World Famous Comics: The Black Coin - 15 chapter movie serial
The Black Coin - 15 chapter movie serial
Starring: Ralph Graves, Ruth Mix, Dave O'Brien, 'Snub' Pollard, Constance Bergen Directed By: Albert Herman Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Black & White, Full Screen, Mono, NTSC Label: Alpha Video Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: April 25, 2006 Running Time: 323 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1936
Very poor quality Under the best of circumstances this would be difficult to follow as the plot jumps all over the place. This dvd edition had not been remastered and is dark and murky to the point that the characters can not be identified. Save your money. Buying this is a total waste. It is not very good to begin with and the difficulty one experiences in trying to watch it is very frustrating.
A serial that makes cents WEISS PRODUCTIONS (owned by Louis Weiss) was a small independent studio with a total cliffhanger output of three (all released in 1936). THE BLACK COIN was the last of these.
STORY of BLACK COIN (1936): Federal agents and smugglers are at odds in this 15-chapter serial about missing secret papers. A gang leader wants to steal the documents, as they may lead him to a dozen Crusade-era Arab coins (which purportedly are cursed).
CAST: Ralph Graves - Agent Walter Prescott Ruth Mix - Agent Dorothy Dale Dave O'Brien - Terry Navarro Constance Bergen - Virginia Caswell Matthew Betz - Henry Jensen Robert Frazer - James Hackett 'Snub' Pollard - Vic Moran Robert Walker - Capt. 'Shark' Malone Yakima Canutt - Ed McMahan (thug) [Chs. 3, 10-14] Lane Chandler - Evans, airline official [Chs. 1-2] (uncredited)
CHAPTERS: 1. Dangerous Men 2. The Mystery Ship 3. The Fatal Plunge 4. Monsters of the Deep 5. Wolves of the Night 6. Shark's Fang 7. Midnight Menace 8. Flames of Death 9. Smuggler's Lair 10.Flaming Guns 11.Wheels of Death 12.The Crash 13.Danger Ahead 14.Hidden Peril 15.The Phantom Treasure
BLACK COIN trivia:
Stock footage from ATLANTIC (1929) was used for the shipwreck sequence.
This was one of Ralph Graves' (Agent Prescott) last screen jobs-- he preferred writing to acting.
Ruth Mix (Agent Dale) was the daughter of western star Tom Mix.
Dave O'Brien (Navarro) is best remembered for appearing in the cult classic REEFER MADNESS (1936).
Australian-born 'Snub' Pollard appeared in nearly 500 films between 1911 and '61. In the silent era Pollard supported Harold Lloyd in dozens of "Lonesome Luke" movies, which typecast him forever as a second (or lower) banana.
. THE CLUTCHING HAND is another WEISS PRODUCTION serial worth checking out.
A very poor transfer I bought this as I enjoyed Dave O'Brien in the Captain Midnight Serial. Unfortunately the print for this DVD is very poor. Most images are washed out to the point identifying the different actors can be difficult at times. In fact it finally got the best of me, and I did not finish watching it. Old serials like these from the non-surviving studios must be rare and good prints even rarer. It is doubtful it would be economically viable to restore this one or others like it. The main hope here is if one of the volunteer projects funded by donations and a few of the studios decides to tackle these. Until then I would not recommend this one to anyone except for the collector that just has to have every serial available.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
