La Maîtresse du Désert

Typical Republic action serial. Stuntman Dave Sharpe is clearly visible in fight scenes involving Clayton Moore. There is a slight facial resemblance from a distance, but Sharpe was smaller in build than Moore. William Whitney, the director, was a master at staging fights, chases and "cliffhangers."

"Perils of Nyoka" was a follow-up to Republic's classic serial "Jungle Girl" released the previous year. The latter film is widely regarded as one of the best serials of all time. So this one had a hard act to follow.

While "Jungle Girl" was set in the jungle, this one is supposed to be set in desert country. In fact, each chapter opens with a scene of men on camels riding across a desert. In the actual story, the desert is nowhere to be seen and the entire story is played against a backdrop that looks suspiciously like one of Republic's "B" westerns. Actually the picture plays more like a western than a sand and sandal epic.

In the previous serial, Nyoka had a different surname and her father was murdered early on. In this story, Nyoka (Kay Aldridge) has acquired a new name, Gordon, and a new father, Professor Gordon (Robert Strange).

The "McGuffin" in this film is the Lost Tablets of Hippocrates which hold the secret to curing diseases such as cancer, as well as, identifying the location of a rich treasure. An expedition led by Nyoka in search of her lost father includes Professor Larry Grayson (Clayton Moore), his assistant Red Davis (Billy Benedict), Professor Campbell (Forbes Murray) and others including a fifth columnist Torrini (Tristram Coffin).

Opposing them is the evil Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her chief henchman Cassab (Charles Middleton). Vultura and her pet gorilla operate from her temple. The usual battles and cliffhangers ensue. Nyoka finds her father who has amnesia and has been leading an arab tribe called the Tuaregs. He regains his memory and joins the expedition to find the lost tablets.

Needless to say they find the tablets. They change hands back and forth until good triumphs over evil in the final chapter.

As with all Republic serials, the stunt work is superb. Dave Sharpe can be visibly seen doubling Moore in the action sequences. Also hidden among the endless supply of henchmen are stuntmen Yakima Canutt and Tom Steele. Also in the cast are George J. Lewis as one of Vultura's henchmen, Kenne Duncan as Nyoka's henchman, John Davidson as a Tuareg chief, Forrest Taylor as the man who deciphers the tablets and Jay Silverheels as another henchie.

The costume worn by Aldridge is much less revealing than the one worn by the lovely Gray, who exhibits a lot more leg than the heroine. Aldridge would go on to make a couple of more serials and then disappear from the screen. Lorna Gray would become Adrian Booth and enjoy a long career as one of Republic's leading ladies. Although they don't appear together, Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels would re-unite as The Lone Ranger and Tonto on TV a few years later. Moore also appeared in several more serials and "B" westerns after WWII. Middleton is best remembered as "Ming the Merciless" in the Flash Gordon serials. Billy Benedict would turn up in the "Bowery Boys" series a few years later.

I'm beginning to understand that movies carry themselves into our minds in different ways.

Some movies have their experience centered on the time when you are actually watching it. Many movies have greater impact in their memory. Its after you leave the theater that the thing really seeps in.

Some movies are carried by the idea behind them. We acknowledge the idea and let the movie wash by us unless it announces how bad it is. But there's another mode that I'm trying to understand, an interest that started when the final (episode 3) Star Wars entry was imminent.

Serials afford us a means to have the effect of the movie suspended between episodes, which makes it more likely that the elements of the thing will merge with or be incorporated in our lives. So I've been studying serials.

Some of these are the most important film experiences you will ever have, from "Phantom Empire" to the TeeVee "miniseries" of "Singing Detective," and for some "Decalog". In between are all manner of beasts. All happen to be more close to archetypes than their one- shot brethren. All happen to employ smaller plot elements but because of the repetition, some can build layer upon layer of density.

Of the seven of eight serials I've been watching is this one. It has no intrinsic cinematic interest, but it the most fun to watch of any I've seen. Incidentally, I think you really need to watch these episodes on different days.

This features low production values, mostly cheesy acting and trite plot lines. But we routinely forgive this (we did with "Star Wars") if the overarching notions stick.

We have the good and bad women, both far closer to pure archetype than real character. The good girl seeks to rescue her father and retrieve an ancient writing with great power to help humanity. The bad girl seeks the same ancient thing but only for riches (and personal power). The struggle between these two is reflective of the same struggle in the minds of filmmakers. They can seek and utilize ancient archetypes for artistic or hedonistic ends.

Having two ripe young women struggle over this, with Egyptian and film Western trappings is about as pure as it gets. This serial is notable in that things actually happen in each segment rather than having the good guys get in precarious situations. In this case, as in the Star Wars saga, the father is captured by the dark side, threatens the group and is deprogrammed back to the good. Also as in Star Wars, there's a guy in a gorilla costume.

