A Good Old Fashioned Adventure Yarn

Started out today with the last of Mandrake the Magician. After that disc was finalized, I made a run to the gym. It was pretty busy for quarter after 12. I did the elliptical machine while watching Family Feud. Went easy on the leg machines this week. Last week, I was stiff as a board after I did my leg work.

When I arrived at home, I had leftover chicken-pepper stir fry for lunch and went right into dubbing another serial, Federal Agents Vs. Underworld Inc. Serials were running on empty by 1949; only Columbia and Republic still made them, and the budgets were getting increasingly cheaper. Even so, despite the generic title and shorter running time, this Republic action tale was far more involving than Mandrake. The federal agents of the title (one of them Kirk Alyn of Superman: the Serial fame) chase female gangster Nila (Carol Foreman) and her henchman (frequent serial baddie Ray Bancroft), who have kidnapped a professor in order to get information on the Golden Hands that will lead to a fabulous African treasure.

I loved it. The plot genuinely drew you in. I didn't figure out the real villain behind Nila until he turned up in the last few chapters. Alyn did much better as a mortal (if very lucky) agent who is happier using guns and fists rather than X-ray vision. Rosemary La Plante was a far spunkier female lead, too. The exotic trappings and elaborate MacGuffin gave this an air of mysticism that, for all the magic and hypnotism, Mandrake lacked.

I spent most of the afternoon putting my sore fingers on ice. It was hard to figure out how to do this, especially with the middle left finger, which really hurts. I tried dunking them in a bowl of ice water, but it was kind of awkward. I finally lay them on a bag of plastic fruit-shaped ice cubes.

Work was, once again, busy when I came in, on-and-off quiet when I left. It was quiet enough by the time I left that I was able to just shut down. There were no major problems, and I was in and out.