The Phantom

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.

Wow, what a show. Now I know the Phantom is immortal, I saw him cheat death multiple times. Since this wasn't a western or a space opera, the writers found a few new ways to put the hero in grave peril. I like most of the 15 episodes, but was a bit disappointed with Devil being a dog, when I remember him being described in the comics and funnies as a WOLF. Oh well, at least the Phantom ran out of bullets, unlike the magic 6-shooters of western fame. I also find it amazing how he had such a difficult time figuring out WHO the Bad Guys were, guess this Phantom was a little too trusting. My real beef was the ending. I endured 14, count them, 14 harrowing escapes by our hero and the the end comes up like a slap in the face. I thought the end was terrible, like the writers went home early and let the janitor finish it up. Nothing to be said about Diana Palmer, so NO spoiler alert here. This was my favorite comic strip growing up in the 60's and I did really enjoy it, actually must better than the movie attempt a few years back. I wish it was in color because I would love to see that purple costume, but all else said, watch and enjoy!!

...from Columbia Pictures and director B. Reeves Eason. Tom Tyler stars as Godfrey Prescott, who discovers at the film's start that he has inherited the mantle of the Phantom, "The Ghost Who Walks", a reputedly immortal jungle protector dwelling in a forbidden, skull-shaped cave in Africa. The natives ascribe all sorts of mystical powers to the Phantom, but he's in fact just a mortal man, well trained in the fighting arts, who cultivates an air of mystery so as to terrify potential adversaries. His immortal reputation comes from the Phantom costume and title being passed from lookalike father to son for hundreds of years, leading the natives to believe that it has been the same being for centuries.

Soon after becoming the Phantom, Godfrey has to battle a sinister group of criminals led by Dr. Bremmer (Kenneth MacDonald) who are after the location of a legendary hidden city that is said to hold unimaginable treasure. Also featuring Jeanne Bates, Frank Shannon, Ernie Adams, Robert Barron, Anthony Caruso, George Chesebro, I. Stanford Jolley, Kermit Maynard, Anthony Warde, Jay Silverheels, Iron Eyes Cody, Ray Corrigan as Brutus the Gorilla, and Ace the Wonder Dog as Devil.

The Phantom is an important figure in the history of the superhero. He was the first one to wear the stereotypical tights costume one associates with the genre. He's basically a combination of the Shadow and Tarzan, but he's proven very popular around the world, with the comic strip still being run in newspapers over 80 years after its debut. So it's no surprise that he'd be the inspiration for a serial during this period. Tom Tyler, who had starred in The Adventures of Captain Marvel in 1941, gets to star again as the hero, and while his dialogue delivery is clunky, he throws great punches, made more amusing since his skull-shaped signet ring leaves skull impressions in his enemies' faces.

Most of this plays like the standard jungle adventure movie, with stock jungle footage, and lots of animal battles. The Phantom fights a lion, a tiger, an alligator, and a guy in a gorilla costume. There are also a lot of superstitious natives, although they are a point of confusion. I wasn't sure for awhile where this was supposed to be set. I know it's a fictional land, but it's supposed to be in Africa. However, all of the natives look white or Native American, and they dress in a silly mix of Polynesian and African tribal looks. It just adds to the B movie charm, and this is one of the more enjoyable serials.

Chapter 11of the VCI DVD had degraded so much that the sound was completely lost. The DVD producers opted to dub the dialogue, adding some unintended humor.

I write my observations after seeing the 1996 version, followed by the 2010 SyFy Phantom production. I can say with confidence that the 1943 version was far ahead of its times and pretty authentic, compared to the later versions.

The fact is that in 1943, a nifty Phantom movie serial could be made, using the most primitive tools and technology (as compared to today's standards), but today's producers find it so difficult to stick to the basic canons of the Phantom mythos and make changes in almost everything, (except perhaps the name of the Phantom). Today's producers need to study this vintage production first, before venturing out on their own. Some of my reasons are below:

1. The Tom Tyler series had a tight script, focused plot and minimal deviation from whatever mythos had been built up by Falk by that time. In a 1940s scenario, with the backdrop of WW II, limited budget, no special effects, no color, no CGI and no trained wolves, the series was the most faithful portrayal of the Phantom we can hope for. Swabacker and Cox can be excused for not showing the Bandar, because the mythos was not so well developed or well known in 1942, but can Boam be excused for declaring right at the start of the 1996 film that the Touganda tribesmen rescued the first Phantom (as a child), when it was actually the Bandar, enslaved by the Wasaka, who rescued the first Phantom, when he was already a grownup? 2. Sai Pana was perhaps the precursor of Morristown; The Tonga village was perhaps the precursor of the Deep Woods. The name, Walker, was perhaps first mentioned here, although I am not sure. How much did Falk pick up from this series? We may never know. 3. Tom himself was cool, muscular and impressive, without spandex; his outfit was a faithful representation of the Phantom's costume. His eyes could be seen, but once he took over as the 21st Phantom, he stopped showing his face. And of course, there were none of the silly grins or wisecracks. Nor did a biker's suit and helmet replace the Phantom's costume, like in the latter day SyFy production. 4. Jeannie was a better Diana than Kristy; No scowling or muttering. She was feisty and expressive as Diana has always been shown to be. 5. Ace, the Wonder Dog as the talented Devil was better than the mangy wolf of the 1996 film; the woods in outskirts of Hollywood were impressive; no exotic locations were required. 6. The 20th Phantom was depicted as old but tough and impressive, by Sam Flint. There was no need to depict him as a doddering old fool, as portrayed by McGoohan in 1996. 7. Of course, the plot was racy, believable and fun. The viewer's intelligence was not sorely tried by showing stuff that was, well, plain unbelievable. I think you guys get the point.

I can go on and on.. but my submission is: why it so necessary to make goofy, avoidable changes in established canons, to make a 'modern' film? If "Breezy" Eason could pull off such an achievement 65 years ago, why is it so difficult to accept the Phantom for what he is, by modern film producers? If the Phantom is an 'aged' hero, wearing a ridiculous costume, so are the others in the DC and Marvel universes. And they are world-wide box office successes. So that 'argument just won't jell. Coming back to more modern times, adopting parkour, making the Phantom look like a Ninja Turtle, having a female Guran who is taller than the Phantom etc. might satisfy the producer's hidden talents for weirdness, but such talents will certainly not improve the fan base of the Phantom. I fully agree that the Phantom character needs to be treated with respect, and the 1943 version succeeded in this, while latter versions failed miserably.

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.