CAPTAIN AMERICA: MORE 1940s STORIES

This weekend’s escapist and light-hearted superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog picks up where my original review of his 1940s adventures left off.

CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS Vol 1 #6 (Sep 1941)

Story 1: The Camera Fiend

Synopsis: Captain America and Bucky prevent the theft of Great Britain’s Crown Jewels by a Nazi spy/ British traitor called the Camera Fiend. That villain wielded a camera (duh) that shot poison darts and other projectiles. He also had a gang of thugs, but they all fell to Cap, Bucky and agent Betsy Ross.

Story 2: Fang, Arch-Fiend of the Orient

Synopsis: Imperial Japanese supervillain Warlord Fang, one of Captain America’s best remembered foes from World War Two, is operating an undercover ring of spies in Chinatown. When Chinese officials in exile arrive in America to discuss what their country is suffering under the Japanese invaders, Fang and his men try to assassinate them but Cap, Bucky and Betsy defeat them. 

Story 3: Captain America Meets the Hangman

Synopsis: Captain America and Bucky are assigned to protect Russian American scientist Dr. Vardoff, who has developed a new type of rope that is fireproof, & incredibly strong but flexible. Our heroes prevent organized crime plus an Italian fascist agent named Dino Cardi from stealing the invention. A costumed supervillain called the Hangman steals the rope material, then uses it to hang Vardoff, his lab assistant and others. Cap and Bucky defeat the Hangman and ultimately expose him as Dr. Vardoff himself. Continue reading

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RICARDO MONTALBAN’S SWASHBUCKLER FILMS

Nobody doesn’t like Ricardo Montalban. From Mr. Rourke to his memorable villain roles, his suave charm and magnetic charisma kept him a star for decades. Here’s a look at his swashbuckler movies.

RAGE OF THE BUCCANEERS (1961) – Montalban stars as 1600s buccaneer Captain Gordon aka the Black Pirate (no relation to the Douglas Fairbanks silent film). He’s a former slave turned pirate and his favorite targets for plunder are slave ships.

Gordon liberates all the slaves on such vessels and loots all valuables. His suffering when he was a slave drives him still and he has a “secret identity” of sorts as a wealthy landowner in San Salvador. Through that identity he covertly keeps abreast of ships with valuable cargos as well as the actions of slave merchants trying to avoid his pirate attacks. 

Ricardo has two ladies vying for his love – stowaway Luanal (Liana Orfei) and the governor’s daughter Manuela (Giulia Rubini). Vincent Price himself plays Romero, an evil politician and slave trader plotting to overthrow the governor and take his place. He also wants Manuela for himself. 

Romero’s most dangerous ally is Captain Tortuga (Jose Jaspe), a ruthless slaver who has clashed with Captain Gordon over the years. Montalban shines as the hero viewers can’t help but cheer for, especially when he thwarts the efforts of slavers to dump their chained human “cargo” overboard to drown rather than have our pirate captain liberate them.

This movie should have been remade in recent decades. I know studios consider pirate movies to be risky ventures but this one seems like it couldn’t miss. 88 minutes. Continue reading

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JANUARY SIXTEENTH NEWS ROUNDUP

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog serves up an end of the week current events roundup.

** SEE BELOW FOR AN UPDATE ON THE RIOTER WHO TOOK IT IN THE EYE WHILE CHARGING ICE. * 

*** NEW: VENEZUELAN HEROINE MARIA CORINA MACHADO LITERALLY GIVES PRESIDENT TRUMP HER NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. Yes, the actual prize. And with a wonderful note accompanying it. What a terrific gesture!

Well, illegal immigrants are still WAY ahead of ICE when it comes to killing people. And since ICE agents don’t rape and torture people, illegal immigrants who commit additional crimes will ALWAYS have higher body counts in those two categories.

*** NEW – The loathsome propagandists at Democrat media outlets are trying to muster up pity for the fool who charged ICE and lost an eye. VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HAVE BEEN MURDERED AND RAPED. HOW ABOUT COVERING WHAT THOSE VICTIMS SUFFERED AS MUCH AS YOU COVER THE CONSEQUENCES OF IDIOTICALLY INTERFERING WITH ICE AGENTS TRYING TO ARREST SAID MURDERERS AND RAPISTS? Steven Crowder and his fans give this man who lost an eye for Tim Walz the criticism he deserves. *** 

MEDIA GARBAGE ALWAYS CLAIMED THAT DETAILING WHAT VICTIMS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME SUFFERED WAS JUST GOING TO DEMONIZE ILLEGALS. YET THEY CONSTANTLY TRY TO DEMONIZE ICE OFFICERS.

Then there are the pretentious, deluded, privileged white Democrat women who attempt vehicular assaults on ICE officers when they’re trying to arrest said murderers and rapists. Sometimes the delusional white Democrats even have their significant others filming what they think is their White Savior grandstanding.

Until reality hits such Darwin Award fools. They love figuratively hitting people they feel won’t hit back since ICE officers are far better people than the mobs they’re forced to defend themselves against. When you go so far as to attack ICE officers it will not end well for you. The rest of us understand that, but not Democrats, apparently.

The unthinking mobs who are interfering with enforcement of immigration laws are NOT heroic “resistance” figures. They are play-acting armchair revolutionaries who have decided to act out self-aggrandizing scenarios on their phone cameras, intending to post them online and reap praise from other cowards who would never have the courage to stand up to REAL fascism anywhere.

And in Minnesota all of this is being egged on by corrupt filth like Tim Walz and Ilhan Omar just to distract from the way that fraud has been funding so many Democrat party activities and officials. Hysterical people are laying down their lives to defend Democrat corruption and to protect illegal immigrants who commit additional crimes.

It’s better to just ignore Democrats and their media outlets when they lie and promote violence and act like there is only ONE permissible way of interpreting events and reacting to them. Democrats do not possess “the One True World View” as I’ve pointed out so many times.   

FROM HIS FIGURATIVE BUNKER, DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR TIM WALZ CALLS UPON THE GERMAN PEOPLE MINNESOTANS TO KEEP FIGHTING AND “RESISTING” (LMAO) FOR HIM. Walz must protect his corrupt operations to the bitter end while pretending it’s all about larger issues.

MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF CONFIRMS THAT THE ANTI-ICE CRIMINALS ARE BREAKING MULTIPLE LAWS AND RIOTING.

STRONG FEMALE ROLE MODEL KAROLINE LEAVITT SMACKS DOWN PROPAGANDIST POSING AS A REPORTER.

UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP AMERICANS’ WAGES, OUTPUT AND PRODUCTIVITY RISE ALONG WITH HIS MANUFACTURING RESURGENCE.

TRUMP EFFECT: UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS FALL AGAIN. He helps the working class and the poor all while fighting America’s notoriously corrupt political gangsters on a daily basis.

CITIZEN JOURNALIST NICK SHIRLEY NOW EXPOSING THE CORRUPTION IN MINNEAPOLIS TAXI COMPANIES. Nick may be the 21st Century equivalent of reporter Ida Tarbell. Continue reading

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THE “NEW” MONSTER MASCOTS CONTEMPLATED BY GENERAL MILLS IN THE 1990s

My recent blog post about the short-lived General Mills cereal mascots Sir Grapefellow and Baron Von Redberry reminded me that – even though I covered the five Monster Cereals from General Mills in 2021 – I had neglected to cover the four new Monster Cereal mascots that General Mills contemplated using in the late 1990s. (Carmella Creeper didn’t come along until 2023.)

This post will remedy that by examining the proposed mascots for what would have been GM’s new cereal flavored like raspberry mixed with hints of other berries.

BRIDE OF FRANKENBERRY

Monster Model: Elsa Lanchester as the Bride of Frankenstein

Comment: Okay, Count Chocula, Frankenberry, Boo-Berry, Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy were long overdue for a female mascot to join their ranks.

Personally, I feel that Yummy Mummy should have been female, and that way Bride of Frankenberry would have been a second distaff addition, but what can ya do?

Downside: Bland, not very monstrous appearance. Fan art (see below) of a spicier version of the Bride made her more monstrous but did nothing to combat the fact that she was basically just a retread. Continue reading

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ADVENTURES IN RAINBOW COUNTRY (1970-1971) FORGOTTEN TELEVISION

ADVENTURES IN RAINBOW COUNTRY (1970-1971) – This forgotten Canadian series starred LOIS MAXWELL herself as Nancy Williams, a widowed single mother raising her teenage son and daughter in a home on Lake Huron in the late 1960s.

Stephen Cottier starred as Nancy’s son Billy while Susan Conway played her daughter Hannah. Billy and his Ojibway friend Pete Gawa (Buckley Petawabano) had various adventures and misadventures which were at the heart of most episodes.

Twenty-six half-hour episodes were produced. The series was among Canada’s highest rated but unfortunately the production company disbanded before additional episodes could be ordered. It has lived on in reruns ever since then.

STANDOUT EPISODES:

LA CHUTE – Billy and Pete scout out campsites and portages for a canoe expedition recreating the journey of explorer Etienne Brule. The priest (Gordon Pinsent) leading the group of youngsters in the undertaking decides to suicidally risk rapids. 

THE FRANK WILLIAMS FILE – A law enforcement official (Donald Harron of Hee Haw fame) tells Nancy, Billy and Hannah that their father/ husband may still be alive. Billy and Pete lead the man to the isolated location where Billy’s father used to have a cabin, only for Nancy to learn the alleged lawman is an imposter.  Continue reading

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NEWS ROUNDUP FOR JANUARY FOURTEENTH

Here’s a mid-week current events roundup from Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog. Democrats continue to do what they always do – exploit death to mobilize their pathetic political robots while trying to canonize victims of their own stupidity. Renee Good is not deserving of more sympathy than the victims and loved ones of murders, rapes and more from the illegal immigrants that ICE is arresting.

The rest of us could churn out hagiographies of the countless victims of illegal immigrants and their loved ones, but Democrats care only about political drama and will ruthlessly use their media outlets to lie and call for violence. And the rest of us can’t bring ourselves to exploit human suffering the way Democrats do on a daily basis.

The people feigning outrage over what law enforcement has to do to defend themselves against Democrat animals who feel they are free to get as violent as they like against law enforcement personnel with no consequences are beyond pathetic. I will say again, show me ONE TIME that these drama queens have shown concern about the dead victims of crime. 

The Democrat Political-Media Complex still owns every single ICE-related death because of their grotesque lies and calls for further violence. More HERE. And calls for a government shutdown to defund ICE are nothing more than this election year’s equivalent of the disastrous Democrat calls to “defund the police” years ago.

And we see the usual nauseating pile-on from wormy and weaselly people who figuratively hold up a corpse to pretend they are above reproach.

THE KIND OF CRIMINALS THAT THE RENEE GOODS OF THE WORLD WANT TO PROTECT FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT. List of illegal immigrant rapists, murderers, child assailants and traffickers arrested this past weekend despite Democrat mobs trying to hinder the authorities.

DEMOCRATS VS THE REST OF US: THE NATION BRACES ITSELF FOR THE REST OF THE VIOLENCE AND LIES THAT THE PARTY WILL UNLEASH ON US THIS ELECTION YEAR. But The Party’s political robots still live by “My political party, right or wrong.”

ICE ARRESTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GANG MEMBER CONVICTED FOR KIDNAPPING, TORTURING AND KILLING A NEW MEXICO MAN. Why do people like Renee Good work to protect criminals like this?

AUTO WORKERS IN MICHIGAN CHEER PRESIDENT TRUMP. The greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime.

VENEZUELANS CHANT “THANK YOU” TO PRESIDENT TRUMP OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE FOR HIS ACTIONS AGAINST THE DICTATOR MADURO.

DEMOCRAT ILHAN OMAR CONTINUES HER IRRESPONSIBLE LIES AGAINST THE ICE AGENT TO TRY DISTRACTING FROM HER TIES TO THE MINNESOTA SCANDALS. More of her lies HERE.

EYES TURN TO THE SIMILAR SOMALI DAYCARE FRAUD IN WASHINGTON STATE.

DEMOCRAT CITY COUNCILMAN IN NEW YORK CHARGED IN DRUG TRAFFICKING INVESTIGATION. But hey, Democrats, maybe another Darwin Award imbecile will try vehicular assault on an ICE agent and you can launch your forever-ready “protests” to distract from this.

PRESIDENT TRUMP CANCELS BIDEN RULES FORCING BANKS TO LEND TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

DEMOCRAT STATE SENATOR CAUGHT REMOVING PORTRAITS OF FOUNDING AMERICANS FROM NEBRASKA STATE CAPITOL BUILDING. No surprise.

