With the war ending in 1945, sales of the action-based Tales to Excite saw a steady decline as the general public became less interested in stories about armies fighting. In an effort to target a younger, more innocent market, Bash Helmet was dropped as the comic’s flagship character.
He was replaced with Squirt ‘n’ Spurt, the unlikely comedy pairing of a squid and a cheetah in the retitled ‘Tales for Kidz’.
Above: Squirt ‘n’ Spurt from the story: “Where There’s a Wildebeest, There’s a Way!”
Bash may have been ousted from the comic world but he was about to conquer a whole new frontier - the motion picture!
Having left the army with an honourable discharge, Florrie Mendelson was out for a late night drive in November 1950, when he backed into the head of RKY Studios, Walter Possum.
This chance encounter resulted in a huge release - the ten-part movie serial, Bash Helmet vs the Size Queen. In the story, Bash confronts the eponymous villainess who invades Earth from outer space using a size-changing ray gun to enlarge insects and shrink humans.
The success of the serial made a star of the actor playing Bash, former Olympic Flower Arranger, Rusty Clappe (right).
Unfortunately the critics weren’t so kind to the Swedish actress, Rüt Busch, who many felt was too manly for the role of Queen Domina, as this excerpt from a 1951 edition of Moviegoer Monthly demonstrates:
“Rusty Clappe is a revelation in the role of Bash Helmet, chewing the scenery whenever he appears. Unfortunately, Rüt Busch looks like she merely wants to munch on the carpet!”
Clappe went on to star in three other serials:
Bash Helmet and the Magic Ring (1953)
Bash Helmet and the Haunted Cottage (1956)
and
Bash Helmet and the Turkish Prison (1958).
No comments:
Post a Comment