A few days ago I checked a book out called Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies from the library. It is a collection of essays on specific historical movies and how well they jibe, or don't jibe, with the history they purport to portray. So far I have found it a very interesting read.
Anyhow, when it comes to historical movies, I have always had a love/hate relationship. On the one hand, I have loved history since I was a boy. I also happen to be one of those people who feels that when someone makes a historical movie, it should be as loyal to the events it is portraying as it possibly can be. There are exceptions to this rule of mine. I have little problem with pirate movies, swashbucklers, costume dramas, and Westerns playing fast and loose with the historical record, as these genres are well known for not following the historical record with the utmost regard for accuracy. I think most people realise that. When it comes to more "serious (for lack of a better term)" historical films, however, I do expect some degree of accuracy. If a movie is about Abraham Lincoln, I expect it to accurately reflect his life. Unfortunately, most historical movies stray from the historical record in some way, often they stray very far indeed.
The perfect example of this is Braveheart. I have often heard my friends who know a good deal about Scotland complain that the Scots were not wearing kilts in the 13th century, but this is the least of the movie's problems. For one thing, no such custom as "prima nocte" or "first night," in which lords are allowed to sleep the brides of their inferiors on the wedding night, ever existed among the English or the Normans, and Edward I (also known as Edward Longshanks) never made such a decree. In fact, this so-called custom was never practised in northern Europe; it is to be found only as a motif in Celtic folk tales. For the movie to claim that Edward I would even entertain such a notion amounts to slander to me. But then to me the movie's potrayal of Edward I is unfair over all. Edward was indeed a hard man. He was very well known for his temper. And he did indeed sanction the use of atrocities against the Scots. But he was hardly the petty tyrant that the movie makes him out to be. He enacted government reforms and revised both English law and the court system. He was also the first king to regularly hold Parliament. He always kept the welfare of the English people at the forefront during his reign. In fact, contrary to the portrayal of Edward as a dictator, Longshanks believed that a king could only rule with the consent and advice of his subjects. Of course, just as the movie paints Edward I as a petty villain, it also whitewashes William Wallace. According to some sources, Wallace's career began with an argument between Wallace and English authorities which ended with Wallace killing a young constable named Selby. And just as Edward I committed atrocites against the Scots, so too did Wallace commit them against the English. Braveheart ignores the fact that both Edward I and William Wallace were remarkable men who each had their own virtues and their own faults. Neither was completely a hero nor completely a villain. I won't even mention the movie's portrayal of Robert the Bruce...
Of course, even when a movie is not as wildly inaccurate as Braveheart, it can give the viewer a skewed view of historical events. An example of this is Quiz Show. Quiz Show centres upon upon Charles Van Doren, the contestant on Twenty One who became an overnight celebrity, and Herb Strempel, the previous champion who "lost" to him. It covers the events from Van Doren's "defeat" of Stempel on the show to the discovery that show (like many other quiz shows of the time) was fixed and Van Doren's final admission in testimony before the government that the game was indeed rigged. Insofar as I can tell, the movie remains fairly loyal to the events as they had happened with regards to Twenty One, Van Doren, and Stempel. Unfotunately, in focusing exclusively on Twenty One, the movie gives the impression that the quiz show scandal entirely concerned NBC. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The show which started the entire "quiz show" cycle of the Fifties was The $64,000 Question, which debuted on CBS in the summer of 1955. It was created by Louis G. Cowan, who based the show on the 1940s radio show Take It or Leave It. The $64,000 Question became a huge hit and sometimes drew better ratings than I Love Lucy. In its wake, other quiz shows debuted (among which was Twenty One on NBC). In a large part due to its success, Cowan became president of CBS. The quiz show scandal broke in May 1958 when an individual revealed that the CBS daytime show Dotto was rigged. Other quiz show contestants came forward to reveal that other shows were rigged as well, among them The $64,000 Question, The $64,000 Challenge, and Twenty One. While there is no evidence to suggest Cowan knew that the The $64,000 Question and other shows were rigged, he was forced to resign as president of CBS. Unfortunately, none of this is mentioned in Quiz Show. Indeed, at no point is any other network than NBC even mentioned in the movie. This could lead to individuals unfamiliar with the quiz show scandal of the Fifties to believe that the scandal only affected NBC, when in fact CBS had even greater problems becuase of it. It seems to me that it would have been simple enough to add a few lines of dialogue to Quiz Show indicating that CBS was also affected by the scandal and that it was not something peculiar to NBC.
Of course, there are many more examples of movies that either wholly disregard history (like Braveheart) or give a wrong impression of historical events (like Quiz Show). I suppose it can be argued that the purpose of movies is not to educate, but to entertain. The problem I have with that idea is that many, many people, perhaps most people, will see these movies and assume that because they are purportedly based on a true story, then they must be true. Whether their makers intend it or not, these movies are then teaching history after a fashion. How many people honestly believe that Edward I decreed that lords should have a right to sleep with their inferior's wives on their wedding night? How many people honestly believe that the quiz show scandal only affected NBC? One would be too many for me. Besides which, often I have found that the actual events of history are more interesting than a movie based on them. An example of this is Titanic. I find the romance between the two fictional lead characters to be much duller than the actual stories of real people that took place aboard the ship. To me, then, Titanic was a wasted opportunity to tell the true (and much more interesting) stories of the people who sailed on the Titanic.
Unfortunately, I doubt that movies will become more historically accurate any time soon. As I said, the purpose of movies is to entertain. Another, perhaps more important purpose, is for them to make money. As long as movie makers are convinced that real history won't sell, I doubt we'll see too many movies that are absolutely loyal to history.
Saturday, August 7, 2004
Friday, August 6, 2004
Books I Read as a Child
These days it seems to me that I don't get to read nearly as much as I once did. As a child I was a very avid reader. Like most kids I started out with Curious George and the books by Dr. Seuss. I am still very fond of both and if I ever have children, it will probably be those books that I start them out with. Indeed, I have often said Dr. Seuss is the greatest poet of the 20th century!
Of course, as I got older I read more sophisticated fare. I don't know what was the first book of any length I read. I think it was The Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. The title sums up the book very well, as Pyle followed the outline of the old legend very loyally. My fascination with Robin Hood, King Arthur, and the Middle Ages began at a very early age, fueled to some degree by the old Adventures of Robin Hood TV series from Britian. In junior high I read another book by Howard Pyle based in the medieval era. Men of Iron followed a squire on his path to knighthood. I remember it being my one of my favourite books as a child. I cannot remember if I read Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott or not, although I seem to remember I read it when I was fairly young. It does seem that it would be the sort of book that would appeal to me.
In addition to various books set in the Middle Ages, I also read books set in other historical eras. To this day, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my favourite novels. And to this day I cannot deny a certain fascination with the Age of Piracy. I think that is true of many boys and I am not sure that we ever grow out of it! I also read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It wasn't the only horror novel I read as a child either. I also read Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. After dozens of movies, I don't think a lot of people think of Dracula or Frankenstein's monster as very frightening, but these books seemed pretty intense to me as a child!
Of course, I have always been drawn to fantastic literature. I have very fond memories of A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle. She wrote two more books in the series, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and An Acceptable Time, but both were published at a time when I felt I was too old for "kids' books." The folly of youth, I guess. I also read The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Lewis wrote the Narnia series as Christian allegory, although it is written in such a way that even non-Christians can enjoy the books as fantasy literature. Given my taste for fantays literature, I naturally read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. As a child I prefered The Hobbit to Lord of the Rings, although the latter grew on me. Both would rank in a top ten of favourite books of all time if I ever made one!
