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[oldtimer]

As a youngster I attended the Saturday morning shows at my local cinema. The show consisted of a Big Picture (sometimes Hopalong Cassidy,Tex Ritter, Gene Autry or Roy Rogers), a couple of cartoons, a short comedy and best of all the Serial. The serials were often based on comic characters, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Brick Bradford(and his time top), Dick Tracy, Don Winslow of the Navy, the Phantom,Badman and Superman. My favorite was The Adventures of Captain Marvel who appeared to really fly unlike Superman who's flying was animated.
Since growing up (?) I have rediscovered these serials and avidly seek them out. Although they are in Black & white, have naff special effects, incredible story lines, sometimes cheat on the cliffhanger and don't stick to the comic characters background, they are nostalgic and fun.
If you want to see the America of the 30's and 40's and experience the thrills of and eight year old
download some of them from http://archive.org/details/short_films

What do you think? Whats your favourite serial? Has anyone seen the Blackhawks serial?

Oldtimer

[narfstar]

I liked the Phantom seriel but the best to me were the Flash Gordon

[jimmm kelly]

I'd like to see BLACKHAWK or VIGILANTE.

I have Superman and Captain Marvel on VHS, but I guess I should get the DVDs. It's been a long time since I used my VCR--I wonder if it even works?

My father's favourite singing cowboy was Gene Autry. He has good memories of going to the picture show in the '30s and seeing Gene Autry.

So I bought him a lot of those movies on DVD. But now I'm not sure if he ever plays them anymore. My brother bought my parents a new DVD player and a new TV and all that, but darned if I can figure out how they work. I don't think my father bothers with the DVD player, since he has trouble with just operating the TV.

It confounds me, because I used to like turning on the TV when I come to visit. Maybe popping in a DVD. But now I don't dare touch the TV for fear I'll mess up all the programming. It beats me why the geniuses who make these things can't make it simple. One button--ON/OFF. Why is that so hard to do?

[profh0011]

My first exposure to old movie serials was FLASH GORDON... just barely.  I remember turning on a local station early on a Saturday morning, and walking into the last 5 minutes of Chapter 1-- where he's in the arena, which ends with him and the girl falling down the trap door.  Somehow I didn't see more of it (for a long time).

It seems a couple years later, someone started running BUCK ROGERS on Sunday mornings.  One episode per week at 11 AM.  We used to watch it after church.  I was saddened when it ended at 12 chapters, and found out they didn't make any more!

A couple years later, they started running a trio of serials on Monday-Friday at 5 PM (I think).  The 3 serials were FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS, FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE, and BUCK ROGERS.  I'm not making this up.  They ran them in rotation (I think in that order, but not sure).  I kept wondering, why aren't they running the 1st FLASH GORDON ?  That made no sense at all.

A few years later, they started running FLASH GORDON on Sunday mornings.  I remember this mainly because my Dad kept making these comments about Princess Aura-- "hubba hubba".     Around that time (I think), I'd gotten ahold of the reprints of the Sunday strips, and was amazed at how much of the serial (well, at least the first 8 chapters anyway) followed the story from the newspaper version. 

Then in the 80's, NJN (the PBS station) started running all 3 FLASH GORDON serials, one episode per week, after that week's DOCTOR WHO "movie" on Saturday nights.  I'm trying to remember if they ran them in the right order or not.  See, Larry Ivie had written this article in which he suggested that the 3rd FG was "more appropriate" as a sequel to the 1st.  But if you watch all 3, you realize, that ain't so.  It's more like the 3rd one tries to ignore the 2nd (which, let's face it, REALLY wasn't that good), while also apparently acting as a sequel to another serial that was NEVER MADE.  On that score, it's just like SON OF FRANKENSTEIN.  Both were made by the "3rd" regime at Universal, who were clearly trying to put the "2nd" regime (the guys who decided not to make horror movies anymore) behind them.

Over the years, I've often wondered, if there's SO MANY of these things in existence, WHY didn't some enterprising TV programmer get ahold of a whole pile of them, and program them together as a set?  They could have run one episode per day (M-F) and kept going for YEARS without ever repeating the same ones!

