Richard Denning is best remembered as the relentlessly affable Governor Paul Jameson on the original Hawaii 5-0 series. He made 74 appearances on that cop show but had previously filled starring roles in other television programs like Mr. and Mrs. North, The Flying Doctor, Michael Shayne and Karen.
This being Balladeer’s Blog I’m focusing purely on Richard Denning’s roles in Psychotronic films for this post.
UNKNOWN ISLAND (1948)
With the latest film in the Jurassic World series now in theaters I’ll start with this dinosaur flick. Denning portrays John Fairbanks, the drunken sole survivor of a visit to a Pacific Ocean Island inhabited by dinosaurs and other extinct creatures.
Fairbanks is hired by an expedition planning to explore that island because their photographer leader (Phillip Reed) was a World War Two pilot who once snapped a sub-Loch Ness Monster level picture of dinos while flying over the island during the war. His wealthy wife (Virginia Grey) is financing the expedition and their ship’s captain – who drinks almost as much as Denning’s John Fairbanks – is played by Barton MacLane.
The foolish photographer winds up getting multiple members of the expedition killed by dinosaurs through his inept, unfocused “leadership.” He also keeps everyone on the island, endangering their lives every minute, long after he has more than enough photos to prove the existence of the dinosaurs and therefore justify additional, heavily armed visits to the Unknown Island. Continue reading
“In the past I’ve mentioned how foolish it is to think that Harrison Ford MUST play Indy in all the movies. James Bond and Tarzan are just two recurring heroes that have survived multiple casting changes over the years. 
Balladeer’s Blog continues its celebration of this 1985-1987 program’s FORTIETH anniversary year.
SERIAL: Before the movie this week, our members of the Film Vault Corps (“the few, the proud, the sarcastic”) showed another episode of the 1950 Columbia serial Atom Man vs Superman. Kirk Alyn starred as Superman with Lyle Talbot as his archenemy Lex Luthor aka Atom Man.
AVENGERS Vol 1 #100 (Jun 1972) 
He and the Enchantress are about to unleash armies of monsters from Greek myths to conquer the Earth first and then Asgard. Thanks to 
JULY 4TH, 1788 – The Constitution of the United States is starting to come into full effect this calendar year, instituting the government we are still officially ruled by. First elections are scheduled for later in the year.
It may be my fondness for mythology that makes me love to watch particular movies around particular holidays. I say that because many of the well- known myths were recited on ancient holidays when their subject matter was relevant to those festivities. The stories helped accentuate the meaning of the special events and that’s the reason I love holiday-themed movies. 
*** In general, we are all familiar with the original 13 Colonies that broke away from England during the American Revolution. Because Maine is not named among those 13 colonies, some people are confused when it is mentioned as the location for various battles of the Revolutionary War. 
Cratinus was one of the Big 3 in Attic Old Comedy along with Aristophanes and Eupolis, both of whom were much younger than he was. From the fragmentary evidence available on Dionysalexandros, it appears to be a possibly unique hybrid of Attic Old Comedy and traditional Satyr Plays. 
For the most part the silly conspiracy theories about the establishment of the United States are good only for laughs. One of my favorites, however, features a speech from a mysterious figure usually associated with Freemasons, Rosicrucians and/or the Bavarian Illuminati of Adam Weishaupt. 
“They (the British) may stretch our necks on all the gibbets in the land. They may turn every rock into a scaffold, every tree into a gallows, every home into a grave and yet the words of that parchment can never die!” 
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