MORE DEMOCRAT MALFEASANCE: AUDIT SHOWS ONE BILLION EIGHT HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS MISSING FROM KING COUNTY. Will another vehicular assault on an ICE officer enable the Democrats to distract from this?

BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON REFUSE TO TESTIFY ABOUT THEIR TIES TO JEFFREY EPSTEIN AND HIS ACTIONS. What are they trying to hide? Continue reading

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JOHN CARPENTER’S CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON: SCRIPT REVIEW FROM 1988

JOHN CARPENTER’S CANCELED 1988 REMAKE OF THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON: IN-DEPTH SCRIPT REVIEW – The internet is crawling with all manner of scripts for movies that didn’t get made, but this is the first time I’m mentioning one. That’s because I feel this one could have been a hit. Maybe not a cash cow but a solid hit.

It would have been directed by a John Carpenter still in his relative prime, for one thing. The screenplay gets a detailed break down below, but if you want a quick overview this 1988 Creature from the Black Lagoon would have taken the story in the inevitable direction needed to avoid nothing but quick underwater fights with the title menace. 

At this point the term “Lovecraftian” has been incredibly overused but let’s face it, that atmosphere is needed to breathe new life into this long-dormant franchise. Lovecraft’s tales of Dagon and Innsmouth and the underwater ruins in The Temple would fit this franchise like a glove. 

In addition to a scientific expedition on the Amazon River like in the original film, the script featured  an underwater structure in the Black Lagoon’s depths.

Artwork and hieroglyphics in the pyramid/ temple indicate a prehistoric time when Gill-Men and humans coexisted. Bones of countless sacrificial victims are found by the expedition members as well as multiple fossils of Gill-Men, a species of which the Creature is the last living representative. Continue reading

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CUCUMBER CASTLE (1970) THE BEE GEES, BLIND FAITH & LULU

CUCUMBER CASTLE (1970) – Eight years before the Bee Gees embarrassed themselves on the big screen with a horrible movie forcing a storyline to the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band they embarrassed themselves on the small screen forcing a storyline to their own album Cucumber Castle.

Well sort of. Mostly they just appropriated the title of their song and album Cucumber Castle and fixated on the word “castle” to provide the premise of this 54-minute film made for British television.

Lulu, Spike Milligan, Vincent Price and many more show up in the supporting cast. Sammy Davis, Jr.’s scenes were cut. Or were removed under threats from Sammy’s pal Frank Sinatra. Not so lucky was Eleanor Bron. I can say no more. (See what I did there?) 

The musical misfire was directed by Hugh Gladwish … the director of THE GHOST GOES GEAR (1966), reviewed last week here at Balladeer’s Blog. Barry and Maurice Gibb are the credited writers, however, so the “comedy” sketches are only sometimes as bad as those in the 1966 theatrical movie. 

Cucumber Castle is so awful that not being in it was presumably brother Robin Gibb’s greatest professional triumph. He had recently left the Bee Gees in a huff to try a solo career, and little Andy Gibb was only twelve years old, so Barry and Maurice, who also produced, were left holding the whoopie cushion bag.

In a fairytale land resembling Elizabethan England, a king (comedian Frankie Howerd) is on his deathbed. Barry Gibb plays Prince Frederick and Maurice plays Prince Marmaduke, the king’s sons.

Not only does Howerd resemble Mel Brooks but his intentionally hammy performance as the dying monarch would fit right into a Brooks comedy. And Peter Blythe’s opening narration contained a couple of reasonably funny jokes, so I briefly dared to hope that this telefilm might be better than its reputation.

That was The First Mistake I Made, to force in the title of a Bee Gees song. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE Nth MAN (1920-1924)

Nth ManTHE Nth MAN (1920 – 1924?) – Written by Homer Eon Flint, who died in 1924. Though this short novel was not published until 1928 many fans of the author argue that it was actually written in 1920.

The story is set in what was then the near future of the 1930s. The Nth Man is an enormous humanoid figure with hardened skin like the shells of certain species of animals. He is supposedly 2 miles tall, but that would make many of the events in the novel impractical if not impossible.

