Good Morning...And Goodbye!

Our final Russ Meyer girl was the former Miss Muscle Beach, Alaina Capri. Capri starred in two Russ vehicles, Common Law Cabin and Good Morning...and Goodbye!, whose plots are best described as the kind of lurid partner swapping amidst the hardboiled dialogue with an occasional killing. Capri excels at playing the bosomy vamp, using her sharp tongue like a flick knife. Sadly, these would be her only two outings, but then again, she came up a little too late to have been trading these kind of barbs in a Howard Hawks movie.

"Take It Easy, Fast Life Woman, Cause You Ain't Gon Live Always..."

Sam Lightnin' Hopkins was one of the great Texas bluesmen and often ranked as one of the top guitarists of all time. As Charley Patton was to Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' met blues legend Blind Lemon Jefferson at a Church picnic and soon was accompanying and playing with Jefferson around the region.    Hopkins performed from the 1920's all the way to the 1980's, and was around long enough for his era of blues fade away only to be rediscovered.  In the liner notes for one of his albums, I recall one producer commenting that despite the wide diversity of recordings by Lightnin', it was tough to get him into a studio; however, once a suitable lure was found, Hopkins would lay down tracks for hours.

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe!

Our final serial movie character for the week is the might Ming the Merciless from the Flash Gordon serials.  Ming was the imperial ruler of Mongo, a planet with disparate features that are similar to Earth. Flash and Ming were created by the great Alex Raymond, and whose use of the brush while inking was partly the inspiration for this series.  Buster Crabbe's iconic Flash battled Ming, played by Charles B. Middleton, in three different series of serials in the 30's. I think the Might Ming is more than appropriate as the closer to this series.

Radar Men From the Moon!!

This week, I  thought I'd do up some of the serial movie heroes of the past...using just a brush to do the ink. We kick off with Commando Cody, star of 1952's Radar Men from the Moon and sequel series Commando Cody: Sky Marshall of the Universe (1953).  Cody's suit was also worn in the amazingly titled non-sequel Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952) which, incidentally featured a small part for a young Leonard Nimoy. We'll see you in TWO DAYS for another Thrilling Installment of ACTION and ADVENTURE!!!