Though mostly associated with westerns, Dale Robertson managed to squeeze in a couple of swashbuckler films during his Hollywood career.
SON OF SINBAD (1955) – Dale Robertson stars as Sinbad II, son of the original hero of the seven seas. Vincent Price plays his sidekick, the poet Omar Khayyam, so if anachronisms bother you, stay far away from this movie, because there are plenty more on the way. But Price steals the flick!
When Sinbad is in Baghdad between his adventures he sneaks into the Khalif’s palace to seduce a few harem girls or dancers. This time though, he makes the mistake of exercising his charms on one of the Khalif’s wives, Nerrissa (Lili St. Cyr). Sinbad and his wing-man Omar wind up imprisoned by the angry Khalif (Leon Askin) to await execution.
Also in the ruler of Baghdad’s clutches are the Greek Simon Aristides and his daughter Kristina (Mari Blanchard). Simon knows the secret of Greek Fire (which we in the modern world have still not been able to duplicate), and when Tamerlane and his Mongol armies draw near intent on conquering Baghdad, Simon demonstrates Greek Fire to the Khalif, who wants to use it to drive off the Mongols.
Traitors kill Simon and make off with Kristina, who alone holds the secrets of Greek Fire now. The Khalif agrees to set Sinbad and Omar loose to find and return with Kristina. Assorted action scenes follow, and ultimately the Son of Sinbad joins forces with the Daughters of the Forty Thieves – beautiful women warriors who rob caravans and the like.
After much action, Sinbad, Omar and the Forty Daughters return to Baghdad with Kristina and use Greek Fire to help themselves defeat the invading Mongols. Sinbad marries Ameer (Sally Forrest), Omar marries Kristina and our title character is made the new chief of the Khalif’s Royal Guards, consisting of the Forty Fabulous Femmes. Watch for Kim Novak as one of the Forty! 91 minutes. Continue reading
PART 68 – Some of the Fool Killer’s targets on both sides of the aisle in the February 1914 edition of James Larkin Pearson’s version of the folk figure:

THE LIVES OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1974-1975) – This was a series of four 90-minute (with commercials) dramas depicting America’s magnificently unorthodox genius at various stages of his life. Eddie Albert and Melvyn Douglas (husband of Helen Gahagan Douglas) depicted Franklin in his 70s and 80s, with flashback storylines in each episode. The Lives of Benjamin Franklin won five Primetime Emmys including Outstanding Limited Series.
CAR CRASH (1981) – Travolta … Joey Travolta. Yes, it’s Barbarino’s older brother in this Italian-Spanish coproduction. Ever wonder what the Fast and Furious franchise would be like if Frank Stallone was the overall star? This movie provides the answer – sped up footage to (unsuccessfully) lend the illusion of speed, and model cars just one step above Hot Wheels toys passing for the race cars much of the time!
D-DAY ON MARS (1945, 1966) – Obviously, the Sixth of June marks the solemn remembrance of World War Two’s Normandy Invasion, but I did my annual salute recently. For today I’m reviewing D-Day on Mars, the edited down feature film version of the 1945 serial The Purple Monster Strikes.
POWER MAN Vol 1 #24 (April 1975)
Claire says she cannot abandon Bill during a moment of crisis like this and was afraid Luke wouldn’t understand. Dr. Foster unexpectedly finds Power Man and Claire together and misunderstands the situation. Revealing to Luke that he is now the costumed figure Black Goliath, he attacks Power Man.

Previously Balladeer’s Blog examined Cypria and Aethiopis, two of the neglected Greek epics. Cypria recounted the events leading into The Iliad while Aethiopis picked up the tale of the Trojan War after the death and funeral of Hector at the end of The Iliad. The neglected epic I’m examining today is Iliad Minor, the next in line chronologically. The author is speculated to have been either Lesches, Thestorides, Diodoros, Kinaithon or even Homer himself.
FRANK & DRAC (1987-1988) – Frank & Drac was this Movie Host show’s title, and Frank & Drac were the stars. Frankenstein’s Monster was played by Allen Christopher while Dracula was played by Robert Kokai. This show aired on WOIO in Cleveland, Ohio from October 1987 to June 1988. Kokai and Allen had the potential to be among the biggest Movie Hosts ever but clashes with station management over budget issues ended with their show getting shut down.
Elvira’s syndicated show Movie Macabre had technically aired its final episode in November of 1986 but several channels across the U.S. continued airing reruns for years. During 1987 the ratings for the Elvira reruns were bottoming out in Cleveland, so WOIO decided to give its own home-grown Movie Host show a try in Movie Macabre’s former time slot on Saturday nights.
And comedy was one of the strong suits of Frank & Drac. The other was the show’s conceit that the hosts were the actual Frankenstein Monster and Dracula, airing “biographical” movies about themselves and other Universal Studios monsters.