In this episode the gang goes to visit Scooby-Doo's cousin Scooby-Dum in the deep south. There they find that Scooby-Dum's owners Ma and Pa Skillett, who own a showboat restaurant, are being haunted by a gator ghoul. The gang (and Scooby-Dum) have another mystery on their hands.
There is a lot to love about this episode. The gator ghoul is a wonderful villain with a great design and delightfully creepy glowing eyes. This is a very creepy villain that feels like a real threat to our heroes. This helps make the gator ghoul one of the most memorable villains of this series. The swap setting as well as the scenes aboard the showboat give this episode a wonderful sense of atmosphere. This setting helps give this whole episode a delightfully spooky feel. As well as being spooky, this episode is also often quite funny. There are plenty of truly funny laughs here. The slapstick with Shaggy. Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Dum is often delightfully funny. At the same time this slapstick actually contributes to the story as it sets up how our heroes will catch the villain.
This episode marks Scooby-Dum's first appearance, and it is one of the best uses of the character. He is a pure delight here. He provides some of the episode's funniest moments and he has great chemistry with Scooby-Doo. The contrast of his bravery (he is studying to become a police dog) and Scooby-Doo's cowardness is a lot of fun as well.
In this episode, the Mystery Inc. Gang goes to Mexico for a fiesta, but the fiesta is cancelled because the town is being haunted by the giant ghost of Katazuma, an ancient Aztec king.
There is a lot to enjoy about this episode. Mexico proves to be a great setting for a Scooby mystery. There is a great sense of atmosphere throughout. The scenes in the swap are especially effective, due to some incredible background art and the use of lighting and fog. Also delightful are the scenes in the temple, which again benefit from some strong background art. I truly appreciate how the scenes in the temple fully utilize every member of the Mystery Inc. gang. There are also some delightfully spooky moments. The scene with the phantom barge is especially effective in this respect. The episode also benefits from some pretty strong humor, Shaggy gets some funny lines here and Scooby gets some good slapstick moments.
The only real flaw with this episode is that the villain is rather forgettable and does little to stand out from other Scooby villains.
Run Time: 75 minutes. Studio: Sleepy Hollow Corporation. Director: Edward D. Venturini. Writer: Carl Stearns Clancy. Based on a story by Washington Irving. Producer: Carl Stearns Clancy. Main Cast: Will Rogers, Lois Meredith, Ben Hendricks Jr., Charles E. Graham, Mary Foy. Cinematographer: Ned Van Buren. Assistant Director: Warren Frome.
Despite horror not becoming a major movie genre until the early 1930's with the Universal Monsters, there are plenty of films from the silent era that are prefect for the Halloween season. Some of these are very familiar to movie fans. Such examples are Nosferatu (1922) and Phantom of the Opera (1925). However if you dig deeper there are plenty more silent era spooky season treats. One of these is this month's Silent Film of the Month, a 1922 adaption of Sleepy Hallow entitled The Headless Horseman.
I am sure many of you are familiar with the plot. However, for those who aren't, this story follows a schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane. Ichabod falls for the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel and competes with the tough and strong Brom Bones over her affections. One night he takes a fateful ride where he meets the ghostly headless horseman.
While this movie doesn't quite reach the heights of the wonderful, animated Disney version of the story, there is a lot to enjoy about this film. Chief among the reasons to recommend this movie is Will Rogers in the lead role. Casting him as Ichabod Crane is a bit of casting against type. Rogers is best known for his home-spun and likable persona, while in most tellings the schoolmaster is anything but home-spun and likable. Yet Rogers played the role quite well, proving that he has more acting talent than he often gave himself credit for. Rogers could have been a pretty good dramatic actor and not just a comedian with loads of folksy charm. Still the filmmakers work in a few scenes where more typical Rogers humor prevails. Though these scenes are few and far between, they are pretty funny. This is also a very handsome film, thanks to excellent sets and costumes. These truly give the movie a small-town atmosphere that is simultaneously charming and threatening.
Of course, what everyone is watching this film for is the climactic scene where Ichabod meets the Headless Horseman. While a bit too brief and not exactly scary by today's standards, it is quite atmospheric, well-shot and benefits from Will Rogers doing his own horseback riding adding a sense of realism. In short, this scene is not perfect, but it is a lot of fun. The Headless Horseman also simply looks really cool. Sure, the effect is basic, but it works very well.
If I had to fault this movie, it would be because of its pacing. The film often meanders and can take too long for anything to actually happen. Because of this even though it has a brief runtime it feels longer than that. The tar and feathering scene is also a bizarre addition to the story.
This film's director, Edward D. Venturini is relatively little known and only directed a handful of movies that are not remembered today. During the talkie era, he directed Spanish language versions of American films. In this era before dubbing and subtitles, some films were shot multiple times in different languages so they could be shown in non-English speaking countries. B-Western fans might know that he directed the Hopalong Cassidy western, In Old Mexico (1938).
Producer/writer Carl Stearns Clancy would later write and direct a series of travelogue shorts that were narrated by Will Rogers. Clancy approached Will Rogers as Rogers was performing in Chicago. For a sense of historical accuracy Clancy would build the schoolhouse set on the original site. At that time this was part of Rockefeller's Tarrytown, New Yor, estate. This would be very close to where Will Rogers was going to be performing in the Ziegfield Follies around the time the movie was to be filmed (it was filmed in July and August of 1922). Because of this Rogers would be able to do both his stage work and make this movie at the same time. Clancy had to increase his budget for Will Rogers (the movie ended up costing 19,583.20) but he felt this was worth it. Clancy was impressed by the comedian's professionalism as well as his energy. For the filming of one scene a stunt rider didn't show up. Clancy recalled that Will Rogers "volunteered to double for the missing extra, quickly changed his make-up, leaped into the saddle, and led all the other riders in repeated thundering dashes up and down the rock-strewn road until the scene had been taken." Clancy said, "he was greatly amused to see himself in two places at once."
Exhibitor's Trade Review, 1922
Exhibitor's Herald, 1922
THe following is a review from Picture-Play Magazine. "'The Headless Horseman' -Will Rogers. The tragedy of this picture is that it might have been great, and it is only moderately good. Will Rogers has his funny moments, but the picture as a whole does not live up to them."
Motion Picture News, 1922
For anyone interested, you can watch this film below on YouTube.
This movie about an upcoming football player who gets a chance to train with his hero and uncovers dark secrets about what it takes to become a great football player, has some good ideas. However, all of these ideas are completely wasted in this extremely messy movie. The tone is all over the place here and goes from being a very serious social commentary to an over-the-top parody to being a horror picture. None of these elements mesh together at all. The parody gets so over the top and silly that it is hard to take the commentary or horror seriously. This is not to say that any of these elements would have worked well on their own. The comedy is never funny, as the filmmakers seem to think that simply being over the top is funny in and of itself. The social commentary is even worse. While there is something to be said about how cultish sports have become in America, this movie beats you over the head with everything it has to say. After so much religious and cultish symbolism is constantly thrown at you, you may want to shout, "I get it already" to the screen. I am not saying that a movie like this should be subtle, but it doesn't have to constantly beat us over the head with everything it needs to say either. As the story gets sillier and more over the top, the social commentary gets even more heavy handed. The horror is more of a joke than the actual comedy. The film's attempts at horror are embarrassingly inept, relying solely on the cheapest of jump scares and bloody images that simply feel unnecessary. Actors Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers try their best with the material they are given. However, if you could get a cast of the greatest actors of all time, they couldn't even make this mess of a movie to work.
I am almost in awe of just how bad this movie is. ·
Hello everybody. It is once again that wonderful holiday, National Silent Movie Day.
Let us start this holiday themed post with the most famous name in silent movies, Charlie Chaplin.
Charlie Chaplin is considered to be one of the big four of the silent film comedians. The other three are considered Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and Harry Langdon.
Of course there are other great silent movie comedians including Mabel Normand, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Laurel and Hardy and of course the Keystone Cops.
Of course there were some great dramatic filmmakers during the silent era such as D.W. Griffith, Lois Webber and F.W. Murnau.
I am a big fan of J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt's book, Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney.
Now for some of Walt Disney's silent films themselves.
Of course I am an avid watcher of TCM's Silent Sunday Night.
My favorite place to watch silent movies is Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo, California, where all silent films are accompanied by the Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe organ.
Hello, my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today’s musical selection begins with the King of the Cowboys and The Queen of the West, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Jesus in the Morning. This song reminds us that we are not only to leave a small part of the day with Jesus as our focus but all day long as well as every day. We should wake up each morning with Jesus on our mind and go to bed each night the same way. While few of us will succeed with this every day, we will find that each day we do it will be an enriching day that will makes us grow as a person. This song comes from Roy and Dale’s 1973 gospel album, In the Sweet By and By.
This is followed by Moe Bandy with The Old Rugged Cross. The song itself dates back to 1913 and was written by evangelist, George Bennard. Actually the first verse was written in 1912. It was written while Bennard was a part of a series of revival meetings in Albion, Michigan. He was worried about the complete disregard for the gospel around him and wrote this verse as a repose. Of writing it Bennard said, "I seemed to have a vision ... I saw the Christ and the cross inseparable." The song wouldn't be completed for several months, when he was leading meetings at a local church in Pokagan, Michigan. He played it for Rev. Leroy (the sponsoring pastor) and his wife, Ruby Bostwick, both of whom found themselves moved to tears. It was then incorporated into a service at that church on June 7, 1913. The song has the same effect today as it must have back then.
Afterwards comes Blind Willie Johnson with his 1927 recording of Jesus Make up My Dying Bed. Bob Dylan would later perform this song on his 1962 debut album and Led Zepplin would later record it on their 1975 album, Physical Graffiti. Both Bob Dylan and Led Zepplin would record the song under the title, In My Time of Dying.
Then comes The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1948 recording of Rounded Up in Glory. In a 1972 interview Ken Griffis asked Sons of the Pioneers front man, Bob Nolan, "Well, OK. As you progressed as a group, did you use the older type songs as the basis for your programs? Or did you try to blend in more the newer things? Did you try staying with the older things?" Bob responded, "Yeah, we tried to stick strictly to the old ones and, of course, I had an idea or I felt that my songs—the ones that I was writing at the time—were authentic. I tried to keep them authentic. Western." This applied not only to the songs Bob wrote, but the songs the group recorded written by others. There was always a real cowboy feel to nearly all the songs they recorded. That is definitely true here, as this song sounds like something that would feel completely natural in an old west setting.
This is followed by Jean Shepard with Life's Railway To Heaven. This recording comes from her 1968 gospel album, I'll Fly Away.
Next is Anne Wilson and Lainey Wilson with an acoustic version of Praying Woman. The two originally recorded this song on Anne Wilson's 2024 album, Rebel.
Today's musical selection ends with Johnny Cash singing his self-penned song Man in Black on an episode of his TV show. This song was inspired by a trip John made to Vanderbilt University, where he was asked various questions about himself and what he believes. The song would be released as a single in March 1971 with Little Bit of Yesterday being its B-Side. In May of 1971 it would be the title song of a new album of his. That album also included another political song from John, Singin' in Viet Nam Talkin' Blues, which was released as a single that May as well. That 1971 album was one where John was extremely vocal about his beliefs as it was filled with both political and Christian songs. The title song expresses both his political and Christian beliefs.
Noe for the tenth chapter of the Buck Jones movie serial, The Red Rider (1934).
Now for a message from Billy Graham.
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. Job 6:14
A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends. Proverbs 16:28
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
