Mandrake the Magician (1939)

Simply A Masterpiece

Sadly Over-hyped

One of my all time favorites.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

SYNOPSIS: Mandrake battles "The Wasp" who is after a new destructor ray.COMMENT: Very disappointing. Mandrake jettisons his trademark top hat soon after the introductory chapter and never once - never once, mind you - gestures hypnotically. Thus the whole reason for the comic strip's existence is negated in one fell blow. Further indignities are the complete absence of Mandrake's companion, Princess Narda, and the demotion of Lothar from Mandrake's giant Nubian servant to a humdrum, discreetly clothed chauffeur. The aim seems to have been to get rid of the costumes and make Mandrake and his pals as ordinary as possible. True, Mandrake still performs a few magic tricks, but even these are colorless and dull. We could put up with all these waterings-down, if only the serial had the one quality all fans demand, namely thrills. But not only are all the cliffhangers -- well, almost all of them, the miniature work isn't bad and the explosive special effects are startlingly real, but there are not nearly enough of them -- tame, but there's little intermediate action. A car chase in the middle of Chapter 1 in which the pursuing vehicle plunges over an embankment is the best of them, but even this is undermined by clumsy process screen work. Technically, the serial is extremely amateurish. The photography is flat, the sets are dull, the 2nd unit work minimal, the action scenes few and far between. As for the acting, Warren Hull makes a colorless Mandrake, whilst the support players seem to hang around merely to waste our time. True Dick Curtis appears briefly, but most of the heavies, including "The Wasp" himself, are even more tepid than Mr Hull. As for the identity of the poorly-costumed "Wasp", who cares?OTHER VIEWS: Trite, banal, pinch-penny, penny-dreadful serial. Having blown the budget purchasing the rights, Columbia set out to make the picture as cheaply as possible. The players vary from the second-rate Hull to the fifth-rate Weston and Kikume. The directors are Sam Nelson, quite a proficient action specialist, but here forced to work with a minuscule budget; and Norman Deming, a no-talent quickie megaphoner, promoted from the assistant director ranks. Writer Joseph Poland, a specialist in cutting corners, was shortly to join the Republic serial unit. Benjamin Kline, who could light a set faster than you or I could strike a match, was an old Mascot veteran.. As for theater owners, luckless enough to book this serial on the strength of its title, let's hope there are no Mandrake fans in their audiences.

