Crappy film

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This production of the "Perils Of Pauline" is not to be confused with the silent serial of the same name. Pauline even has a different last name in the two serials.The opening "title" shot shows a train which does not appear in the serial. Probably put in there to remind people of the silent serial, but in that serial there is no woman on a railroad track either. That came from some other movie. Since this serial is about the search for two halves of a disk those halves could have been shown as a title shot and would have set the tone for the serial, something the train did not.This serial did make good use of newsreel footage. The opening scenes of a revolution in China were probably newsreel footage. But there were some shots that seemed to be original, using a number of extras. Good production values.I agree with one reviewer who said the serial went downhill somewhat when the action took place in a jungle. Too many shots of wild animals that seemed to have nothing to do with the plot.

Pauline uses many forms of transportation on her quest for the secret formula for the invisible gas that destroys civilizations. Among them are several airplanes. In episodes 5 and 6 there are good examples of single engine airplanes from the early 1930's. Later, in episodes 7 and 8, Pauline is shown as a commercial passenger on a huge multiengine flying boat. The serial includes historic shots of the take off and landing of the 12 engine Dornier Do X flying boat, the largest and most powerful airplane ever built when it was completed in 1929. It was so heavy that the 12 600 horsepower engines could only lift it to 1600 feet! It was so clumsy that the passengers were asked to crowd together on one side when the airplane was turning. It held the record for the most passengers (169) in one plane. That record was not broken until 1945.The Do X made only one transatlantic flight, via Africa and South America with 100 passengers. It landing in New York City on June 4, 1931. When it finally returned to Berlin, it was retired and placed in a museum. Episode 8 shows the festivities associated with that historic landing. There are shots of actors boarding the plane, and some interior shots as well. The images of the Do X are the high point of the entire serial.

An enjoyable cliffhanger from Universal's early sound serial period with a good cast and storyline. Somewhat dated production hurts it a bit but overall an admirable effort from producer Henry MacRae and director Ray Taylor.

Evalyn Knapp gives a pouty performance as she, along with her father and various accomplices, attempts to locate the other half of a disk which contains an important formula, before the evil Dr. Bashan gets his hands on it. Lots of humor and cliff-hanging action. If you liked this serial, try "The Black Coin".