Okay, I give it a '4' rating strictly for it's camp value. My understanding of the history is that "Madman of Mandoras" was released in 1963, and was definitely "B" material even then. It quickly sank from view and was forgotten, like so many other "Grade-Z" pics of the era. But with growing popularity, local TV stations were running their own movies, usually with a host, and often specialized in schlocky horror and sci-fi from the 1950s & early 60s.
Where I grew up we had "Fright Night" hosted by the immortal Larry "Seymour" Vincent on KHJ-TV Channel 9 (later he moved to KTLA Channel 5). The cheaper and cheesier the movie, the better for the host to make fun of. Seymour wasn't the first by any means (Vampira, Jeepers Creepers, Ghoulita, Shrimpenstein), but he was the absolute master of the comic put-down, paving the way for Elvira and others, and crappy junk-movies were his 'stock in trade'. So lots of old, forgotten movies were being dug out of the vaults and put into syndication packages for these local TV stations. "Madman of Mandoras" was perfect material, in that it was cheap and unintentionally funny... except that it had barely 70 minutes of running time -- not enough to fill the local channel's movie slot, even with commercials (back then, commercial breaks were much shorter affairs... thank goodness!).
So as I understand it, one of the big distributors of old movies took the movie to the UCLA School of Film, and asked them to film some extra scenes that could be melded into the original "Madmen" footage to pad it out so they could include it in their syndication packages. So basically the new footage was film-student written, acted, and produced (and looks it). Also explains why you'll never see these actors in anything else! Most sources give this project's date as 1968, but I strongly believe that to be in error. I have seen several sources that have it as 1973, and from the looks of the "new" footage, it really does appear more "early-to-mid Seventies" than 1968.
I suppose they did about as good as could be expected, plot-wise, with the new footage. They give us a "Doctor Bernard" (long hair) who steals a formula from a safe at the beginning, but his car blows up when he turns the ignition. Then we find out that what Dr. Bernard stole was actually the antidote to the dreaded "G-Gas" (real cleaver name for the stuff, eh?). The Nazis simply wanted it destroyed since they already possess G-Gas. They manage to work in the kidnapping of Dr. Coleman into the new story-line and characters fairly well (though much of it is supposed to take place at night, yet it's obviously filmed in broad daylight!) Unfortunately the film itself is of different quality, so the changes between old and new are obvious -- even without seeing the "mod' hair and clothes styles!
Also, the "new" CID agent Toni is certainly a product of the Women's Liberation Movement, which was in full swing in 1973. The banter between her and fellow agent Vic (long hair and porn-star mustache) is so very "period" -- when women were first struggling to be taken seriously and accepted as equals in a "man's world"; for anyone who lived thru that time, we've seen variations of their mini "battle of the sexes" way too often. Naturally neither Toni or Vic are even remotely akin to real CIA or FBI agents. (Toni tools around in a little putt-putt VW Beetle. Is that standard secret agent issue? Bond had his gadget- & weapon-laden Aston Martin; while Toni's got her Bug that can't outrun anything enemy agents would drive).
But then again, "fellow" CID Agent Phil Day of the old footage doesn't come off as much more believable. He and his wife's story-line practically begins like a "Father Knows Best" episode... her the dutiful housewife ready when he gets off work with martinis and romantic music on the Hi-Fi. I half-expected Ward & June Cleaver to drop by for dinner. And what in the world is Phil's wife tagging along with him to Mandoras in South America, anyways? Okay, we get that her father was the Professor Coleman who was kidnapped, but is that 'standard operating procedure' for CID agents to take their wives along on missions? Then, in the tiny nation of Mandoras, they happen to bump into her sister, of all people, who's unaware that daddy has even been kidnapped! For such a small, off-the-beaten-path little country like Mandoras (where the Nazis can quietly go about their plotting) they sure get a lot of tourists (including the stereotypical loud-mouth Texas oilman. Where's JR Ewing when you need him?).