I read a good deal of science fiction as a child. Among these were the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. I read Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, and A Journey to the Centre of the Earth when I was very young. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is still one of my favourite works. Over all, I still prefer Verne to Wells, although I love Wells' books dearly. I read The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and War of the Worlds in junior high.
Of course, my childhood reading was not limited to the "classics." In the Sixties, Bantam had started reprinting the Doc Savage novels from the old Doc Savage pulp magazines. As a fan of superheroes and fantastic literaturee, Doc Savage was naturally right up my alley. I have probably read over 100 of the novels over my lifetime and I still read them to this day. In the wake of Doc's renewed success, other publishers followed suit and reprinted the adventures of other pulp heroes. As a child, then, I also read various adventures of The Shadow, The Spider, and The Avenger.
I think reading as a child did help me a good deal. It gave me a greater grasp of the English language, improved my imagination, and taught me things that I would not have known otherwise (although I don't know how much use knowing what a tesseract is would be in everyday life...). Indeed, I am a writer, even though I do not make enough money at it to make a living from it. I worry that the youth of today may not read enough, distracted as they are by video games, the internet, TV, and movies. The success of the Harry Potter series may be a good sign, so that they may actually be reading books as much as past generations. I hope so.
Of course, as I got older I read more sophisticated fare. I don't know what was the first book of any length I read. I think it was The Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle. The title sums up the book very well, as Pyle followed the outline of the old legend very loyally. My fascination with Robin Hood, King Arthur, and the Middle Ages began at a very early age, fueled to some degree by the old Adventures of Robin Hood TV series from Britian. In junior high I read another book by Howard Pyle based in the medieval era. Men of Iron followed a squire on his path to knighthood. I remember it being my one of my favourite books as a child. I cannot remember if I read Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott or not, although I seem to remember I read it when I was fairly young. It does seem that it would be the sort of book that would appeal to me.
In addition to various books set in the Middle Ages, I also read books set in other historical eras. To this day, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my favourite novels. And to this day I cannot deny a certain fascination with the Age of Piracy. I think that is true of many boys and I am not sure that we ever grow out of it! I also read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It wasn't the only horror novel I read as a child either. I also read Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. After dozens of movies, I don't think a lot of people think of Dracula or Frankenstein's monster as very frightening, but these books seemed pretty intense to me as a child!
Of course, I have always been drawn to fantastic literature. I have very fond memories of A Wrinkle in Time and A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle. She wrote two more books in the series, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and An Acceptable Time, but both were published at a time when I felt I was too old for "kids' books." The folly of youth, I guess. I also read The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Lewis wrote the Narnia series as Christian allegory, although it is written in such a way that even non-Christians can enjoy the books as fantasy literature. Given my taste for fantays literature, I naturally read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. As a child I prefered The Hobbit to Lord of the Rings, although the latter grew on me. Both would rank in a top ten of favourite books of all time if I ever made one!
I read a good deal of science fiction as a child. Among these were the works of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. I read Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, and A Journey to the Centre of the Earth when I was very young. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is still one of my favourite works. Over all, I still prefer Verne to Wells, although I love Wells' books dearly. I read The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and War of the Worlds in junior high.
Of course, my childhood reading was not limited to the "classics." In the Sixties, Bantam had started reprinting the Doc Savage novels from the old Doc Savage pulp magazines. As a fan of superheroes and fantastic literaturee, Doc Savage was naturally right up my alley. I have probably read over 100 of the novels over my lifetime and I still read them to this day. In the wake of Doc's renewed success, other publishers followed suit and reprinted the adventures of other pulp heroes. As a child, then, I also read various adventures of The Shadow, The Spider, and The Avenger.
I think reading as a child did help me a good deal. It gave me a greater grasp of the English language, improved my imagination, and taught me things that I would not have known otherwise (although I don't know how much use knowing what a tesseract is would be in everyday life...). Indeed, I am a writer, even though I do not make enough money at it to make a living from it. I worry that the youth of today may not read enough, distracted as they are by video games, the internet, TV, and movies. The success of the Harry Potter series may be a good sign, so that they may actually be reading books as much as past generations. I hope so.
Wednesday, August 4, 2004
Reality Shows
I have heard that this coming fall TV season there will be a record number of reality shows debuing. I also have to admit that I will be very happy when the reality show cycle comes to an end. I figure that reality shows must be the lowest form of entertainment. Okay, maybe not as bad as the Circus Maximus of ancient Rome, but still a low point for television nonetheless.
Of course, as I see it, many of the shows called "reality shows" aren't really reality shows in my eyes. American Idol and Star Search are often counted as reality shows, but I would consider them just another variation of talent shows--a genre that goes all the way back to 1934 when Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour debuted on radio. To me The Bachelor and Average Joe aren't reality shows either. While they have some elements of the reality shows, I think in truth they are just variations of dating shows typified by The Dating Game. These shows have a long history too, dating back to Blind Date with Arlene Francis in 1949.
Of course, even discounting the talent shows and dating shows, the reality genre has a fairly long history. I don't know if anyone can say what the first reality show was, but one of the earliest was probably People Are Funny. It was produced and written by John Guedel and hosted by Art Linkletter. It was more or less a game show, in which contestants were asked to do outrageous things. It debuted on radio in 1942 In 1954 it moved to television where it ran for many years. In 1944 another early reality show hosted by Art Linkletter debuted on radio, House Party. House Party featured segments in which Linkletter interviewed celebrity guests and segments in which he would he pull someone from the audience and put them in an embarrassing situation. Perhaps the most famous segment was "Kids Say the Darnedest Things," in which Linkletter interviewed children, often playing their straight man. The show moved to television in 1952 and ran until 1969.
Of course, many consider the first true reality show to be Candid Microphone. The show debuted in 1947, the creation of Allen Funt. Funt would use hidden microphones to catch people in ludicrous situations contrived by himself and his writers. The show moved to television in 1948 where it was swiftly renamed Candid Camera. It has ran on television on and off almost ever since.
I must admit that as a child I enjoyed People are Funny, House Party, and Candid Camera. To this day Art Linkletter is one of my favourite people. But People are Funny, House Party, and Candid Camera still seem to me to be innocent, good, clean fun. They were like April Fools pranks on film. Today's reality shows either possess a mean streak or appeal to the baser aspects of human nature. The whole point of Survivor seems to be to see people backstab each other. Extreme Makeover sends the message that appearance is all important. Fear Factor is just plain sadistic. In the Fifties there were critics who complained about the violence in TV Westerns. But those TV Westerns usually featured heroes who were good and had a strong sense of morality. The whole point of reality shows seems to be to de-humanise human beings. If ever there was a sign of moral bankruptcy on television, I would say it came with the debut of The Real World on MTV (didn't they used to show music videos?). As far as I am concerned, the reality show cycle can't end soon enough.
Of course, as I see it, many of the shows called "reality shows" aren't really reality shows in my eyes. American Idol and Star Search are often counted as reality shows, but I would consider them just another variation of talent shows--a genre that goes all the way back to 1934 when Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour debuted on radio. To me The Bachelor and Average Joe aren't reality shows either. While they have some elements of the reality shows, I think in truth they are just variations of dating shows typified by The Dating Game. These shows have a long history too, dating back to Blind Date with Arlene Francis in 1949.
