In this edition of Liliha Theater, I am featuring "The Phantom Empire". It was first released in 1935, and stars Gene Autry (The Singing Cowboy), Frankie Darro, and Betsy King Ross. It is interesting to note that "The Phantom Empire" is an eclectic mix of science fiction, movie musical, and the traditional western. I find it to be completely charming and irresistible. Please click on the video widget below to watch all twelve installments of this cool serial. Safe journeys to all the fans of Liliha Theater, wherever you may be.
In this edition of Liliha Theater, I am featuring "Chandu On The Magic Island", which is an abridgement of the "Return Of Chandu" serial filmed in 1935, starring Bela Lugosi. Safe journeys to all the fans of Liliha Theater, wherever you may be.
In the edition of Liliha Theater, I am featuring "Hawaii Calls", starring Bobby Breen. Bobby was born on November
24, 1927 in Canada, and was considered the finest treble voice of the late 1930s. It
is astonishing, but he started to perform in night clubs at the age of
four. Bobby then went on to become a leading child actor in Hollywood,
and he appeared in many movie musicals in the 1930s, and 1940s. Bobby's
vast repertoire included not only popular standards, but also classical
music, including opera. He was an eclectic child star, and was the
first to create a certain mystique in the eyes of the movie going
public. It is not widely known, but Bobby is one of the people that The
Beatles admired, and he is pictured on the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Club Band" album cover. Bobby is in the front row, right in-between
George Harrison and Marlene Dietrich. Now that was quite an honor, and
goes to show you just how highly esteemed the music of Bobby Breen was,
and still is, because at the time of the writing of this post, Bobby
Breen is alive and well, and lives in Tamarac, Florida. In 1938, Bobby
starred in the movie "Hawaii Calls", which was also the name of a very
popular radio show, featuring authentic Hawaiian music that was hosted
by the legendary Webley Edwards. The show was broadcast live every week
from Waikiki Beach by KGMB, a radio station in Honolulu, and later
distributed by "electrical transcription (an early type of recording
device that used acetate/aluminum disks)" throughout the continental
United States. Please remember that at that time Hawaii was still a
Territory Of The United States, and there was no technically reliable
way to transmit a radio show "live" to the mainland. Bobby's co-star was a Hawaiian boy
who went by the name of Pua, which means flower in the Hawaiian
language. Not only that, but scores of Hawaiian, and hapa haole (half
Hawaiian) children, were used as extras in the film. In "Hawaii Calls",
Bobby sings a beautiful operatic piece called "Macushla", accompanied
by a full symphony orchestra. I find it interesting though, that on the side wall of the
now defunct Waikiki Theatre (it opened on August 20, 1936 and closed in
November of 2002), located in Waikiki of course, there is a huge
full-color movie poster of "Hawaii Calls". It makes me smile whenever I
see it. "Hawaii Calls" is in the public domain, and the complete movie
can be watched for free by clicking on the video widget located below this post. Safe
journeys to all the fans of Liliha Theater, wherever you may be.
