MYSTERIOUS ISLAND - Chapter One - "Lost In Space" (1951)

 As far as I can figure, there have been approximately nine different shows of different ilks titled "The Mysterious Island" either based on, or loosely based on Jules Verne's classic novel "L'Ile Mysterieuse!" The first one was a silent film made in 1929 starring Lionel Barrymore, and the latest one was made in 2012 and stars The Rock, Dwayne Johnson!

Tonight's feature was a 15 episode serial made in 1951, aka "Captain Harding's Fabulous Adventures!"

The short bombastic theme was written by the always entertaining Mischa Bakaleinikoff of "The Giant Claw," "20 Million Miles To Earth," etc. fame!

 I am just showing you the cast credits so you can fully appreciate the character's names! Rulu, Shard, Gideon, Nemo, Moley, and Neb, sounds like a Disney cartoon to me!

 The first chapter was titled of all things, "Lost In Space!" So here you go, 

 Richard (Rocky Jones, Space Ranger) Crane is Captain Cyrus Harding of the Union Army! Richard was a busy man, and even though he only lived to be 50, he somehow managed to rack up 133 acting credits to his name!

 The Confederate Army has one of them there fancy air balloons for spying on those Yankees!

 What a chore it would be to try and gather up all the binocular shots that have been used over the years in cinematic history!

 Captain Harding is taken prisoner, and since they didn't have any POW camps, he is taken to a fellow's house who lives behind the lines! Mr. Jackson doesn't really cotton to Yankees much, but since his dawg seems to like this stranger, he reckons it'll be all right!

 Pretty good accommodations! I guess it's just understood that they can't escape without getting killed when they cross the line, but the Captain has got a plan, and is just about to meet a guy who will be willing to join him!

 So the biggest hurricane on record is brewing, so what better time to steal the Confederate airship! They find themselves out over the ocean somewhere, and they are dropping fast! When there is nothing else to throw out, Captain Harding jumps hoping it will make it so the other guys can land safely!

 They didn't delve into it deep enough in the first episode, but I'm pretty sure this is Captain Nemo who has just saved Captain Harding from drowning! He walks towards a mountainside, and poof, just disappears!

 There are pirates off the coast of wherever the air balloon landed...........

 ............And out of nowhere, a spaceship comes whirling in and lands on the island!

 Now things are starting to get interesting, and the WTF!? factor goes way up!

 This is obviously not your run of the mill every day island native tribe, and their Mother's never taught them not to run with spears! Speaking of spears, what's with the groovy kink in the shaft? Is that just for looks or what?

 

The volcano on the island erupts, and it really captures the attention of the natives who immediately go into prayer mode! 

 The guys mange to make it to a big cave before it's too late, and that's just about enough action for one episode!

 "Mysterious Island" is another serial that I searched for years to find a copy. After I finally found one, then I found out it streams on Amazon Prime free for members! Episode number one was pretty cool! I'm kind of excited to see some more of them! At about 17 minutes each, there's not really enough time to fall asleep!