Of course, even discounting the talent shows and dating shows, the reality genre has a fairly long history. I don't know if anyone can say what the first reality show was, but one of the earliest was probably People Are Funny. It was produced and written by John Guedel and hosted by Art Linkletter. It was more or less a game show, in which contestants were asked to do outrageous things. It debuted on radio in 1942 In 1954 it moved to television where it ran for many years. In 1944 another early reality show hosted by Art Linkletter debuted on radio, House Party. House Party featured segments in which Linkletter interviewed celebrity guests and segments in which he would he pull someone from the audience and put them in an embarrassing situation. Perhaps the most famous segment was "Kids Say the Darnedest Things," in which Linkletter interviewed children, often playing their straight man. The show moved to television in 1952 and ran until 1969.
Of course, many consider the first true reality show to be Candid Microphone. The show debuted in 1947, the creation of Allen Funt. Funt would use hidden microphones to catch people in ludicrous situations contrived by himself and his writers. The show moved to television in 1948 where it was swiftly renamed Candid Camera. It has ran on television on and off almost ever since.
I must admit that as a child I enjoyed People are Funny, House Party, and Candid Camera. To this day Art Linkletter is one of my favourite people. But People are Funny, House Party, and Candid Camera still seem to me to be innocent, good, clean fun. They were like April Fools pranks on film. Today's reality shows either possess a mean streak or appeal to the baser aspects of human nature. The whole point of Survivor seems to be to see people backstab each other. Extreme Makeover sends the message that appearance is all important. Fear Factor is just plain sadistic. In the Fifties there were critics who complained about the violence in TV Westerns. But those TV Westerns usually featured heroes who were good and had a strong sense of morality. The whole point of reality shows seems to be to de-humanise human beings. If ever there was a sign of moral bankruptcy on television, I would say it came with the debut of The Real World on MTV (didn't they used to show music videos?). As far as I am concerned, the reality show cycle can't end soon enough.
Monday, August 2, 2004
Obscure Cartoons
Today I am thinking about cartoons again. I have no idea how many cartoons have aired on Saturday mornings in the past forty years, but it seems to me that the average cartoon is forgotten as soon as it goes off the air. I have fond memories of many cartoons from my childhood that I seriously doubt most children would recognise today. In fact, I don't think I have seen any of them on cable in recent years, not even on the Cartoon Network.
This is especially sad of Beany and Cecil. I only have vague memories of the cartoon, although I know it was one of my favourites as a child (I remember I had a Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent jack in the box that was one of my favourite toys). From what I understand, however, the show is considered something of a classic in animation circles. That should come as no surprise, as it was created by Bob Clampett, the veteran animator who had worked at Warner Brothers making the early Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons. Among other things, he designed Porky Pig and introduced Tweety. After a stint at Screen Gems (Columbia's animation studio), he went into television with the puppet show Time for Beany. Given Clampett's past, it was perhaps inevitable that the puppet show would one day become an animated series. Beany and Cecil followed the adventures of Beany and his friend Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent as they travelled with Captain Huffenpuff aboard his boat the Leakin' Lena. A constant, but comical threat was the villain Dishonest John. Beany and Cecil was filled with Clampett's love for puns, song, parody, and satire. Through the cartoon, Clampett spoofed everything from TV production to New York to Disneyland (a particular episode which very nearly got Clampett in trouble...). Despite the fact that Beany and Cecil is recognised as a classic, I doubt many adults, let alone children have heard of it.
I remember Cool McCool better than I can Beany and Cecil. Cool McCool was the creation of Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman. Cool McCool was a bumbling superspy who dressed in a trenchcoat and an ascot, sporting a ridiculous moustache (I thought Matt Dillon in There's Something About Mary looked a lot like McCool). Like any superspy, he had an array of gadgets at his command, including the Coolmobile (which would come to him when he whistled) and his moustache radio. Unlike any other superspy, McCool fought supervillains such as Dr. Madcap, Hurricane Harry, the Jack in the Box, the Owl, and the Rattler. McCool also had his own slogan--"Danger is my business (picture Jack Benny saying that and you have an idea of how he sounded)." I have no idea if Cool McCool was any good, although I remember watching it loyally as a child.
Another cartoon from my childhood was The Super 6. It followed the adventures of six superheroes who worked for Super Services Incorporated. The six were the Brothers Matzoriley, Captain Whammo, Elevator Man, Granite Man, Magneto Man, and Super Scuba (I guess the Brothers Matzoriley counted as one member...). The Super 6 also featured a separate segment about a hero called Super Bwoing, which I remember as my favourite. Super Bwoing whose superpower was his guitar--he even flew around on the thing, riding it like a surfboard!
Another cartoon I remember also dealt with bizarre superheroes. The Mighty Heroes was probably one of the last original Terrytoons to air on a network. The series was the creation of Ralph Bakshi, who go onto make such animated features as Wizards and American Pop The Mighty Heroes were Cuckoo Man, Diaper Man (the leader of the group), Rope Man, Strong Man, and Tornado Man. Together they fought such villains as Enlarger, Frog, The Shrinker, and Toy Man. Unfortunately, The Mighty Heroes haven't been seen much since their series went off the air.
Of course, all of these cartoons aired in the Sixties when I was very young. In fact, I was only about four years old when both Beany and Cecil and The Mighty Heroes left the air. Oddly enough, I don't remember much about cartoons from when I was older. I think that this probably has to do with my idea that the Golden Age of Saturday morning cartoons ended in 1968. After that, the cartoons were pretty forgettable. If the Cartoon Network didn't insist on rerunning Scooby Doo, Where Are You? twenty times a day, I probably wouldn't remember it at all....
This is especially sad of Beany and Cecil. I only have vague memories of the cartoon, although I know it was one of my favourites as a child (I remember I had a Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent jack in the box that was one of my favourite toys). From what I understand, however, the show is considered something of a classic in animation circles. That should come as no surprise, as it was created by Bob Clampett, the veteran animator who had worked at Warner Brothers making the early Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons. Among other things, he designed Porky Pig and introduced Tweety. After a stint at Screen Gems (Columbia's animation studio), he went into television with the puppet show Time for Beany. Given Clampett's past, it was perhaps inevitable that the puppet show would one day become an animated series. Beany and Cecil followed the adventures of Beany and his friend Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent as they travelled with Captain Huffenpuff aboard his boat the Leakin' Lena. A constant, but comical threat was the villain Dishonest John. Beany and Cecil was filled with Clampett's love for puns, song, parody, and satire. Through the cartoon, Clampett spoofed everything from TV production to New York to Disneyland (a particular episode which very nearly got Clampett in trouble...). Despite the fact that Beany and Cecil is recognised as a classic, I doubt many adults, let alone children have heard of it.
I remember Cool McCool better than I can Beany and Cecil. Cool McCool was the creation of Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman. Cool McCool was a bumbling superspy who dressed in a trenchcoat and an ascot, sporting a ridiculous moustache (I thought Matt Dillon in There's Something About Mary looked a lot like McCool). Like any superspy, he had an array of gadgets at his command, including the Coolmobile (which would come to him when he whistled) and his moustache radio. Unlike any other superspy, McCool fought supervillains such as Dr. Madcap, Hurricane Harry, the Jack in the Box, the Owl, and the Rattler. McCool also had his own slogan--"Danger is my business (picture Jack Benny saying that and you have an idea of how he sounded)." I have no idea if Cool McCool was any good, although I remember watching it loyally as a child.
