The Phantom

For me as a young boy in the early 1950's going to the flicks on a Saturday arvo with my siblings was my introduction to the wonderful world of show biz and entertainment. Although watching much G rated fun I didn't see this serial but watching it now has helped me relive those times. The Phantom comic was and has been my favorite comic from that same era and this serial closely follows the iconography of those stories and now feel a glow of gratitude for the effort put in by all involved, especially Tom Tyler who made a great Phantom. Sure this is no masterpiece but boy is it entertaining.

This serial has a lot of action and good excitement, and Tom Tyler is very likeable as the Phantom. He is the best thing about the serial. The supporting as is good, including a small army of the villain's henchmen! Another plus about this serial is the super-intelligent German Shepherd dog, Devil, the Phantom's loyal--and invaluable--associate and friend. Among the supporting cast, the professor's niece was attractive and did a good job. I thought the professor himself gave a somewhat weak performance: he seemed so old, he was almost decrepit, in my view, and not very sharp mentally somehow. If you like serials with a jungle setting, you will enjoy this one.

"The Phantom" is one of the better serials released by Columbia Pictures. It benefits from the casting of Tom Tyler in the lead role. Tyler had previously played a comic book hero in "The Adventures of Captain Marvel" (Republic-1941) and was physically suited for the role. Tyler kept himself in good shape and didn't look out of place in the Phantom costume. Although he primarily played in westerns, ironically, it is for these two serials that he will probably be best remembered.

The "run through the jungle" story has Professor Davidson (Frank Shannon) and his daughter Diana (Jeanne Bates) searching for the Lost City of Zoloz and the hidden treasure therein. Their efforts are being thwarted by Singapore Smith (Joe Devlin) who wants the treasure for himself. Kindly Dr. Bremmer (Kenneth MacDonald) an apparent foreign agent, is trying to destroy the peace among the natives, which had been controlled by the Phantom, to build a secret air base.

Geoffrey Prescott (also Tyler) who is Diana's fiance succeeds his father as the Phantom when the older man is murdered. Even though the Phantom wears only a small eye mask to cover his face, in true serial tradition, no one including Diana is able to recognize him.

Over the course of the 15 chapters, the Phantom escapes death from explosions, poison gas, avalanches, a collapsing rope bridge etc. etc. With the help of his trusty dog Devil the Phantom is able to overcome the villains and again bring peace to the jungle.

Although the serial gives billing to only Tyler and Bates there are several other familiar faces (other than those already mentioned) in the cast. Ernie Adams plays Rusty, the Phantom's ally, Dick Curtis a Tartar Chief and Anthony Carouso, George Chesebro, Wade Crosby, Edmund Cobb, I. Stanford Jolley and Kermit Maynard as varios henchmen. And watch for a brief appearance by Jay Silverheels in chapter 9 as an Atari warrior.

Director B.Reeves Eason keeps the action moving and tries to come up with new twists on the chapter ending cliff hangers. The VCI DVD has restored the serial to its original brilliance although some dialogue sequences had to be re-dubbed due to the deterioration of the original soundtrack.

"The Phantom" certainly has to rank as one of the top 5 serials of all time.

Republic was certainly best known for serials, but other studios often got into the act. One of these was Columbia Pictures. In truth, Columbia's serials weren't anything to write home about--but there was one exception: the 1943 THE PHANTOM, which cracks along at a memorable pace with an entertaining storyline, some excellent fight choreography, visually interesting set pieces, and a truly fine performance from Tom Tyler in the title role.

Tom Tyler (1903-1954) was a handsome, well-built man who played in well over 150 films between 1924 and 1953--but whose final years was marred by rheumatoid arthritis that reduced him to small supporting roles. But he was very much at his peak in 1941 when he appeared in the legendary Republic serial THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL--and no less so for the 1943 THE PHANTOM. Seen today, many serial "super heroes" of the 1930s and 1940s look more than a little chubby in their skin-tight costumes, but not Tyler: he had the body to carry it off, and if his acting chops weren't up to the standards of Hollywood's A-List actors they were perfect for this sort of comic book fun.