The mysterious giant is at first regarded as half rumor and half Tall Tale as he sets the world talking with some incredible actions. He tears apart some of the Great Wall of China, he removes the head of the Sphinx and places it on top of one of the pyramids and he picks up a ship bound for Australia and carries it for thousands of miles.  

BALLADEER’S BLOG

Showing more cognitive purpose the Nth Man also makes off with an entire building to thwart a plot by anarchists and saves a little girl from drowning. All of the preceding deeds have been accomplished under cover of darkness but now the colossus comes out into the open, emerging from San Francisco Bay to tower over the city.  

The Nth Man walks from coast to coast, easily defeating the aerial and land forces that attempt to stop him. You would think this proto-Kaiju sequence would have inspired a film adaptation long ago. The gigantic figure goes to Washington D.C. and lays down some demands from on high. Continue reading

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JANUARY TWELFTH NEWS ROUNDUP

Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog is back with its latest current events roundup. The Democrats in Minnesota, along with trying to incite riots with their lies, are basically saying “At will, our mindless, violent mobs can undo everything that citizens vote for. The ballot box means nothing to us. Elections will not bring what the voters want because our bloodthirsty mobs will prevent it.” 

Naturally the bloated rich pigs of Hollywood and even the long-forgotten Duran Duran (LMAO) are showing the kind of concern for the dead driver that they have NEVER shown for the victims of illegal immigrant crimes.  And as we have seen, if the ICE agent had been killed or crippled by his assailant’s vehicle Democrats would STILL be praising the driver and making her a cause célèbres to stir up further violence.

CHINA’S REGIME HELPED DOX THE ICE AGENT ATTACKED BY RENEE GOOD WITH HER VEHICLE.

ITEM: LET THE DOXXED ICE AGENT’S DEFAMATION SUITS AGAINST THE MEDIA AND DEMOCRATS BEGIN. Hopefully he could get some Nick Sandmann-level money from the crazed Democrats saying he committed cold-blooded murder and similar unfounded accusations.

ITEM: WISE WORDS FOR PRIVILEGED WHITE LEFTISTS WHO ATTEMPT VEHICULAR ASSAULT AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT – “IF YOU DO FELONIOUS ASSAULTS WITH TWO-TON WEAPONS, EXPECT TO BE SHOT.” Will the animals listen, though? More HERE.

MARGOLIS: YES, RENEE GOOD’S ACTIONS MEET THE LEGAL DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM.

ICE ARRESTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHILD RAPIST PREVIOUSLY CONVICTED. Shambling zombie Neil Young and uninformed Mark Ruffalo hardest hit.   MORE ICE STORIES THAT DEMOCRAT HATEMONGERS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW.

“TODAY IN MINNESOTA FRAUD.” The land of 10,000 fraud rings.  DEMOCRATS STALK AND THREATEN TO KILL A JOURNALIST COVERING THE MINNESOTA SITUATIONS. Hey Duran Duran, do a song praising these scumbags, too. 

EVEN CNN’S MOORE COURAGEOUSLY STATES HE CONSIDERS THE MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING “LIKELY LEGALLY JUSTIFIED.” I hope he stays safe against Democrat domestic terrorists.

PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ECONOMY IS GROWING EVEN FASTER THAN ECONOMISTS PREDICTED. More HERE. The greatest president for the working class and the poor during my lifetime.

EVEN ANTI-TRUMP CNBC ADMITS ON-AIR THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS CUT AMERICA’S TRADE DEFICIT BY MORE THAN HALF, TO THE LOWEST LEVEL IN FIFTEEN YEARS. And all while fighting America’s cesspool of political and media corruption.  

ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD COWARD PRETENDS TO BE BRAVE BY CLAIMING WE LIVE IN A DICTATORSHIP UNDER TRUMP, IGNORING THE FACT THAT HE WOULD BE IMPRISONED FOR SAYING THAT UNDER AN ACTUAL DICTATOR. Hey, privileged white one-percenter Apatow, you’re bacteria compared to TRULY courageous people like the protestors in Iran.

TYPICAL ANTI-TRUMP ZEALOT ARRESTED FOR MEETING UP WITH AN ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD CHILD FOR SEXUAL ACTIVITIES. Democrats, can you please leave children alone?  Continue reading

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