Another cartoon from my childhood was The Super 6. It followed the adventures of six superheroes who worked for Super Services Incorporated. The six were the Brothers Matzoriley, Captain Whammo, Elevator Man, Granite Man, Magneto Man, and Super Scuba (I guess the Brothers Matzoriley counted as one member...). The Super 6 also featured a separate segment about a hero called Super Bwoing, which I remember as my favourite. Super Bwoing whose superpower was his guitar--he even flew around on the thing, riding it like a surfboard!
Another cartoon I remember also dealt with bizarre superheroes. The Mighty Heroes was probably one of the last original Terrytoons to air on a network. The series was the creation of Ralph Bakshi, who go onto make such animated features as Wizards and American Pop The Mighty Heroes were Cuckoo Man, Diaper Man (the leader of the group), Rope Man, Strong Man, and Tornado Man. Together they fought such villains as Enlarger, Frog, The Shrinker, and Toy Man. Unfortunately, The Mighty Heroes haven't been seen much since their series went off the air.
Of course, all of these cartoons aired in the Sixties when I was very young. In fact, I was only about four years old when both Beany and Cecil and The Mighty Heroes left the air. Oddly enough, I don't remember much about cartoons from when I was older. I think that this probably has to do with my idea that the Golden Age of Saturday morning cartoons ended in 1968. After that, the cartoons were pretty forgettable. If the Cartoon Network didn't insist on rerunning Scooby Doo, Where Are You? twenty times a day, I probably wouldn't remember it at all....
Friday, July 30, 2004
Spy Shows of the Sixties
I hope no one reading this minds me going back once more to the subject of television. It is a subject with which I am fascinated, particularly the television shows of my childhood. Indeed, I have to admit that I have a fascination for television history, particularly the cycles through which network television goes. Discussing the legal drama cycle which appears to finally be coming to an end got me to thinking of one of my favourite cycles of television history--the spy shows of the Sixties. I was far too young to remember most of them, although I did catch many of them in reruns.
The spy show cycle of the Sixties is interesting in that it is probably the only cycle that did not begin here in the United States. It started in the United Kingdom with two shows, The Avengers and Danger Man, both of which debuted within months of each other. Today most people think of The Avengers as featuring superspy John Steed and one of his female partners (in succession, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel, and Tara King), however, this was not the case in the series' first season (unaired here in the United States). In the first season the main character was Dr. David Keel (played by Ian Hendry), a surgeon who set out to avenge his fiance's death. In the course of that first episode, which dealt with Dr. Keel's quest for vengeance, he encountered the mysterious superspy Steed (played by Patrick Macnee). Thereafter the two teamed up to fight crime and threats to British national security. A writer's strike immediately followed The Avengers' first season and Hendry decided that he wished to pursue other projects. John Steed then became the main character of the series and was teamed with a woman, Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman). Blackman left after two seasons and was replaced by Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. With the first Diana Rigg season the show made its way to the States; hence, Emma is the best known of Steed's partners here. The Avengers is my all time favourite series. It was played with its tongue definitely in its cheek. Throughout its run Steed and his various partners faced a plan to repeat the Gunpowder Plot (only this time with an atomic bomb), a plot to return the Stuarts to the throne of Britain, a sentient man eating plant, unstoppable robots, and a modern day Hellfire Club. And they did it all with wit and charm.
Danger Man featured Patrick McGoohan as John Drake, a security specialist working for NATO. The series' flavour was more realistic than either The Avengers or the Bond movies. There were almost never plots that threatened the whole world and any gadgets that appeared were strictly within the realm of possibility for 1960's technology. Drake himself was also very different from other superspies. He never kissed a woman, let alone slept with one (McGoohan felt that doing so could teach children that promiscuity was acceptable). Drake also rarely carried or used a gun (McGoohan did not want to send the message that violence was an acceptable solution to problems). Danger Man aired briefly on CBS in 1961, making it the first spy series to air on American television in the Sixties. When it was revived as an hour long series in 1964, it once more gained a slot on CBS's schedule, this time under its American title Secret Agent. It also picked up a new theme song--"Secret Agent Man."
With the success of Danger Man and The Avengers, a spy craze built in Britain. Perhaps partially because of this spy craze and perhaps partially because of the growing popularity of the novels here in the States (due in part to John F. Kennedy's love of them), James Bond finally made it to the big screen in Dr. No in 1962. Dr. No was followed by the equally successful 007 movies, From Russian With Love and Goldfinger. With the popularity of the Bond movies, the spy craze that had begun in Britain arrived on American shores.
While the Bond movies brought the spy craze to American shores, however, the first American spy series of the Sixties, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., was in development before 007 ever saw the inside of an American movie theatre. In the fall of 1962 TV producer Norman Felton asked Ian Fleming to develop a series loosely inspired by the Hitchcock movie North by Northwest. As Dr. No was not released in America until May 1963, the beginnings of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. occurred before the spy craze reached American shores.
Regardless, Fleming had to drop out of the project because of contractual obligations with Eon Productions (the producers of the Bond movies). In his time on the project, he had only come up with a vague outline dealing with a spy named Napoleon Solo, who resembled Bond a good deal. Felton then hired Sam Rolfe, creator of the classic Western series Have Gun--Will Travel, to further develop the series. Rolfe expanded Solo's character so that he no longer resembled 007 and created the character of Solo's partner, Illya Kuryakin. He also created the organisation called U.N.C.L.E., an international organisation which dealt with threats to the security of the whole world. Rolfe also created the international crime syndicate originally called WASP, but renamed THRUSH before the series hit the air. Like North by Northwest (in which Cary Grant's character inadvertently gets involved in an espionage plot), each week on the The Man From U.N.C.L.E., an innocent, ordinary person would get swept into a plot involving the U.N.C.L.E. agents.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. debuted in September 1964 to decidedly less than spectacular ratings. In fact, as of December 1964, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was not even on NBC's tentative fall schedule for fall 1965! Fortunately, three things would save the series. One was the fact that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was developing a following on college campuses through word of mouth. Naturally, when these college students returned home for Christmas and spring break, they told their families about this cool new show they'd discovered. The other thing which saved The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a publicity tour of particularly important television markets on which Robert Vaughn (who played Napoleon Solo) and David McCallum (who played Illya Kuryakin) were sent. Often they would even shoot promos for the local affiliates in these markets. The third thing which saved The Man From U.N.C.L.E. from extinction was the growing following David McCallum had among female viewers. He soon appeared in many fan magazines of the day and at every public appearance there would be scores of girls and young women waiting just to see him.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s ratings then began to rise until it essentially became a fad. During the Sixties, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. merchandise is perhaps surpassed only by Batman in the sheer numbers. Nearly every major magazine published at least one article on the show. Robert Vaughn appeared as Napoleon Solo on the sitcom Please Don't Eat the Daisies and in a cameo as Solo in the Doris Day vehicle The Glass Bottom Boat. McCallum had a cameo as a "Casino Patron (ostensibly Illya himself)" in the Bond spoof Casino Royale. Both men appeared on a number of talk shows. The series even produced a spin off, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., with Stefanie Powers as U.N.C.L.E. agent April Dancer.
Unfortunately, the fad would not last. Ratings for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. declined and the show left the air in January 1968. In the meantime, however, it gave even more fuel to the spy craze on American television. Both The Avengers and Danger Man (renamed Secret Agent here in the States) would make the trip across the Atlantic to American television. Amos Burke, police detective and hero of Burke's Law would trade in his badge to become Amos Burke, Secret Agent.