In more recent years I've gotten ahold of BATMAN (fabulous!), BATMAN AND ROBIN (average at best), CAPTAIN AMERICA (exciting as hell!) and DICK TRACY (the 1st one-- loads of action, but virtually nothing like the comics at all).  I've also got the edited "movie" version of THE LONE RANGER (a real oddity which is so different from any "classic" version of the character as to be beyond belief).

With so much being available these days on DVD, I hope once I can afford to buy stuff again to go after more of this stuff.

[narfstar]

Henry I think it may have been a common thing on PBS. I think I remember doing the same thing after Doctor Who was Flash Gordon. Of course my memory from over 20 years ago is not great

[paw broon]

I love old serials and like oldtimer, I also went on Sat. mornings to the Pavilion Cinema and the highlight was the serial.  My favourite at the time was the Gene Autry one, The Phantom Empire.  Still is a favourite.  I also saw Batman there and, oddly enough, didn't find it as exciting. The Pavilion also showed some British short serials, one of which was The Famous Five and recently a couple of them have been released on dvd.
I remember Flash Gordon from way back but I'm sure I didn't see it at the cinema so it must have been later on t.v.
In recent years, I've been buying old serials on dvd and have a nice small collection now.  But up there with The Phantom; Phantom Empire; Cap. Marvel; the genuinely exciting "Secret Code" with The Black Commando and some others, is the first Quatermass serial - Quatermass and The Pit. This was the last of the Quatermass trilogy, (till a 4th serial was done years later with John Mills).  The originals were shown weekly on the B.B.C. in the late '50's and later "The Pit" was screened as a 2 part "film".  But I remember being really frightened and excited by the small bits I saw back then.  And now I can experience it all again on dvd. 
Oldtimer will be aware of the other classy British t.v. serials but some of you might not know of such delights as,
Dark Season - Two 3 part serials written by Russell T Davies and starring Kate Winslett; the wonderful Jacqueline Pearce and Brigit Forsyth (Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads) (1991)
Children of The Stones with Gareth Thomas (Blake's Seven) and Iain Cuthbertson (1977)
The Box of Delights with Patrick Troughton
and Timeslip, which I mentioned just recently. Timeslip is a series of 4 serials, all connected -
The Wrong End of Time; The Time of The Ice Box; The Year of The Burn Up (which I think is the weak one)and The Day of The Clone.  (1970's) Well worth getting hold off.

[profh0011]

Bill Black just reminded me that he has a ton of old movie serials for sale at his website.  (He sure never misses a chance to self-promote!)  He's even MAKING some new ones for direct-to-DVD.  What a guy!  (The whole time he did comics over the years, it was on the side; his "day job" was in film production, down in Florida.)


D'ja ever read the opinion that for almost its entire run, FLASH GORDON was one of the worst-written strips in the papers?  Repetitive, and very insulting to women (in my view).

Irony:  as 2nd-rate as TRIP TO MARS was, Dale Arden in there was BETTER-written than she ever was in the newspaper!  And when Carol Hughes took over in CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE-- even better!  CONQUERS was, I believe, the only time Dale's trademark "jealous streak" reared its ugly head.  But unlike the newspaper version, the movie Dale was smart enough to get mad as the B**** trying to steal her man-- not Flash, who just smiled and shrugged it off.  Buster Crabbe's Flash probably appreciated having a girlfriend that smart-- as well as pretty.  In my later GUN! stories, The GUN!'s girlfriend Ellie was a lot like that.  Firey temper-- but always aimed at the "right" targets.

Crabbe's acting got noticably better with each serial!

[mr_goldenage]

I use to buy a lot of my Movie serials from here:

http://www.cometwesterns.com/

I've got quite the library of Movie serials USA and some Japanese ones as well. I also have a healthy collection of Movies that are super hero oriented too. I'm a huge fan of live action super hero/heroine movies & serials.

RB

[josemas]

Over the years, I've often wondered, if there's SO MANY of these things in existence, WHY didn't some enterprising TV programmer get ahold of a whole pile of them, and program them together as a set?  They could have run one episode per day (M-F) and kept going for YEARS without ever repeating the same ones!