I won't delve into later absurdities such as laughable plot, stupid dialog, and the Fuhrer-In-A-Pickle-Jar; others have more than adequately covered those! All and all, while the new footage was pretty desperate, it really doesn't 'pull down' the old "Madman of Mandoras" -- simply because that movie was pretty wretched all by itself!
Where I grew up we had "Fright Night" hosted by the immortal Larry "Seymour" Vincent on KHJ-TV Channel 9 (later he moved to KTLA Channel 5). The cheaper and cheesier the movie, the better for the host to make fun of. Seymour wasn't the first by any means (Vampira, Jeepers Creepers, Ghoulita, Shrimpenstein), but he was the absolute master of the comic put-down, paving the way for Elvira and others, and crappy junk-movies were his 'stock in trade'. So lots of old, forgotten movies were being dug out of the vaults and put into syndication packages for these local TV stations. "Madman of Mandoras" was perfect material, in that it was cheap and unintentionally funny... except that it had barely 70 minutes of running time -- not enough to fill the local channel's movie slot, even with commercials (back then, commercial breaks were much shorter affairs... thank goodness!).
So as I understand it, one of the big distributors of old movies took the movie to the UCLA School of Film, and asked them to film some extra scenes that could be melded into the original "Madmen" footage to pad it out so they could include it in their syndication packages. So basically the new footage was film-student written, acted, and produced (and looks it). Also explains why you'll never see these actors in anything else! Most sources give this project's date as 1968, but I strongly believe that to be in error. I have seen several sources that have it as 1973, and from the looks of the "new" footage, it really does appear more "early-to-mid Seventies" than 1968.
I suppose they did about as good as could be expected, plot-wise, with the new footage. They give us a "Doctor Bernard" (long hair) who steals a formula from a safe at the beginning, but his car blows up when he turns the ignition. Then we find out that what Dr. Bernard stole was actually the antidote to the dreaded "G-Gas" (real cleaver name for the stuff, eh?). The Nazis simply wanted it destroyed since they already possess G-Gas. They manage to work in the kidnapping of Dr. Coleman into the new story-line and characters fairly well (though much of it is supposed to take place at night, yet it's obviously filmed in broad daylight!) Unfortunately the film itself is of different quality, so the changes between old and new are obvious -- even without seeing the "mod' hair and clothes styles!
Also, the "new" CID agent Toni is certainly a product of the Women's Liberation Movement, which was in full swing in 1973. The banter between her and fellow agent Vic (long hair and porn-star mustache) is so very "period" -- when women were first struggling to be taken seriously and accepted as equals in a "man's world"; for anyone who lived thru that time, we've seen variations of their mini "battle of the sexes" way too often. Naturally neither Toni or Vic are even remotely akin to real CIA or FBI agents. (Toni tools around in a little putt-putt VW Beetle. Is that standard secret agent issue? Bond had his gadget- & weapon-laden Aston Martin; while Toni's got her Bug that can't outrun anything enemy agents would drive).
But then again, "fellow" CID Agent Phil Day of the old footage doesn't come off as much more believable. He and his wife's story-line practically begins like a "Father Knows Best" episode... her the dutiful housewife ready when he gets off work with martinis and romantic music on the Hi-Fi. I half-expected Ward & June Cleaver to drop by for dinner. And what in the world is Phil's wife tagging along with him to Mandoras in South America, anyways? Okay, we get that her father was the Professor Coleman who was kidnapped, but is that 'standard operating procedure' for CID agents to take their wives along on missions? Then, in the tiny nation of Mandoras, they happen to bump into her sister, of all people, who's unaware that daddy has even been kidnapped! For such a small, off-the-beaten-path little country like Mandoras (where the Nazis can quietly go about their plotting) they sure get a lot of tourists (including the stereotypical loud-mouth Texas oilman. Where's JR Ewing when you need him?).
I won't delve into later absurdities such as laughable plot, stupid dialog, and the Fuhrer-In-A-Pickle-Jar; others have more than adequately covered those! All and all, while the new footage was pretty desperate, it really doesn't 'pull down' the old "Madman of Mandoras" -- simply because that movie was pretty wretched all by itself!