Among the series which debuted in the wake of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was The Wild Wild West. The Wild Wild West differed from any other series in that it dealt with two agents for the United States Secret Service, James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), assigned to the American West. Amidst the tumbleweeds and sagebrush the two spies faced opponents with definitely advanced technology for the 1800's: a man made almost entirely of steel, a crazed geologist who can create earthquakes, a crazed ex-army major with his own tank, and a mad doctor with a germ that causes instant paralysis. Their greatest opponent was Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn), the Napoleon of the West. A midget in size, he was a giant in intellect. Again and again he squared off against West and Gordon. Among his plots were a powder which causes madness, a powder which can shrink people, and a chemical that can kill all life (plants, animals, people).
Another series which followed in the wake of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was I Spy. I Spy was historic in featuring the first African American in the lead role of a drama, Bill Cosby as secret agent Alexander Scott. Scott and his partner Kelly Robinson (played by Robert Culp) travelled the world on espionage missions, all the while posing as a tennis player (Robinson) and his trainer (Scott). Unlike The Man From U.N.C.L.E. or The Wild Wild West, I Spy tended to be more realistic in its portrayal of espionage. There were no outlandish gadgets and no threats to the entire world.
Perhaps the series with the longest lasting success to emerge from the Sixties spy craze was Mission Impossible. Mission Impossible dealt with the Impossible Missions Force, a covert group headed initially by Daniel Briggs (Steven Hill) and for most of its run by Jim Phelps (Peter Graves). The IMF tackled situations which could not be resolved by traditional means, often using technology, disguises, con games, and so on to accomplish their ends. Unlike other spy series, Mission Impossible took its inspiration not from the James Bond novels or Hitchcock spy thrillers, but from such caper movies as Topaki and Rififi.
Very early in the spy craze, the genre was ripe for parody. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Get Smart followed the adventures of inept Maxwell Smart (Don Adams), agent 86 for CONTROL. Accompanied by his partner, Agent 99 (Barbara Felton), Max faced agents of KAOS, an international criminal syndicate. There were plenty of advanced gadgets in Get Smart, always played for laughs. Most often seen was Max's shoe phone. Smartly written and very funny, Get Smart outlasted many of the more serious spy dramas.
At the opposite end of the spectrum was the British series The Prisoner. On The Prisoner, a secret agent who resigns from the service (Patrick McGoohan) finds himself abducted to the Village, from whence there is no escape, and given a number rather than a name (Number Six). Precisely who runs the Village, its location, and even its primary purpose, is never revealed. Regardless, Number Six's keepers at the Village constantly seek "information" as to why he resigned. At the same time, Number Six seeks both to escape the Village and find out its true nature. The Prisoner was an intellectual spy drama, dealing with such themes as the importance of self, personal identity, democracy, the effects of violence, and other such topics. Throughout the series, the true identity of Number Six was never revealed, although many fans believe that he was none other than Patrick McGoohan's hero from Danger Man, John Drake himself! The Prisoner debuted in the UK in September 1967 and then in the United States on CBS in June 1968. It almost immediately became a cult series.
Between 1964 and 1968, around twenty different spy series, whether domestic or British, aired on American network television. I enjoyed them as a child, catching most of them in reruns over the years. In fact, I perhaps watched too many of them. As a young child I had a recurring dream that I was a superspy, often teamed with a beautiful woman as a partner. I suppose that is what happens when one watches The Avengers and The Wild Wild West too much. At any rate, I still love the Sixties spy dramas. In fact, I own the entire run of The Prisoner and much of The Avengers on tape. In my opinion, they never have quite matched those spy series of old.
The spy show cycle of the Sixties is interesting in that it is probably the only cycle that did not begin here in the United States. It started in the United Kingdom with two shows, The Avengers and Danger Man, both of which debuted within months of each other. Today most people think of The Avengers as featuring superspy John Steed and one of his female partners (in succession, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel, and Tara King), however, this was not the case in the series' first season (unaired here in the United States). In the first season the main character was Dr. David Keel (played by Ian Hendry), a surgeon who set out to avenge his fiance's death. In the course of that first episode, which dealt with Dr. Keel's quest for vengeance, he encountered the mysterious superspy Steed (played by Patrick Macnee). Thereafter the two teamed up to fight crime and threats to British national security. A writer's strike immediately followed The Avengers' first season and Hendry decided that he wished to pursue other projects. John Steed then became the main character of the series and was teamed with a woman, Cathy Gale (played by Honor Blackman). Blackman left after two seasons and was replaced by Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. With the first Diana Rigg season the show made its way to the States; hence, Emma is the best known of Steed's partners here. The Avengers is my all time favourite series. It was played with its tongue definitely in its cheek. Throughout its run Steed and his various partners faced a plan to repeat the Gunpowder Plot (only this time with an atomic bomb), a plot to return the Stuarts to the throne of Britain, a sentient man eating plant, unstoppable robots, and a modern day Hellfire Club. And they did it all with wit and charm.
Danger Man featured Patrick McGoohan as John Drake, a security specialist working for NATO. The series' flavour was more realistic than either The Avengers or the Bond movies. There were almost never plots that threatened the whole world and any gadgets that appeared were strictly within the realm of possibility for 1960's technology. Drake himself was also very different from other superspies. He never kissed a woman, let alone slept with one (McGoohan felt that doing so could teach children that promiscuity was acceptable). Drake also rarely carried or used a gun (McGoohan did not want to send the message that violence was an acceptable solution to problems). Danger Man aired briefly on CBS in 1961, making it the first spy series to air on American television in the Sixties. When it was revived as an hour long series in 1964, it once more gained a slot on CBS's schedule, this time under its American title Secret Agent. It also picked up a new theme song--"Secret Agent Man."
With the success of Danger Man and The Avengers, a spy craze built in Britain. Perhaps partially because of this spy craze and perhaps partially because of the growing popularity of the novels here in the States (due in part to John F. Kennedy's love of them), James Bond finally made it to the big screen in Dr. No in 1962. Dr. No was followed by the equally successful 007 movies, From Russian With Love and Goldfinger. With the popularity of the Bond movies, the spy craze that had begun in Britain arrived on American shores.
While the Bond movies brought the spy craze to American shores, however, the first American spy series of the Sixties, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., was in development before 007 ever saw the inside of an American movie theatre. In the fall of 1962 TV producer Norman Felton asked Ian Fleming to develop a series loosely inspired by the Hitchcock movie North by Northwest. As Dr. No was not released in America until May 1963, the beginnings of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. occurred before the spy craze reached American shores.
