Thursday, January 21, 2016

The Phantom Empire

I haven't gotten a chance to see any new movies yet in this new year. However last year there was an original and very creative serial. In it, Gene Autry defends his Radio Ranch from evil gangsters and an underground civilization.... the Phantom Empire!


Over the 12 chapters of the series Gene has to deal with contact with the lost empire of Queen Tika (called Murania) and her Thunder Riders.  Why an underground civilization has cavalry I don't know, but they would ride up to the surface wearing breathing masks given the different air pressures between the two worlds.

These strange horsemen are the inspiration for Frankie & Betsy Baxter (played by Frankie Darro and Betsy King Ross) base the Radio Ranch's fan club off the legend of the Thunder Riders.

The Radio Ranch is used by Gene for his radio broadcasts.  He has a strange contract where if he misses even a single broadcast his show will be cancelled and he will lose the Ranch.  Not a problem because Gene is a stand up guy who lives up to his responsibilities....

....that is until  Professor Beetson (played by Frank Glendon) shows up looking for radium.  He had discovered deposits of it on the Radio Ranch land and now wants to get control of the Ranch.  Given Autry's strange contract the Beetson begins scheming to get the radio show cancelled.

Adding a third faction to this conflict Queen Tika has become worried about surface dwellers from getting too close to her tyrannical realm.  She makes moves to deal with Autry.

As Gene gets caught up in Queen Tika's plans he discovers there is a rebel faction in Murania that want to overthrow the Queen.  With all these factions the action is frequent and has a bit of variation to it.

The series has lots of fun stuff; robots that look like they are wearing cowboy hats, some trick riding, ray guns, some nice views of the city of Murania, and much more.  Of course Gene Autry also manages to get in a song or two.

If you get a chance to see the Phantom Empire it would be time well spent.  It takes science fiction and mixes it with some good-old western action creating something that has never been seen before.

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Invasion of Ethiopia continues & the Supreme Court rules

Tuesday, January 7th, 1936

Italy is continuing its attacks on Ethiopia. On Sunday Italy bombed the city of Degehabur, a town in the eastern portion of Ethiopia along the Jerer River. The war started in October 1935 and the other European powers don't seem too concerned since they don't want to damage their own claims to foreign lands.

Back here in America, the Supreme Court has ruled in the U.S. vs. Butler. Thankfully it appears they made the right decision in that case. Justice Roberts is quoted as saying: "the act invades the reserved rights of the states. It is a statutory plan to regulate and control agriculture and control agricultural production, a matter beyond the powers delegated to the federal government. The tax, the appropriation of the funds raised, and the direction of their disbursement, are but parts of the plan. They are but means to an unconstitutional end." Hopefully the court will continue to strike down more unconstitutional New Deal policies.

Later this week I hope to post a review on the serial "The Phantom Empire" by Mascot Pictures.  Gene Autry in a rather unique series.  Hope to see you then.

Monday, January 4, 2016

January 4th, 1936

Welcome to my new journal.

Here I will explore the culture, politics, and current events as I see them.  With the dawn of 1936 the world is still suffering from economics hardship, new and potentially dangerous ideologies are spreading across the globe, but great scientific advances are also being made and new art is being created.  It will be an interesting year.

I didn't want to open up with politics in this journal, but last night I listened to President Roosevelt's State of the Union Address. Not too much to get excited about.  In fact there was a high degree of stupidity in the speech.

The President said that 85 or 90 percent of all the people in the world were content with the territorial limits of their nations.  I don't think he has ever heard of Africa, or India, or Indochina, or any other area dominated by imperial colonization.  While I have not done my own survey, I'm sure 85 to 90 percent of the subjects of these empires are not happy with their situation.

Later he made a call for the American citizens, Congress, and himself to establish a new relationship between the Government and the people.  That followed by a comment about unscrupulous money-changers made me feel that we were on the path to follow Italy and Germany.

Enough politics for now.  Just have the speech on the brain right now.  In the coming days I hope to get things started with reviews of books and movies.  I'll also do some extra posting during the winter and summer Olympics (both taking place in Germany).  I'll try to cover some boxing as well...   so literature, film, sports, and any other entertainment or cultural events may be subject to future posts.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to check back for updates as the year progresses!