The story finds the peace of jungle tribes threatened by the evil Dr. Bremmer (Kenneth MacDonald), who seeks to create an airbase for use by an unfriendly country at the long-lost jungle city of Zoloz. But in order to locate the hidden city, Bremmer must obtain "the keys"--pieces of a puzzle-like map--from newly arrived Professor Davidson (Frank Shannon) and his party. Can the Phantom, with the aid of his clever dog Devil, foil Bremmer, protect Davidson, and bring peace to the jungle once more? You better believe it, but before he does there are crocodiles, lions, tigers, a "fire princess," and booby-traps galore to overcome, most of them cleverly imagined and all of them expertly performed. Director B. Reeves Eason keeps everything moving at a sharp pace, and if the dialogue and cinematography are seldom inspired they are never less than entertaining, and there's not a dull moment in all fifteen chapters.

Like many serials, THE PHANTOM does adopt certain racial sensibilities that will cause modern viewers to roll their eyes from time to time. It is actually a bit difficult to tell where this film is supposed to be set: at times the script seems to imply Africa, at other times it seems to imply South America, and the "natives" are pretty much clumsy white men in dark make-up who look silly in diaper-like costumes. Even so, the thing goes like a house afire, and if you're interested in the serial genre this is one you can't afford to miss.

The VCI DVD edition features a nice commentary by Max Allan Collins on "Chapter One," a handful of biographies, and samples of comic book art and lobby cards; the real plus, however, is the quality of the film itself, which is quite fine--and this in spite of an instance where the soundtrack was lost and had to be re-created by modern actors. The picture quality is very good and the sound is more than adequate. Recommended to serial fans everywhere! GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Columbia Pictures was infamous for making infamously bad serials. However, in the early to mid-1940's, they also made some good serials. One of these was called 'The Phantom.' Here are some of the things that make this serial so good:

1. Tom Tyler in the title role. He projected a strong and quietly heroic screen presence, and was athletic enough to look good in the Phantom suit. He is believable in the fight scenes. Superhero suits look good in comic strips, but usually on the screen they look completely stupid. Tom Tyler, a former champion weight lifter, could pull it off. He was also a decent actor. Totally serious, but never camp or inadvertently goofy. I rate him as being almost as good as Buster Crabbe, as far as serial heroes go. Definitely head and shoulders above Kirk Alyn or either of the poor guys that played Batman in the serials. 2. Good fight scenes. 3. Ace the Wonder Dog, playing 'Devil,' the Phantom's dog (in the comic strip, Devil was a wolf, but trained wolves were more expensive). All the great heroes each have certain gimmicks, trademarks, special weapons, etc. Such is Devil for the Phantom, and the idea of the hero being aided in a fight by a big dog is a cool idea. Devil definitely makes the fight scenes more interesting and believable here. 4. Good cliff hangers. 5. Staying reasonably faithful to the original source material. Although taking some serious liberties regarding the comic strip from whence it was inspired, this serial still retains the spirit and appeal of the Lee Falk's creations. Rightly so, the Phantom is a cool character, and should be treated with a little respect.

And now, a short commentary regarding racial stereotypes: in my mind, it has always been problematic that in the comics, the Phantom is an unelected pale-skinned person holding a high degree of authority for a large group of darker-skinned persons. To be fair, the Phantom was created in the 1930's, when there was a lot of overt racism in the U.S., when Lee Falk and most of his readers wouldn't have had anyone to point out this inequity. And to be fair, Lee Falk's representation of African tribes, though entirely fanciful, was much less derogatory than that of Edgar ('Tarzan') Rice Burroughs or of any mainstream Hollywood movie.

Which brings us back to this serial. While all the action takes place in the jungle, there are no positive indications as to whether this jungle is in Africa, South America, Asia, the Canary Islands, or southern Albania. Nor is there any coherent racial representation regarding the natives of this imaginary region. Many were played by Caucasian actors, some by Native Americans (an unbilled Jay Silverheels played a small role), as well as actors of other ethnicities. Overall, their skin color is not much, if any, darker than the Phantom's. Also, the characterization of the natives in this serial, while often fitting an unflattering stereotype, is much less offensive than you see in Tarzan and Jungle Jim films of the same era.

The plot involves a lost city called Zoloz, which is an allusion to the Lost City of Z, which is a fabelled ancient lost city in South America, for which several real-life explorers lost their lives in quest of. It was never found, so someday maybe you may go looking for it. Perhaps you will find the Phantom as well.

All in all, I would recommend this for serial fans, film buffs, and admirers of the Phantom.