Regardless, Fleming had to drop out of the project because of contractual obligations with Eon Productions (the producers of the Bond movies). In his time on the project, he had only come up with a vague outline dealing with a spy named Napoleon Solo, who resembled Bond a good deal. Felton then hired Sam Rolfe, creator of the classic Western series Have Gun--Will Travel, to further develop the series. Rolfe expanded Solo's character so that he no longer resembled 007 and created the character of Solo's partner, Illya Kuryakin. He also created the organisation called U.N.C.L.E., an international organisation which dealt with threats to the security of the whole world. Rolfe also created the international crime syndicate originally called WASP, but renamed THRUSH before the series hit the air. Like North by Northwest (in which Cary Grant's character inadvertently gets involved in an espionage plot), each week on the The Man From U.N.C.L.E., an innocent, ordinary person would get swept into a plot involving the U.N.C.L.E. agents.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. debuted in September 1964 to decidedly less than spectacular ratings. In fact, as of December 1964, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was not even on NBC's tentative fall schedule for fall 1965! Fortunately, three things would save the series. One was the fact that The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was developing a following on college campuses through word of mouth. Naturally, when these college students returned home for Christmas and spring break, they told their families about this cool new show they'd discovered. The other thing which saved The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a publicity tour of particularly important television markets on which Robert Vaughn (who played Napoleon Solo) and David McCallum (who played Illya Kuryakin) were sent. Often they would even shoot promos for the local affiliates in these markets. The third thing which saved The Man From U.N.C.L.E. from extinction was the growing following David McCallum had among female viewers. He soon appeared in many fan magazines of the day and at every public appearance there would be scores of girls and young women waiting just to see him.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.'s ratings then began to rise until it essentially became a fad. During the Sixties, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. merchandise is perhaps surpassed only by Batman in the sheer numbers. Nearly every major magazine published at least one article on the show. Robert Vaughn appeared as Napoleon Solo on the sitcom Please Don't Eat the Daisies and in a cameo as Solo in the Doris Day vehicle The Glass Bottom Boat. McCallum had a cameo as a "Casino Patron (ostensibly Illya himself)" in the Bond spoof Casino Royale. Both men appeared on a number of talk shows. The series even produced a spin off, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., with Stefanie Powers as U.N.C.L.E. agent April Dancer.
Unfortunately, the fad would not last. Ratings for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. declined and the show left the air in January 1968. In the meantime, however, it gave even more fuel to the spy craze on American television. Both The Avengers and Danger Man (renamed Secret Agent here in the States) would make the trip across the Atlantic to American television. Amos Burke, police detective and hero of Burke's Law would trade in his badge to become Amos Burke, Secret Agent.
Among the series which debuted in the wake of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was The Wild Wild West. The Wild Wild West differed from any other series in that it dealt with two agents for the United States Secret Service, James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), assigned to the American West. Amidst the tumbleweeds and sagebrush the two spies faced opponents with definitely advanced technology for the 1800's: a man made almost entirely of steel, a crazed geologist who can create earthquakes, a crazed ex-army major with his own tank, and a mad doctor with a germ that causes instant paralysis. Their greatest opponent was Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn), the Napoleon of the West. A midget in size, he was a giant in intellect. Again and again he squared off against West and Gordon. Among his plots were a powder which causes madness, a powder which can shrink people, and a chemical that can kill all life (plants, animals, people).
Another series which followed in the wake of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was I Spy. I Spy was historic in featuring the first African American in the lead role of a drama, Bill Cosby as secret agent Alexander Scott. Scott and his partner Kelly Robinson (played by Robert Culp) travelled the world on espionage missions, all the while posing as a tennis player (Robinson) and his trainer (Scott). Unlike The Man From U.N.C.L.E. or The Wild Wild West, I Spy tended to be more realistic in its portrayal of espionage. There were no outlandish gadgets and no threats to the entire world.
Perhaps the series with the longest lasting success to emerge from the Sixties spy craze was Mission Impossible. Mission Impossible dealt with the Impossible Missions Force, a covert group headed initially by Daniel Briggs (Steven Hill) and for most of its run by Jim Phelps (Peter Graves). The IMF tackled situations which could not be resolved by traditional means, often using technology, disguises, con games, and so on to accomplish their ends. Unlike other spy series, Mission Impossible took its inspiration not from the James Bond novels or Hitchcock spy thrillers, but from such caper movies as Topaki and Rififi.
Very early in the spy craze, the genre was ripe for parody. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Get Smart followed the adventures of inept Maxwell Smart (Don Adams), agent 86 for CONTROL. Accompanied by his partner, Agent 99 (Barbara Felton), Max faced agents of KAOS, an international criminal syndicate. There were plenty of advanced gadgets in Get Smart, always played for laughs. Most often seen was Max's shoe phone. Smartly written and very funny, Get Smart outlasted many of the more serious spy dramas.
At the opposite end of the spectrum was the British series The Prisoner. On The Prisoner, a secret agent who resigns from the service (Patrick McGoohan) finds himself abducted to the Village, from whence there is no escape, and given a number rather than a name (Number Six). Precisely who runs the Village, its location, and even its primary purpose, is never revealed. Regardless, Number Six's keepers at the Village constantly seek "information" as to why he resigned. At the same time, Number Six seeks both to escape the Village and find out its true nature. The Prisoner was an intellectual spy drama, dealing with such themes as the importance of self, personal identity, democracy, the effects of violence, and other such topics. Throughout the series, the true identity of Number Six was never revealed, although many fans believe that he was none other than Patrick McGoohan's hero from Danger Man, John Drake himself! The Prisoner debuted in the UK in September 1967 and then in the United States on CBS in June 1968. It almost immediately became a cult series.
Between 1964 and 1968, around twenty different spy series, whether domestic or British, aired on American network television. I enjoyed them as a child, catching most of them in reruns over the years. In fact, I perhaps watched too many of them. As a young child I had a recurring dream that I was a superspy, often teamed with a beautiful woman as a partner. I suppose that is what happens when one watches The Avengers and The Wild Wild West too much. At any rate, I still love the Sixties spy dramas. In fact, I own the entire run of The Prisoner and much of The Avengers on tape. In my opinion, they never have quite matched those spy series of old.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Marvel Comics
Growing up, among the many comic books I read were those published by Marvel Comics. Marvel Comics pretty much revolutionised the superhero genre in creating superheroes who actually had problems such as the average person might have, the perfect example being Spider-Man.
I had not yet been born when most of the major Marvel Comics characters had been introduced. In fact, my first introduction to Marvel characters was not in the comic books, but on television. In 1967 cartoons based on both Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four debuted. I watched both cartoons regularly, so that when I was old enough to read, I naturally sought out Spider-Man and Fantastic Four comic books. Indeed, my brother and I inherited a good deal of comic books from our neighbours. Among them were several Marvel titles, including Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Thor, and others.
Of course, Marvel Comics was not a new company. Its origins lie in the pulp magazines that flourished in the first half of the 20th Century. Martin Goodman published pulp magazines under the "Red Circle" imprint. In 1939, with comic books growing in popularity, he decided to expand into comic books. Initially, the comics were published under the "Red Circle" format, although eventually they become known as Timely Comics. In fact, the company's first comic book, Marvel Comics, took its name from one of Goodman's pulps, Marvel Science Stories. It was in that first issue of Marvel Comics that two of their major characters debuted: The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner. Their third major character, Captain America, would debut in his own magazine some time later.
Timely Comics proved successful during the Golden Age. In fact, the Human Torch, The Sub-Mariner, and Captain America were among the most popular superheroes of the Golden Age. Unfortunately, as the Golden Age came to a close, superheroes declined in popularity. Timely had ceased publishing even their most popular heroes by 1949. Timely changed its name to Atlas and stumbled along through the Fifties. An attempt to revive their superhero line in 1954 failed. In 1956 they had to cancel most of their titles and strike a distribution deal with rival National Periodical Publications (home of Batman and Superman) just to survive.
