If one watches this serial while in the proper frame of mind, it is wonderful. I find several laugh-at-loud moments in virtually every chapter. I recommend it simply for the fun of seeing it as well as imagining a theater full of kids of 1926 who were probably bugeyed watching it.
Little of it makes much sense. There's almost zero continuity. Clichés abound. I've watched it a couple of times and still can't figure out what's going on half the time. But I'll probably watch it again. It is simply a classic example of many serials (and other movies) of the era.
Of course, we have the cliffhanger ending to chapters... some of which make sense and some don't in the succeeding chapter. Ben Wilson is a stalwart hero and Neva Gerber a sometimes spunky, sometimes helpless, sometimes foolish heroine. All the usual sidekicks abound--perhaps too many. We also see a number of Keystone-Kops-type autos racing through the streets.
One of my favorite scenes is in the "Dragon Cafe," the Frog's hangout. Every time we enter, a bevy of flappers and good-time Charlies are doing the Charlston. They barely cease long enough for the cops to chase someone through them, or the crooks to drag a kidnap victim in... then resume dancing again! So many movies of this era present the stooped-over, one-arm-swinging dark-clad hunchback villain. I can't count the number of films I've seen him in! I guess theater goers of that day got a big thrill (chill?) from seeing such a bad guy.
I now own about a hundred serials from the 20s to the 50s, and this is one of my favorites just because it is so... difficult to explain!
Little of it makes much sense. There's almost zero continuity. Clichés abound. I've watched it a couple of times and still can't figure out what's going on half the time. But I'll probably watch it again. It is simply a classic example of many serials (and other movies) of the era.
Of course, we have the cliffhanger ending to chapters... some of which make sense and some don't in the succeeding chapter. Ben Wilson is a stalwart hero and Neva Gerber a sometimes spunky, sometimes helpless, sometimes foolish heroine. All the usual sidekicks abound--perhaps too many. We also see a number of Keystone-Kops-type autos racing through the streets.
One of my favorite scenes is in the "Dragon Cafe," the Frog's hangout. Every time we enter, a bevy of flappers and good-time Charlies are doing the Charlston. They barely cease long enough for the cops to chase someone through them, or the crooks to drag a kidnap victim in... then resume dancing again! So many movies of this era present the stooped-over, one-arm-swinging dark-clad hunchback villain. I can't count the number of films I've seen him in! I guess theater goers of that day got a big thrill (chill?) from seeing such a bad guy.
I now own about a hundred serials from the 20s to the 50s, and this is one of my favorites just because it is so... difficult to explain!