"Mandrake" is a cinema series in twelve chapters released on DVD: Chapter 1 – Shadow on the Wall: Mandrake (Warren Hull) is traveling on board of the S.S. Mohawk to meet his friend and associate Professor Houston (Forbes Murray), who has developed a powerful radium machine. Mandrake is bringing the material Platonite that is essential for its operation. However Prof. Houston is abducted by the gangsters of the kingpin Wasp when he is preparing to demonstrate the machine to his colleagues.Chapter 2 – Trap of the Wasp: Mandrake fight against a gangster that is robbing the machine and the criminal explodes an oxygen vessel to escape. Mandrake follows a lead with his assistant Lothar (Al Kikume) expecting to find Prof. Houston, but it is a trap of the Wasp; however Mandrake gets away from the house. The Wasp needs Platonite to make the machine works and Mandrake plots a scheme to find Prof. Houston pretending that he has the material. The gangsters abduct Mandrake. Chapter 3 – A City of Terror: The plan does not work and Mandrake captures the gangster Brown to interrogate him, but his house is bugged and the criminals kill Brown. Meanwhile Prof. Houston is prisoner in the Wasp headquarter at the Green Valley Rest Home. The Wasp sends a fake Prof. Fred Leland named Reagan to hypnotize Mandrake, but the magician foresees his intentions. Betty is kidnapped by the gangsters of the Wasp in a radio broadcasting station. Chapter 4 – The Secret Passage: The Wasp uses the machine to destroy the radio station but Mandrake and Lothar rescue Betty from the debris. Mandrake seeks out Reagan and Tommy discovers where he is. But the gangsters listen to Tommy through the microphone and head to the Mill River Inn to protect the hypnotist.Chapter 5 - The Devil's Playmate: Mandrake uses a radio detector to find the microphone hidden at his home. He lures the gangsters telling that the formula of Platonite is hidden in his bank and captures the criminal Blair. Mandrake discovers that the Wasp wants to destroy the Interstate Power House. He heads with Lothar to the place but they are overcome by the gang of the Wasp. Chapter 6 – The Fatal Crash: Mandrake and Lothar manage to escape from the power house and the Wasp punishes the gangster that tied Mandrake. Prof. Houston contacts Mandrake but he does not know where he is trapped but he gives a clue. Mandrake takes his plane to travel faster to the spot where he believes his friend is but he is shot and his plane crashes. Chapter 7 - Gamble for Life: Mandrake escapes from the death using the parachute and rescues Prof. Houston. Now Houston intends to build a new machine while Mandrake goes with Lothar and Webster to bring Platonite. But they discover the gang of the Wasp destroying the property and they try to stop them.Chapter 8 – Across the Deadline: Two criminals come to Mandrake's house telling that they will repair the telephone line and Betty lets them in. They actually want to steal Platonite, but when Mandrake arrives, the guys flee. Then the Wasp blows up the dam and Mandrake and Lothar are surprised by the water when they are getting Plantonite in the canyon. Chapter 9 – Terror Rides the Rails: Mandrake asks for a clue about the Wasp in a gas station and when he is ready to receive information, the gangsters blow up the place. Mandrake, Lothar and Webster escape from the criminals and the magician and his assistant take the train. However the Wasp uses the machine against the train causing an accident. Chapter 10 – The Unseen Monster: Mandrake is taken unconscious by men of the Wasp and brought in an ambulance to his headquarter in the Green Valley Rest Home. Webster is also captured by the criminals. Meanwhile his friends are seeking Mandrake out and they reach the Green Valley. Betty is abducted but Mandrake escapes and meets her. But the Wasp explodes the wing to where they are running to escape.Chapter 11 – At the Stroke of Eight: Mandrake and Betty meets their friends outside the sanatorium. Mandrake and Webster find a secret passage that ends in a garage. The Wasp tries to destroy Mandrake house with his friends inside. Chapter 12 – The Reward of Treachery: The house collapses but everybody survives. Prof. Houston and Mandrake suspect that one of their friends is the Wasp. Who might be the Wasp? "Mandrake, the Magician" is a naive adventure based on the newspaper comic strip created by Lee Falk, who is also the author of The Phantom. However Mandrake and Lothar of this movie are very different from the cartoons. There is no Narda, the costumes are not like in the strip and Mandrake spends most of the time in car races or coming to blows with criminals instead of using his hypnotic technique to fight. The music score annoys after 215 minutes running time. In times of home theaters, it is impressive to think that the audiences had to go to the movie theaters to follows the chapters of the movie. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Mandrake, o Mágico" ("Mandrake, the Magician")

Mandrake, the Magician features a dashing, young hero who may not have any super-powers to speak of, but, being a magician (the worlds' best, of course) he does manage to foil the bad guys with a well-timed magic trick, or two. And if that happens to fail, Mandrake can certainly be counted on to throw a mean punch, sometimes heroically taking on up to five of The Wasp's ruthless henchmen all at one time.Presented in 12 super-exciting chapters, this enjoyable, 1939 "Cliffhanger" has Mandrake and his loyal pals taking on The Wasp, a dastardly evil criminal, who will stop at nothing in order to get his greedy hands on Prof. Houston's amazing radium-energy machine.For plenty of laughs and excitement, check out all of the B-Grade action!

While not made with an over-powering budget by any standards and populated with the dime-store variety of plot devices, mediocre special effects, and bearable, workmanlike performers, the Columbia serial Mandrake the Magician has many fun, entertaining moments and is quite thrilling at times. Isn't that what a serial is suppose to be? Warren Hull plays the dapper Mandrake in top hat and tails and seemingly an expert in every field and every form of fisticuffs. With him is his faithful Lothar, a servant who like Mandrake can fight at will and ease under any circumstances. Of course when Lothar fights - the actor playing him Al Kikume is easily seen not to be fighting as the stunt double looks nothing like him. That is just one of a host of problems with the serial in terms of direction, production, and cinematic achievement. Routinely actors are poorly doubled. Fight scenes are nothing more in some instances than actors playing patty-cake with their fists. The identity of the serial villain - the Wasp - is clearly evident in the final three or four chapters. The leading lady - Doris Weston - is as bland as cottage cheese. When would the parade of henchmen end? And some of the storyline about "a machine invented by Professor Houston to benefit mankind"(you remember those catch phrases once you have heard it 12 different times at the beginning of each chapter)was utterly ridiculous with all that nonsense about shutting off/destroying public works so as to let the Wasp take over the world and the platinite(don't ask) needed to fuel it. But despite all these things, Mandrake the Magician is a lot of fun to watch, and I must confess that for at least the first 9 chapters I had to find out who the Wasp was as three of Mandrake's circle were framed so as to suggest each one. Each episode left with some great calamity, and this serial is definitely worth a peek.