Pop Culture from an Alternate Dimension

     This is kind of a double "What If". What if An American Werewolf in London  was made in the 1940s and what if the Universal monster series went a different direction. Since this is the time of Sherlock Holmes in Washington , The Falcon in San Francisco  and The Saint in London , I figure the movie would be called The Wolf Man in London . The original Mummy movie had Boris Karloff as Imhotep but the 1940 sequel had Tom Tyler as the mummy Kharis. The main characters were Steve Banning and Babe Hanson, played by Dick Foran and Wallace Ford, searching for the lost tomb of Princess Ananka. The sequel to that film, The Mummy's Tomb , took place 30 years later (1970?). I imagined the Jack and David characters from An American Werewolf in London  being Steve and babe from The Mummy's Hand . Lon Chaney Jr. would have a small part as Larry Talbot passing the curse to Steve. Since Universal horror movies reused actors in different roles, Claude Rains, who played ...

       I can find compilation CDs of music from the 40s, greatest hits of the 80s even, but I like something somewhat niche, so I had to make to my own CD. I like retro covers of modern music. I have an album Max Raabe and his orchestra, who does some covers of pop tunes, so he is included here. I found Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox on YouTube years ago and enjoyed many of his genre changing covers. Robyn Adele used to sing with him and started her own band. Richard Cheese and Black Velvet Flag tend to harsh sings and juxtapose them with a swinging sound. Artificial intelligence has changed the game and now there are MANY AI genre bending songs. I include one from WhatIfMusic. So, click below to listen versions of Suicidal Tendencies, Britney Spears, Limp Bizkit, Pearl Jam and more: Then That's What I Called Music - YouTube

       Soundtracks filled with popular music didn't start until the 1950s and rock 'n' roll. Before that, it was either musicals (where people sang their thoughts) or something like The Big Sleep , which had a score by Max Steiner and Lauren Bacall singing a song to patrons at a club. What if it was done the modern way but with songs from 1945/1946? For the opening credits I would have "Dreams" from the Pied Pipers. When Carmen Sternwood comes down the stairs and tries to sit on Philip Marlowe's lap while he is standing, I chose "Temptation". After Marlowe talks to General Sternwood and before he talks to Vivian Rutledge I have "Warm Mood". The scene with Dorothy Malone in the bookstore across from Geiger's would end with Stan Kenton's rendition of "Cocktails for Two". About 28 minutes into the film Marlowe returns to Geiger's house to look for clues which I have underscored with "Mysterioso". Bogart sitting ...

       The 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit (based on the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit ) had a world where Baby Herman and Roger Rabbit starred in Maroon Cartoons. The character was popular enough that Disney made a new short with the duo that showed before Honey, I Shrunk the Kids . Dark Horse made a spoof of serials called Monarch of the Moon  that showed American flying hero Yellow Jacket versus Japanese villainess Dragonfly. Now that I had the cartoon and serial I needed the main feature. I chose Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid , which not only stars Steve Martin but has Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and many more stars of the Golden Age.      Put these all together and you have a 1940s movie-going experience from a past similar to our own,   Tummy Trouble - Roger Rabbit Short [HD] - YouTube Monarch of the Moon Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) Original Trailer [HD] - YouTube

       For a long time, I have been wondering "what if Highlander  was made in the 1940s?". I would love to see Errol Flynn as the immortal swordsman. It would be great to see Basil Rathbone with him as an ally instead of an enemy, so I cast him in Sean Connery's role of Ramirez. William Keighley was a director who (in my mind) could direct any style well so I think he would have the right flair for a cross-genre movie like this.  Include a score by Max Steiner and I would be in heaven.

  The Green Lama started as a pulp character in Double Detective magazine in April 1940 moving to comics in the December 1940 issue of Prize comics. He was drawn in the outfit he wore in the pulps: green Tibetan robe over his everyday suit. By the time he got his own comic book he was wearing a cape and tights. Doc Savage started in the pulps with his first story "The Man of Bronze" in 1933 and moved to comics in The Shadow comics in 1940. In the pulp stories he usually wore a brown business suit. Soon he had his own comic title and in issue 5 he received a blue hood with a mystic ruby in the forehead. His costume became leather boots, tight blue pants and that hood with bare chest and arms. That's a good start but not "superhero" enough. I've added blue gauntlets and special "science" goggles that let him see infra-red, ultra-violet and whatever else the writer wants. Most importantly he gets full tights with a logo on his chest; the alchemy symbo...

  As superhero comics became more popular in 1940s the "cape and tights" look became the standard. When the Crimson Avenger first appeared in Detective Comics the year before Batman, he wore a suit, fedora, overcoat and mask. He carried a gas gun and had an Asian sidekick. Soon he was wearing red tights and cape. Sandman originally wore a green double-breasted suit, fedora, cool gas mask and a cape. His weapon of choice being a gas gun. At the end of 1941 he, surprisingly, no longer had a cape but now wore purple and yellow tights. The character they seemed to be based on was the Green Hornet. He wore a suit, fedora overcoat and mask. What if he followed the trend? I got inspiration not only from the Crimson Avenger and Sandman but other insect based heroes of the time, the Red Bee (I didn't make that up) and Yellow Jacket.  Obviously the Hornet should have a striped costume. I added a split cape that could look like hornet wings when in action. Above you can seen my vers...