Perils of Nyoka (1942)

Brilliant and touching

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

I've had the pleasure of meeting both of these ladies at nostalgia film festivals. I was sitting with Kay Aldridge in the viewing room when they ran a chapter of Daredevils of the West in which she co-starred with Allan "Rocky" Lane. Kay gave out with a shriek at the appropriate time as her screen image was about to go over a cliff in a runaway wagon. Adrian told me the story of how Kay was tied up and hanging in mid-air during a scene from "Nyoka" They had her standing on a box for the close-up shot and then took the box away for the long shot. Kay looked up to the heavens and said "Oh Lord, send me a man right away." Of course it got a laugh from the crew. I don't know how old she was at the time of "Nyoka," but when she didn't report to work one day, director Bill Witney discovered that she had chicken pox.Kay had a rather sophisticated way of talking which may have detracted some from her athletic character role, but she did make three serials for Republic. She later married a millionaire and moved to Maine, but did make some festival appearances.

Members of the serial generation view these re-released DVDs in a different light. We took them no more or less seriously than a new generation takes Indiana Jones or 007, characters we immediately immediately recognized as contemporary clones. I have no idea why the title was changed as it doesn't fit. I rate this serial as one of Republic's ten best. Its soundtrack music is first rate and helps overcome a setting which even as kids we knew was north Los Angeles County. But the search for golden tablets by good guys, bad guys, wicked queens and axis spies is simple ground breaking for Indiana Jones. It is a matter of taste how or if you enjoy the various animals that belong to both sides. As kids we thought them a novel touch.

It has been suggested that a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. I hasten to add that the only camels in this serial, supposedly set in Arabia, are in the same brief shot at the beginning of each serial episode. And as for Arabia, it looks suspiciously like the Iverson Ranch in California, shooting site of countless movie features and serials, so many that I have come to know those great boulders by name.Add to this is William "Billy" Benedict, the nice, white-haired boy from the East Side Kids series; Clayton Moore, better known as the Lone Ranger; and the most dastardly villain of them all, Charles Middleton, best known for playing Ming the Merciless in three Flash Gordon serials, to say nothing of his many other nasty roles. And lest I forget, the absolute cheesiest man in a gorilla suit ever. EVER seen on film, plus a German shepherd that is actually smarter than most of the humans--and the shepherd is not a man in a dog suit. So--we have an Arabia without sand or camels, an ersatz ape, a dog, and a cast put together, one might think, by drawing straws from a list of those who were out of work. And we haven't even gotten to the plot, the acting, and the dialog.Action consists of the usual haymaker fistfights without anyone so much as getting a fat lip, a bloody nose, a black eye, or a skinned knuckle. Even the two women get into some real donnybrooks. This might be said of all serials--except for the shapely legs as the two women rassle and pull hair. There are also lots of chases on foot and on horseback, among the boulders of the Iverson Ranch, through caves (where did that light come from?), etc. The stunt work is really find, especially for Nyoka herself. The dialog is pretty much recited right off the cue cards.The plot is the usual serial silliness. A group of good guys, led by Nyoka compete with a group of bad guys, led by the beauteous Vultura, to find an ancient text that will revolutionize medicine, cure cancer, and make whoever locates it a great humanitarian or fabulously rich. Guess which group fits with these choices.Did I like it? You betcha. It's just the thing to make one forget for a time one's otherwise drab and wretched life. I recommend it for that purpose.

I miss Clayton Moore. Really. He stars in this Republic serial with Kay Aldridge (another pre-Lara Croft) and does a wonderful job. The plot makes a lot of sense this time. It concerns an American doctor (Moore) who ventures to what looks like a Middle-Eastern country in search of tablets written by Hippocrates that provide a cure for cancer. He meets Nyoka Gordon,(played by Aldridge) who is pitted against Hollywood dust storms, a man in a gorilla suit, funky armpits (when she goes mano-y-mano with the villains in some dirty fighting) and in nasty climactic tussles with Vultura (beautiful Lorna Gray) - and these ain't no hair-pullin' catfights, guys! Republic's stuntwomen were just as tough as the men if not tougher. Vultura and her henchmen do everything in their evil power to stop Nyoka and her handsome hero from getting the tablets, which also lead to a bountiful treasure. During the action Nyoka is even reunited with her long-lost father who is a ruler of some sort. There's even brain surgery going on in one cave while a fight takes place in the next. Hmmm, wonder what would OSHA would've thought of that? Talk about professionalism among the staff! I've heard of office conflicts but this is ridiculous! Seriously, though, this is a good film and well-made. The plot makes sense, the action is good, and it's very easy to follow. It's available as part of Republic's serial collection. Compared to some of the garbage called movie entertainment thrown at us today, I'll take a Republic serial any day.