Fast forward to the early Sixties and another name change, this time to Marvel Comics (named for the first comic the company had published). Editor Stan Lee noted the popularity of The Justice League of America at National Periodical Publications. He thought that perhaps another superteam could prove popular, albeit this new team would be different from any before. The Fantastic Four primarily fought crime as a team, only rarely engaging in solo adventures. They eschewed costumes for team uniforms. And none of them had secret identities; their identities were publically known. Transformed during a space flight by cosmic rays, the Fantastic Four were: Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic, a scientist who had the power to stretch his body and the leader of the group; Benjamin Grimm, AKA The Thing, their pilot who had been transformed to a creature appearing to made of rock and possessing incredible strength; Susan Storm, The Invisible Girl (later called The Invisible Woman), who had the power of invisibility and the power to generate a force field; and Johnny Storm (Sue's brother), the Human Torch (a different one from the Golden Age character), who could burst into flame and fly.
What also set The Fantastic Four apart from other superteams before them is that they had problems similar to the average person. Teenager Johnny went through the usual crushes. Ben worried about the effect his montrous appearance might have on the average person. Despite facing such incredible villains as Dr. Doom (their archnemesis), the Fantastic Four existed in a world closer to our own.
The Fantastic Four proved to be a hit and soon Stan Lee was creating new heroes for Marvel Comics. The Hulk, Antman, Daredevil, and others soon joined The Fantastic Four. By far Lee's most successful creation was Spider-Man. Lee developed the idea of a teenager bitten by a radioactive spider who gains the powers of a spider. Unlike other heroes, Peter Parker was an outright nerd, picked on at school, unpopular with girls, and constantly beset with problems. Publisher Martin Goodman hated the idea, but gave Stan Lee the go ahead to write a Spider-Man story for the last issue of Amazing Fantasy. Sales for that issue went through the roof and several months later Spider-Man got his own title.
The lasting appeal of Spider-Man is easy to see. Peter Parker is an average person, in some ways a less than average person. For all his great powers, he is still picked on by bullies, he still cannot get a date for Saturday night, and he is still in constant danger of losing his job. On the one hand, the reader can identify with Peter. He is not a handsome millionaire like Bruce Wayne, nor is he a successful reporter for a major paper like Clark Kent. He is an average guy who just happens to have the powers of spider, as well as the problems an average guy would have. On the other hand, I suspect many readers can't help but think they would handle being a superhero better than Peter, that if they had his power they would not have his problems. Of all of Marvel's characters, Spider-Man is perhaps the only one who matches Batman and Superman in popularity. Indeed, there have been several animated TV series based on the character, one live action TV series, and two major motion pictures!
Of course, as a child I discovered other Marvel Comics characters than Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four. Among these was Iron Man. Iron Man was millionaire industrialist Tony Stark. While in Vietnam he was hit by shrapnel, some of which lodged near his heart. To stay alive he created an armoured suit with magnets to keep the metal away from his heart. Naturally, being in a comic book, the armoured suit also allowed him to fly and could emit "repulsor" rays. I always loved Iron Man primarily because I loved the idea of an armoured suit that allowed its user to fly and fire "repulsor" rays.
I also loved the Mighty Thor (the Norse god of thunder), although by the time I discovered the comic book I had already read enough on Norse mythology to know that it was very inaccurate. For one thing, the god Thor was not a clean shaven blond, but a redhead with a wooly beard. In the comic book, Thor was also mortal Dr. Donald Blake. I can't recall how Thor became trapped in the body of a mortal man, although eventually Blake was dropped entirely and Thor was Thor full time.
Anyhow, I always tended to be more of a DC Comic fan than a Marvel Comics fan--after all, Batman and Green Lantern were my favourite heroes. But I have always enjoyed my time spent reading Marvel comic books. To this day, I am still a fan of Spider-Man. There will always be a soft place in my heart for Marvel Comics.
I had not yet been born when most of the major Marvel Comics characters had been introduced. In fact, my first introduction to Marvel characters was not in the comic books, but on television. In 1967 cartoons based on both Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four debuted. I watched both cartoons regularly, so that when I was old enough to read, I naturally sought out Spider-Man and Fantastic Four comic books. Indeed, my brother and I inherited a good deal of comic books from our neighbours. Among them were several Marvel titles, including Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, Thor, and others.
Of course, Marvel Comics was not a new company. Its origins lie in the pulp magazines that flourished in the first half of the 20th Century. Martin Goodman published pulp magazines under the "Red Circle" imprint. In 1939, with comic books growing in popularity, he decided to expand into comic books. Initially, the comics were published under the "Red Circle" format, although eventually they become known as Timely Comics. In fact, the company's first comic book, Marvel Comics, took its name from one of Goodman's pulps, Marvel Science Stories. It was in that first issue of Marvel Comics that two of their major characters debuted: The Human Torch and The Sub-Mariner. Their third major character, Captain America, would debut in his own magazine some time later.
Timely Comics proved successful during the Golden Age. In fact, the Human Torch, The Sub-Mariner, and Captain America were among the most popular superheroes of the Golden Age. Unfortunately, as the Golden Age came to a close, superheroes declined in popularity. Timely had ceased publishing even their most popular heroes by 1949. Timely changed its name to Atlas and stumbled along through the Fifties. An attempt to revive their superhero line in 1954 failed. In 1956 they had to cancel most of their titles and strike a distribution deal with rival National Periodical Publications (home of Batman and Superman) just to survive.
Fast forward to the early Sixties and another name change, this time to Marvel Comics (named for the first comic the company had published). Editor Stan Lee noted the popularity of The Justice League of America at National Periodical Publications. He thought that perhaps another superteam could prove popular, albeit this new team would be different from any before. The Fantastic Four primarily fought crime as a team, only rarely engaging in solo adventures. They eschewed costumes for team uniforms. And none of them had secret identities; their identities were publically known. Transformed during a space flight by cosmic rays, the Fantastic Four were: Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic, a scientist who had the power to stretch his body and the leader of the group; Benjamin Grimm, AKA The Thing, their pilot who had been transformed to a creature appearing to made of rock and possessing incredible strength; Susan Storm, The Invisible Girl (later called The Invisible Woman), who had the power of invisibility and the power to generate a force field; and Johnny Storm (Sue's brother), the Human Torch (a different one from the Golden Age character), who could burst into flame and fly.
What also set The Fantastic Four apart from other superteams before them is that they had problems similar to the average person. Teenager Johnny went through the usual crushes. Ben worried about the effect his montrous appearance might have on the average person. Despite facing such incredible villains as Dr. Doom (their archnemesis), the Fantastic Four existed in a world closer to our own.
The Fantastic Four proved to be a hit and soon Stan Lee was creating new heroes for Marvel Comics. The Hulk, Antman, Daredevil, and others soon joined The Fantastic Four. By far Lee's most successful creation was Spider-Man. Lee developed the idea of a teenager bitten by a radioactive spider who gains the powers of a spider. Unlike other heroes, Peter Parker was an outright nerd, picked on at school, unpopular with girls, and constantly beset with problems. Publisher Martin Goodman hated the idea, but gave Stan Lee the go ahead to write a Spider-Man story for the last issue of Amazing Fantasy. Sales for that issue went through the roof and several months later Spider-Man got his own title.
The lasting appeal of Spider-Man is easy to see. Peter Parker is an average person, in some ways a less than average person. For all his great powers, he is still picked on by bullies, he still cannot get a date for Saturday night, and he is still in constant danger of losing his job. On the one hand, the reader can identify with Peter. He is not a handsome millionaire like Bruce Wayne, nor is he a successful reporter for a major paper like Clark Kent. He is an average guy who just happens to have the powers of spider, as well as the problems an average guy would have. On the other hand, I suspect many readers can't help but think they would handle being a superhero better than Peter, that if they had his power they would not have his problems. Of all of Marvel's characters, Spider-Man is perhaps the only one who matches Batman and Superman in popularity. Indeed, there have been several animated TV series based on the character, one live action TV series, and two major motion pictures!
Of course, as a child I discovered other Marvel Comics characters than Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four. Among these was Iron Man. Iron Man was millionaire industrialist Tony Stark. While in Vietnam he was hit by shrapnel, some of which lodged near his heart. To stay alive he created an armoured suit with magnets to keep the metal away from his heart. Naturally, being in a comic book, the armoured suit also allowed him to fly and could emit "repulsor" rays. I always loved Iron Man primarily because I loved the idea of an armoured suit that allowed its user to fly and fire "repulsor" rays.
I also loved the Mighty Thor (the Norse god of thunder), although by the time I discovered the comic book I had already read enough on Norse mythology to know that it was very inaccurate. For one thing, the god Thor was not a clean shaven blond, but a redhead with a wooly beard. In the comic book, Thor was also mortal Dr. Donald Blake. I can't recall how Thor became trapped in the body of a mortal man, although eventually Blake was dropped entirely and Thor was Thor full time.
Anyhow, I always tended to be more of a DC Comic fan than a Marvel Comics fan--after all, Batman and Green Lantern were my favourite heroes. But I have always enjoyed my time spent reading Marvel comic books. To this day, I am still a fan of Spider-Man. There will always be a soft place in my heart for Marvel Comics.
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires
Last week I discussed the movie Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter and submitted it as proof that, even in the Seventies, Hammer Films could produce starkly original films. For me another example of this is Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires. Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is unlike any Hammer film one might ever see. Quite simply, it is perhaps the first kung fu vampire movie! Hammer Film Productions made the movie in conjunction with the Shaw Brothers, a Hong Kong studio best known for kung fu movies. It was, quite simply, the first kung fu vampire movie! Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires was also shot almost entirely on location in and around Hong Kong. As might be expected, it was released at the height of the kung fu craze of the early Seventies.
The plot involved a Chinese village which is terrorised by seven golden vampires, revived by Dracula on behalf of an evil Chinese warlord. One of the villagers learns that Dracula's old nemesis, Professor Van Helsing, is speaking in Chungking and enlists his aid. Van Helsing, his son, an heiress, and seven brothers and one sister, who are experts in kung fu, then set out to destroy the vampires. Originally, Dracula was not meant to appear in the film. At the last minute, however, it was decided that the Dracula name could bring in more money at the box office. Despite this, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is hardly a Dracula film, as the Count only appears on screen for all of six minutes!
Unfortunately, it does not even seem that Dracula could save Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires where the box office was concerned. The movie bombed. Had it been successful, its sequel would have pitted Van Helsing against vampires in India. As to why Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires failed in Britain, that is anyone's guess. Perhaps the combination of kung fu and vampires in the movie was just a bit too much ahead of its time.
Regardless, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires has a reputation for being a very bad movie, a reputation I do not think it deserves. I suspect that this is largely due to the American version of the film, 7 Brothers Versus Dracula. For its American release, the movie was cut from its 91 minute running time to 75 minutes. It was also heavily re-edited, with entire scenes rearranged and important plot points left out. Ironically, even though his name was on the marquee in the American version, Dracula had even less time in 7 Brothers Versus Dracula than he did in Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires! As a result of the cutting and re-editing, 7 Brothers Versus Dracula made little sense whatsoever. While the reasons for the failure of Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires in Britain may be debated, the reason for the failure of 7 Brothers Versus Dracula in America should be no secret--it was awful. Of course, the trailer for 7 Brothers Versus Dracula probably did not help it at the box office. It is quite possibly one of the worst trailers of the Seventies (which says something in and of itself).
In my humble opinion, it is a shame that Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires was butchered for American release, as the film in its original form is actually quite entertaining. Visually, this is one of Hammer's best looking films. The exterior scenery (the hills and forests of Hong Kong) is quite striking. And the interiors, shot in hues of red, orange, and blue, look very good as well. The movie features some very impressive scenes, among them an army of undead attacking the village. The fight scenes are perhaps not as well choreographed as some of the other Shaw Brothers films, but are still nonetheless impressive. As to the story, it includes some interesting plot twists and a few real surprises. And the Seven Golden Vampires themselves are a nice change of pace from the vampires of Western horror movies. This is not to say that Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is a perfect movie. With the possible exception of Peter Cushing, the performances are somewhat overwrought.
Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is hardly a great film, but it is both entertaining and interesting. It hardly deserves the reputation it has of being a truly awful movie (a reputation I suspect is due almost entirely to the horrible American version). I would say that it is certainly well worth watching.
The plot involved a Chinese village which is terrorised by seven golden vampires, revived by Dracula on behalf of an evil Chinese warlord. One of the villagers learns that Dracula's old nemesis, Professor Van Helsing, is speaking in Chungking and enlists his aid. Van Helsing, his son, an heiress, and seven brothers and one sister, who are experts in kung fu, then set out to destroy the vampires. Originally, Dracula was not meant to appear in the film. At the last minute, however, it was decided that the Dracula name could bring in more money at the box office. Despite this, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is hardly a Dracula film, as the Count only appears on screen for all of six minutes!
Unfortunately, it does not even seem that Dracula could save Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires where the box office was concerned. The movie bombed. Had it been successful, its sequel would have pitted Van Helsing against vampires in India. As to why Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires failed in Britain, that is anyone's guess. Perhaps the combination of kung fu and vampires in the movie was just a bit too much ahead of its time.
Regardless, Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires has a reputation for being a very bad movie, a reputation I do not think it deserves. I suspect that this is largely due to the American version of the film, 7 Brothers Versus Dracula. For its American release, the movie was cut from its 91 minute running time to 75 minutes. It was also heavily re-edited, with entire scenes rearranged and important plot points left out. Ironically, even though his name was on the marquee in the American version, Dracula had even less time in 7 Brothers Versus Dracula than he did in Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires! As a result of the cutting and re-editing, 7 Brothers Versus Dracula made little sense whatsoever. While the reasons for the failure of Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires in Britain may be debated, the reason for the failure of 7 Brothers Versus Dracula in America should be no secret--it was awful. Of course, the trailer for 7 Brothers Versus Dracula probably did not help it at the box office. It is quite possibly one of the worst trailers of the Seventies (which says something in and of itself).
In my humble opinion, it is a shame that Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires was butchered for American release, as the film in its original form is actually quite entertaining. Visually, this is one of Hammer's best looking films. The exterior scenery (the hills and forests of Hong Kong) is quite striking. And the interiors, shot in hues of red, orange, and blue, look very good as well. The movie features some very impressive scenes, among them an army of undead attacking the village. The fight scenes are perhaps not as well choreographed as some of the other Shaw Brothers films, but are still nonetheless impressive. As to the story, it includes some interesting plot twists and a few real surprises. And the Seven Golden Vampires themselves are a nice change of pace from the vampires of Western horror movies. This is not to say that Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is a perfect movie. With the possible exception of Peter Cushing, the performances are somewhat overwrought.
Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is hardly a great film, but it is both entertaining and interesting. It hardly deserves the reputation it has of being a truly awful movie (a reputation I suspect is due almost entirely to the horrible American version). I would say that it is certainly well worth watching.
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