The Spider’s Web, 1938

From the extensive Murania Press photo archive: a rare publicity still taken for THE SPIDER’S WEB, a 1938 Columbia serial based on Popular Publications’ premier hero pulp. Warren Hull (right) as Richard Wentworth, Richard Fiske as his trusted aide Jackson. Likely this shot was staged as reference for poster artist Glenn Cravath. (muraniapress.com)

Graf Zeppelin – CV1


Graf Zeppelin Aircraft Carrier
Crew: 1,720 + 306 flight personnel
Aircraft: 10 Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, 20 Junkers Ju 87 “Stuka” dive bombers, 20 Fieseler Fi 167 torpedo bombers

On 16 November 1935, the contract for Flugzeugträger A (Aircraft carrier A)—later christened Graf Zeppelin—was awarded to the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. Construction of the ship was delayed since Deutsche Werke was working at capacity, and the slipway needed for Graf Zeppelin was occupied by the new battleship Gneisenau, which was launched on 8 December 1936. Work started on Graf Zeppelin on 28 December, when her keel was laid down. She was launched on 8 December 1938, the 24th anniversary of the Battle of the Falkland Islands, and she was christened by Helene von Zeppelin, the daughter of the ship’s namesake. At the launching ceremony, Hermann Göring gave a speech. By the end of 1939, she was 85% complete, with a projected completion by the middle of 1940. By September 1939, one carrier-borne wing, Trägergruppe 186, had been formed by the Luftwaffe at Kiel Holtenau, composed of three squadrons equipped with Bf 109s and Ju-87s. (Wikipedia) Continue reading “Graf Zeppelin – CV1”

War of the Worlds, 80th Anniversary

“The War of the Worlds” is an episode of the American radio drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on Sunday, October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds (1898). It became famous for allegedly causing mass panic, although the scale of the panic is disputed as the program had relatively few listeners.(Wikipedia)
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Lone Ranger, 1938

In 1865, Captain Mark Smith of the Confederate Army leads a band of deserters to conquer Texas and rule it as a dictator. In one of his first actions, he captures and assumes the identity of Texas’ new Finance Commissioner, Colonel Marcus Jeffries, after having the real man murdered. When a contingent of Texas Rangers enters the territory, Snead, one of Smith’s men, leads them into an ambush by Smith’s “troopers”. The Rangers are apparently wiped out, although one injured survivor is left. The survivor, nursed back to health by Tonto, swears to avenge the massacre and defeat “Colonel Jeffries” and his men.

When he is not operating as the Ranger, he appears under an assumed identity as one of a group of Texans resisting Smith’s rule. Smith, through a henchman, has narrowed the field of suspects down to five specific members of the resistance. One of these five, Allen King, Bob Stuart, Bert Rogers, Dick Forrest, and Jim Clark, actually is the Ranger, but only Tonto, and the other four Texans, know which one it is. Together, they operate as an effective team attempting to end Smith’s rule. (Wikipedia)