision to reality.

The alien makeups and designs, such as Yarael Poof of the Jedi High Council, or even the winged Watto show a universe far more diverse than anything possible in the first movie. There’s a scope to Coruscant that couldn’t be found on Tatooine. Where Lucas may have gone too far was in high polished everything appears here compared with the more worn look of the worlds visited in the original (and still superior) trilogy.

Where this book could have been stronger was in its organization since there are no chapters or design elements, we go from a handful of Jedi to an invasion force to battle droids and so on. It therefore has a hodgepodge feel that takes away from the overall useful of the volume. As a result, any time you need an entry, you have to go back to the Table of Contents.

There’s just enough information and detail here to tell you what you really need to know and let the real diehard fans and researchers find more data in the various compendia from DelRey Books’ line. If you’re a longtime fan or are just discovering this far, far away galaxy, this is a great primer.

 

REVIEW: A Trio from Hitchcock — “Notorious”, “Spellbound”, and “Rebecca”

rebecca-4630180Alfred Hitchcock is today best known for his work in the 1950s and 1960s, thanks to Universal and Warner Bros. steady stream of restored re-releases on Blu-ray but recently, 20th Century Home Entertainment reminded us that the master director wasn’t exactly idle in the years before. A trio of his 1940s works – Notorious, Spellbound, and Rebecca – are now out on Blu-ray for the first time and it begs a fresh look at his black and white thrillers.

Hitchcock began his stormy relationship with MGM producer David O. Selznick with 1940’s Rebecca, a psychological drama which is noteworthy as the director’s first American film. Adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s bestseller, it featured Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, and Judith Anderson. Being a gothic tale of loss, while gently questioning whether or not Olivier killed his first wife, it was a good fit for Hitchcock, introducing him to the American way of shooting a feature film. Clearly it worked since it went on to win a Best Picture Oscar. (more…)

Busting

busting_coverart-300x423-3096743Back in the early days of cable, movies were rerun endlessly so if you liked one, you could burn their frames onto your retinas and it became a part of yourself. As a result, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for 1974’s Busting. You sit there, scratching your head, and can’t recall the film and there’s no shame in that.

Written and directed by Peter Hyams (The Star Chamber, Outland), it is a buddy cop film before that became in vogue and is very much from the era. It has a nice grainy film stock, makes the cops and the thugs slovenly and a visual shambles. While most of Hyams’ peers set their gritty tales of big city corruption and the only honest cops’ efforts to bring down the kingpin of crime in New York City, Hyams set his in Los Angeles, although you’d be hard-pressed to tell. This is a totally urban LA, one without starlets or the Hollywood sign glimpsed in the distance. It’s a grimy city of pimps, pushers, hookers, strippers, and a few good men.

The men happen to be Elliot Gould and Robert Blake, a year before he became a big star on Baretta. They are companionable detectives, taking no guff from anyone and with a casual attitude, begin working their way to Rizzo (Alan Garfield), the man effectively running the city. Their superior tries to protect them but has given up, throwing his hands into the air, and warning the guys to stay away from the criminal. This is clearly Gould’s film as more is revealed about him and his life than Blake, but they are watching one another’s backs from gay bars to strip clubs.

I’m not giving anything away by saying they get their man, but the lessons the detectives learn along the way, and the harsh reality Rizzo reveals in the final scene gives the film an edge and poignancy missing from many of its contemporaries. Hyams’ script is sharp in subtle ways. As a director, he has some impressive tracking shots notably during the set piece, set inside a sprawling farmer’s market as the detectives hunt down three gun-wielding thugs.

The film received good notices when it first came out, with The New York Times noting Hyams “brings off something of a feat by making a contemporary cop film that is tough without exploiting the sort of right-wing cynicism that tells us all to go out and buy our own guns.” It clearly made an impact on me but it also heavily influenced Aaron Spelling, who more or less ripped off entire sequences frame by frame for his television series Starsky & Hutch. If you want a stronger version with some fun performances and more than a few comics references, Busting is finally available from MGM’s direct-to-disc Limited Edition Collection.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

transformers-dark-of-the-moon-3d-combo-pack-box-art-300x369-1282833There is absolutely nowhere near enough story to sustain the 2:30 running time of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. This third installment in the live-action adaptation of the classic toys and anime is loud, noisy, and very busy but ultimately empty. I kept wanting to turn the channel as I watched the Blu-ray release of the film, available Tuesday in a variety of packages including the four-disc combo (Blu-ray 3-D, Blu-ray, DVD and Ultraviolet digital copy).

Michael Bay by now has mastered how to fill the screen with kinetic action, spectacular explosions and CGI galore. What he continues to misunderstand is that all of this action needs to be grounded with characters we can care about and root for. While Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman gave it a valiant attempt in the first film, they were kind of coasting with the second feature and their writing partner Ehren Kruger was allowed to go solo this time out. Maybe the film feels so pointless because Bay himself didn’t want to make the film for another year, but Paramount forced his hand, announcing the June 2011 release, in 3-D no less.

Kruger had to find a story that would find the Autobots and Decepticons at one another’s throats with the fate of the world once more at stake, while putting good old Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) in the middle. It’s a tall order, no doubt, but the thin story feels like so much linkage between action pieces.

We open three years later as the Autobots have been integrated into the United States’ intelligence community, working with the NEST (Networked Elements: Supporters and Transformers) military force, policing the international political scene. Meantime, Sam has finally graduated college and in a nod towards current economic times, is having a tough time finding a job. Now, for most people that should be a real issue, for a Presidential medal winning hero, he should be the exception, snapped up by NEST or some related field. But that would make him less the everyman; a conceit the franchise seems bent on maintaining. Of course, most Everymen don’t go from one hot girl friend to another and the film makes some comments about this, casually dismissing Megan Fox’s character, who was booted form the franchise because the actress couldn’t avoid pissing off Bay and Steven Spielberg. She is replaced here with English model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, already in a deep relationship with Sam (who calls her “The One”). Unlike Fox’; character, who actually had some emotional stake in the first film; she is merely an attractive appendage throughout this film.

The Decepticons have not sat idle but have been manipulating events to bring about the enslavement of humanity in the name of saving Cybertron, their homeworld. And it all dates back to a Transformer crashing into the Moon in 1961 which we’re told is the real reason President Kennedy insisted we land a man on the satellite within a decade. They needed to beat the Russians to see what collided so near home.

Complicating Sam’s life is the no-nonsense director of National Intelligence Charlotte Mearing and Dylan Gould, his girlfriend’s boss and traitor to mankind. Both new roles are played by actors (Frances McDormand and Patrick Dempsey respectively) who either needed the paycheck or were slumming. Of course, once evil has risen once more, Sam finds himself working alongside the more familiar USAF Chief Robert Epps (Tyrese Gibson) and Seymour Summons (John Turturro), the former Sector 7 thorn in his side from the earlier films.

And with that, we’re off across the world, climaxing in the utter destruction of Chicago as the forces of mechanical good and evil make a lot of noise.

The film is bloated, in need of editing and depth.  No doubt it looked spectacular on both IMAX and in 3-D. This has to be why the film did so well on the international stage, bringing in over $1.2 billion.

Thankfully, it looks and sounds great on both the television and laptop. The CGI is better than ever and it’s fun hearing familiar actors voicing the various Transformers (Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving are joined by Leonard Nimoy, James Remar, George Coe and others).

There’s a disc of Blu-ray extras that are fun to sift through and certainly show the amount of effort went into the film’s production. We have the five-part Above and Beyond: Exploring Dark of the Moon, which is all the usual making of stuff you would expect. Deconstructing Chicago: Multi-Angle Sequences if a four-part exploration of the overblown climax and is really for filmmakers and CGI buffs. The Art of Cybertron gives you a plethora of views of the various mechanical lifeforms and their environments. The Dark of the Moon Archive includes some fun footage of the Russian premiere and other short featurettes. The Matrix of Marketing offers you trailers and a marketing gallery. The best of the bunch I the min-doc Uncharted Territory: NASA’s Future Then and Now, using the film’s premise to look at the real science.

Really, you have to deeply love this nonsense to put up with such an overblown film but at least it gets very nice treatment from Paramount Home Entertainment. It should be noted this is also included in the seven-disc limited collector’s edition that contains all three films and might be the version diehard fans lust after.

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks