reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (02/03/85)
I just saw a real rarity: a short based on "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century".
This isn't the Buster Crabbe version, nor the TV series. It was made prior
to both, in 1935. The creator of the cartoon strip decided that it would
make a great film. Unable to sell it to a studio, he scraped together a
little money, and made a ten minute short version to shop around the studios.
Nothing ever came of it, and the short was never shown to the public. Now,
years later, the UCLA Film Archives turned it up, transferred it from nitrate
to safety film, and gave it a public screening.
Unfortunately, it's little more than a curiosity. No one involved had the
slightest idea about how to make a movie. Of some historic interest are
the special effects, which contain what is doubtless the earliest attempt
to film a full scale space battle, involving several dozen space ships.
The effects are primitive in the extreme, but at least they tried.
Script, acting, and directing are comically terrible, but not funny enough
to justify the effort.
This short may turn up at SF conventions in the future, as a second print
was purchased from UCLA by a small distribution company. If anyone is
interested, I can probably find out who to contact to book it.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher