Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I've had the pleasure of meeting both of these ladies at nostalgia film festivals. I was sitting with Kay Aldridge in the viewing room when they ran a chapter of Daredevils of the West in which she co-starred with Allan "Rocky" Lane. Kay gave out with a shriek at the appropriate time as her screen image was about to go over a cliff in a runaway wagon. Adrian told me the story of how Kay was tied up and hanging in mid-air during a scene from "Nyoka" They had her standing on a box for the close-up shot and then took the box away for the long shot. Kay looked up to the heavens and said "Oh Lord, send me a man right away." Of course it got a laugh from the crew. I don't know how old she was at the time of "Nyoka," but when she didn't report to work one day, director Bill Witney discovered that she had chicken pox.Kay had a rather sophisticated way of talking which may have detracted some from her athletic character role, but she did make three serials for Republic. She later married a millionaire and moved to Maine, but did make some festival appearances.

Members of the serial generation view these re-released DVDs in a different light. We took them no more or less seriously than a new generation takes Indiana Jones or 007, characters we immediately immediately recognized as contemporary clones. I have no idea why the title was changed as it doesn't fit. I rate this serial as one of Republic's ten best. Its soundtrack music is first rate and helps overcome a setting which even as kids we knew was north Los Angeles County. But the search for golden tablets by good guys, bad guys, wicked queens and axis spies is simple ground breaking for Indiana Jones. It is a matter of taste how or if you enjoy the various animals that belong to both sides. As kids we thought them a novel touch.

It has been suggested that a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. I hasten to add that the only camels in this serial, supposedly set in Arabia, are in the same brief shot at the beginning of each serial episode. And as for Arabia, it looks suspiciously like the Iverson Ranch in California, shooting site of countless movie features and serials, so many that I have come to know those great boulders by name.Add to this is William "Billy" Benedict, the nice, white-haired boy from the East Side Kids series; Clayton Moore, better known as the Lone Ranger; and the most dastardly villain of them all, Charles Middleton, best known for playing Ming the Merciless in three Flash Gordon serials, to say nothing of his many other nasty roles. And lest I forget, the absolute cheesiest man in a gorilla suit ever. EVER seen on film, plus a German shepherd that is actually smarter than most of the humans--and the shepherd is not a man in a dog suit. So--we have an Arabia without sand or camels, an ersatz ape, a dog, and a cast put together, one might think, by drawing straws from a list of those who were out of work. And we haven't even gotten to the plot, the acting, and the dialog.Action consists of the usual haymaker fistfights without anyone so much as getting a fat lip, a bloody nose, a black eye, or a skinned knuckle. Even the two women get into some real donnybrooks. This might be said of all serials--except for the shapely legs as the two women rassle and pull hair. There are also lots of chases on foot and on horseback, among the boulders of the Iverson Ranch, through caves (where did that light come from?), etc. The stunt work is really find, especially for Nyoka herself. The dialog is pretty much recited right off the cue cards.The plot is the usual serial silliness. A group of good guys, led by Nyoka compete with a group of bad guys, led by the beauteous Vultura, to find an ancient text that will revolutionize medicine, cure cancer, and make whoever locates it a great humanitarian or fabulously rich. Guess which group fits with these choices.Did I like it? You betcha. It's just the thing to make one forget for a time one's otherwise drab and wretched life. I recommend it for that purpose.

One of the better Republican serials . Unusual for placing a heroine as the central character with the hero as merely the sidekick; required to do little more than rescue her as she falls into another swamp or sandpit fort he hundredth time. Amusiing to see a dynamic athletic hero reduced to being wallpaper instead go the generic all conquering hero as usually written in every decade. Episodes contained big cat fights, including one to the death. Although the cast list doesn't credit the contribution of "satan" , Vultura's loyal gorilla with a horn sticking his Head. Like a primate unicorn.Like other Republic serials it has become unfairly neglected since it contains some visionary script writing. This is Lara Croft with more style and written 50 years before the computer graphic had been thought of. Instead there is a live heroine out to find her father and translate a papyrus that she alone can read. Did Lara's creators check the copyright on this film had expired first?Lorna Grey is the real star. Excudiong powerful allure combined with ruthless ambition to obtain the treasure, then kill everyone just for the fun of it. I