Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island
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Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island
Plot
It has been said that Ray Mala was the only Jewish Eskimo actor in Hollywood. Whatever his religious or racial origins, Mala is "all hero" in the 14-chapter Republic serial Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island. The star plays a character also named Mala, a Polynesian native and U.S. Intelligence agent. Mala is dispatched to Clipper Island to prove that the huge dirigible San Francisco was destroyed by saboteurs (the destruction of the big blimp is culled from library footage of the Hindenburg disaster). Accompanied by his faithful dog Buck and human assistant Hank (William Newell), Mala discovers that a nest of enemy spies are operating on the island, with the electronic technology to control volcanic eruptions and keep the natives in thrall. Convincing the lovely Princess Melani (Mamo Clark) that he's one of the good guys, Mala manages not only to thwart the spies, but to also prevent a takeover by despotic high priest Porotu (John Piccori). A 100-minute feature version of this serial, retitled Robinson Crusoe of Mystery Island, was released to TV in 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviCast
- Mala - Mala
- Rex the Dog - Buck
- Mamo Clark - Princess Melani
- Herbert Rawlinson - Jackson
Credit
Ray Taylor - Director, Mack Wright - Director, Nat Levine - Producer| Robinson Crusoe and the Tiger (1972 Film), Robinson Crusoe (Film) | |
| Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964 Film), Robinson Crusoe: The Great Blitzkrieg (2008 Film) |
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Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island
| Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Ray Taylor Mack V. Wright |
| Produced by | Nat Levine Sol C. Siegel |
| Written by | Morgan Cox Maurice Geraghty Barry Shipman |
| Starring | Ray Mala Mamo Clark Herbert Rawlinson William Newell John Ward John Dilson Selmer Jackson John Picorri |
| Music by | Hugo Riesenfeld |
| Cinematography | Edgar Lyons William Nobles |
| Editing by | Helene Turner William Witney |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  14 November 1936 (serial)[1]15 January 1937 (feature)[1] Early 1950s (TV)[1] 1966 (TV movie)[1] |
| Running time | 14 chapters (256 minutes (serial)[1] 71 minutes (feature)[1] 6 26½-minute episodes (TV)[1] 100 minutes (TV movie)[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $106,779 (negative cost: $111,848)[1] |
Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) is a Republic Movie serial starring Ray Mala. It was the fourth of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic and the last (of four) to be released in 1936. Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island is notable for being the first Republic serial to contain another common aspect of serials - a Re-Cap Chapter, similar to a clipshow in modern television where the events of the previous chapters are repeated via clips (in order to save money). This, contrary to popular belief was not the invention of the concept, which had been routinely used in serial production before the release of this serial. The serial was edited into the film Robinson Crusoe of Mystery Island, which was released in 1966.
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Contents
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Cast
- Ray Mala as Mala, operative of the United States Intelligence Department undercover as a Pacific Dirigible Airlines radio operator. Mala was a rare non-caucasian hero in serials.[2]
- Rex the Wonder Horse
- Buck the Dog
- Mamo Clark as Princess Melani, Princess and ruler of the Komatoans
- Herbert Rawlinson as Grant Jackson
- William Newell as Hank McGlaurie, Agent Mala's partner
- John Ward as Anthony Tupper, English Novelist accompanying Agent Mala
- John Dilson as E. G. Ellsworth, joint owner of Pacific Dirigible Airlines with Canfield
- Selmer Jackson as Canfield, joint owner of Pacific Dirigible Airlines with E. G. Ellsworth
Production
Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island was budgeted at $106,779 although the final negative cost was $111,848 (a $5,069, or 4.7%, overspend).[1] It was filmed between 31 August and 25 September 1936 under the working title Robinson Crusoe.[1] The serial's production number was 419.[1] This serial has very little to do with Robinson Crusoe.[2]
Special effects
The special effects were created by John T. Coyle and the Lydecker brothers.
Chapter titles
Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island is the only 14-chapter sound serial.[1][3]
- The Mysterious Island (31 min 21s)
- Flaming Danger (20 min 46s)
- Fathoms Below (18 min 03s)
- Into the Enemy's Camp (17 min 27s)
- Danger in the Air (17 min 41s)
- The God of the Volcano (17 min 19s)
- Trail's End (15 min 41s)
- The Jaws of the Beast (16 min 17s)
- The Cave of the Winds (17 min 22s)
- Wings of Fury (16 min 29s)
- Agents of Disaster (16 min 22s) -- Re-Cap Chapter
- The Sea Trap (16 min 41s)
- Mutiny (18 min 35s)
- Thunder Mountain (16 min 21s)
Cliffhangers
- The burning mainmast of the Tuloa falls on Mala.
- Mala is captured by natives and forced to fall into a volcano.
- While diving, and with the ship above being shelled by a submarine, Mala begins to sufocate.
- Mala and Lamar are caught in the explosion of an overheated boiler.
- The plane carrying Mala crashes into the Pacific Ocean.
- Mala and Melani are caught in a landslide caused by an earthquake.
- While escaping from aggressive natives, Mala and Melani slip off a cliff.
- With his vine cut, Mala falls into Alligator infested water.
- While scaling a cliff, Mala is shot at and falls.
- Struggling with the pilot of a biplane causes it to crash into the Pacific Ocean.
- Mala's car is forced off the road and over an embankment.
- Mala and Melani, escaping in a motorboat, are shot at by a cannon.
- Mala is caught by gas aboard an Airship, which begins to crash.
Note: Many of the solutions to these cliffhangers are "cheats" - they change or obviously do not match the events shown in the preceding cliffhanger.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Mathis, Jack. Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 18–19. ISBN 0-9632878-1-8.
- ^ a b Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut. "13". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.
- ^ Cline, William C.. "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. p. 37. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
- ^ Cline, William C.. "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. p. 216. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
External links
- Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island at the Internet Movie Database
- Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island at AllRovi
| Preceded by The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936) |
Republic Serial Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) |
Succeeded by Dick Tracy (1937) |
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Mentioned in
John Picorri
(Actor, Romance/Drama)
John Dilson
(Actor, Drama/Comedy)
Mala
(Actor, Adventure/Western)
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