The key trick here is how often you think about the thing between watchings. Now that's cinema. It has devolved in modern times to less profound TeeVee formulas. After all, the purpose of these old serials was to engage you in a cinematic life, to subtly convince you to shell out your weekly 25 cents for the film experience.

TeeVee exploitation of the phenomenon is merely to sell stuff unrelated to the life in film.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

An expedition in the Mideast seeks Tablets of Hippocrates with medical secrets. It is not much of a spoiler to say it is the cure for cancer-kind of amusing in giving a modern twist to Hippocrates. The expedition is led by Professor Campbell (Forbes Murray) and Dr. Larry Grayson (Clayton Moore). Nyoka Gordon (Kay Aldridge) is roped in; like her father, she can translate the papyrus giving its location, but her father was lost on a previous expedition (and there are twists). They are opposed by the sexy villainess Vultura (Lorna Gray), who has Arab sidekicks in Cassib (Charles Middleton) and his brigands, all with selfish ambitions. They are played by white actors. Also among the good guys is an Italian double agent, Count Torrini (Tristram Coffin), pretending to be one of them but working for Vultura.

Having the plot focused on a tablet, a papyrus, translation of ancient languages, and treasure gives this serial a real aura of Arabic mystery and intrigue. There are temples, tents, and wide open spaces, with frequent horseback and car (even chariot) chases, enough to give a sense of limited dialogue. Black and white embellish the mystical atmosphere.

As each chapter ends, one or more protagonists are in danger, which they get out of at the beginning of the next one. In contrast to a close sporting event, this movie is a cliffhanger literally-many scenes have people dangling from cliffs or threatened by or threatened inside them. People constantly face up against the fire of guns and of flames, wind, falls into pits, spikes, dynamite, bridge sabotage, and falling boulders or concrete. Nyoka in particular is often tied up by the bad guys. There are many daring escapes.

Whereas the gun firing can involve the good guys more broadly, the many fight scenes (fists, swords, throwing, jumping, grabbing, rolling) mostly involve Larry and Nyoka mixing it up with the villains; they are the central focus, the prime movers. Moore may be no Bruce Lee, but he often fights many at one time. The viewer will wonder if he has more fistfights here than in all the episodes of The Lone Ranger series put together, or maybe all his films? With lots of deft strikes, dodging, rolling around, and rendering unsuccessful the villains' efforts to grab and capture her, Nyoka holds her own and Larry rescues her when she is in trouble.

Nyoka and Vultura are both very pretty. Nyoka is more noteworthy for her athleticism and Vultura for her evil sexiness. As a femme fatale villainess, Vultura is up there with Fiona Volpe in Thunderball in my book (and the pronunciation on Vol and Vul is the same!) Beautiful face combined with sexy legs and a turban. Nyoka and Vultura have a number of good catfights for viewers to enjoy.

Not to forget, Nyoka is assisted by her capable German Shepherd Fang and Vultura by her menacing gorilla Satan. Aside from Fang, Red Davis's (Billy Benedict) monkey Jitters also performs heroic actions for the good guys.

Nyoka and the Tigermen is action-packed, exotic, fast-moving, captivating, and without any dull moments. I highly recommend it.

I miss Clayton Moore. Really. He stars in this Republic serial with Kay Aldridge (another pre-Lara Croft) and does a wonderful job. The plot makes a lot of sense this time. It concerns an American doctor (Moore) who ventures to what looks like a Middle-Eastern country in search of tablets written by Hippocrates that provide a cure for cancer. He meets Nyoka Gordon,(played by Aldridge) who is pitted against Hollywood dust storms, a man in a gorilla suit, funky armpits (when she goes mano-y-mano with the villains in some dirty fighting) and in nasty climactic tussles with Vultura (beautiful Lorna Gray) - and these ain't no hair-pullin' catfights, guys! Republic's stuntwomen were just as tough as the men if not tougher. Vultura and her henchmen do everything in their evil power to stop Nyoka and her handsome hero from getting the tablets, which also lead to a bountiful treasure. During the action Nyoka is even reunited with her long-lost father who is a ruler of some sort. There's even brain surgery going on in one cave while a fight takes place in the next. Hmmm, wonder what would OSHA would've thought of that? Talk about professionalism among the staff! I've heard of office conflicts but this is ridiculous! Seriously, though, this is a good film and well-made. The plot makes sense, the action is good, and it's very easy to follow. It's available as part of Republic's serial collection. Compared to some of the garbage called movie entertainment thrown at us today, I'll take a Republic serial any day.