Henry, I remember when I was kid one of our local stations did just that in the wake of the success of the Batman television show.  Every afternoon they ran one episode of some chapter-play Monday through Friday.  My memory of them is that they were all Republic serials.  I can't remember how long they ran them but I'm pretty sure it wasn't more than a year max (and probably less).  At twelve to fifteen chapters per serial I guess that's about 17-21 cliffhangers in a year's time.  Republic had a library of 66 serial titles that could be tapped into.  I can't remember any specific titles but know that none of the big superhero titles were among those I saw and there certainly seemed to be a lot with government agents and western heroes. I do remember after a while noticing some of the same stock footage popping up repeatedly.  But when you're eight years old that sort of stuff doesn't bother you much.

Best

Joe

[fate man]

I Have one question:are the spider's web and the mysterious doctor satan available on DVD?
Just asking.

[Yoc]

I didn't see them there but there are some serials on the Internet Archive site -
http://archive.org/

[mr_goldenage]

Here you go fate here is a listing of all the movie serials that are non westerns offered by Comet Video on DVD:

Comet Video
P. O. Box 750
Franklin, NC 28744-0750
Telephone: 828-524-5251
E-mail: cowboys@cometwesterns.com
It has been a privilege for me, in the past 26 years, to see my hobby develop into a business. My love for
the B-Westerns and Serials is such that I will not jeopardize it in any way. If you find a title that you feel
violates a copyright law, or belongs to you, please make me aware of the situation immediately. It will be
researched and corrected if necessary. Our list is used for record-keeping purposes, as well as sale and
trade.
--- Tommy Hildreth
SERIALS - Available in DVD Format
Listed in alphabetical order: chapters follow the "numbers"

ACE DRUMMOND 13-Universal John "Dusty" King
ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN AFRICA 15-Columbia John Hart
ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL 12-Republic Tom Tyler
ADVENTURES OF FRANK AND JESSE JAMES 13-Universal Clayton Moore
THE ADVENTURES OF FRANK MERRIWELL 12-Universal Don Briggs
ADVENTURES OF RED RYDER 12-Republic Don "Red" Barry
ADVENTURES OF REX AND RINTY 12-Mascot Rin Tin Tin
THE ADVENTURES OF SIR GALAHAD 15-Columbia George Reeves
ADVENTURES OF SMILIN' JACK 13-Universal Tom Brown
ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS 13-Universal Johnny Downs
ATOM MAN v/s SUPERMAN 15-Columbia Kirk Alyn
BATMAN 15-Columbia Lewis Wilson
BATMAN AND ROBIN 15-Columbia Robert Lowery
BLACK ARROW 15-Columbia Robert Scott
THE BLACK COIN 15-Independent Ralph Graves
BLACKHAWK 15-Columbia Kirk Alyn
BLACK WIDOW 13-Republic Bruce Edwards
BLAKE OF SCOTLAND YARD 15-Independent Ralph Byrd
BLAZING THE OVERLAND TRAIL 15-Columbia Dennis Moore 2
BRICK BRADFORD 15-Columbia Kane Richmond
BRUCE GENTRY 15-Columbia Tom Neal
BUCK ROGERS 12-Universal Buster Crabbe
BURN'EM UP BARNES 12-Mascot Jack Mulhall
CALL OF THE SAVAGE 13-Universal Noah Berry, Jr.
CANADIAN MOUNTIES v/s ATOMIC INVADERS 12-Republic Bill Henry
CAPTAIN AMERICA 15-Republic Dick Pucell
CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT 15-Columbia Dave O'Brien
CAPTAIN VIDEO 15-Columbia Judd Holdren
CHICK CARTER, DETECTIVE 15-Columbia Lyle Talbot
THE CLUTCHING HAND 15-Independent Jack Mulhall
CODY OF THE PONY EXPRESS 15-Columbia Jock Mahoney
CONGO BILL 15-Columbia Don McGuire
THE CRIMSON GHOST 12-Republic Charles Quigley
CUSTER'S LAST STAND 15-Independent Rex Lease
DANGERS OF THE CANADIAN MOUNTIES 12-Republic Jim Bannon
DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE 12-Republic Charles Quigley
DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST 12-Republic Allan Lane
DARKEST AFRICA 15-Republic Clyde Beatty
DAUGHTER OF DON Q 12-Republic Kirk Alyn
DEADWOOD DICK 15-Columbia Don Douglas
THE DESERT HAWK 15-Columbia Gilbert Roland
DESPERADOES OF THE WEST 12-Republic Tom Keene
THE DEVIL HORSE 12-Mascot Harry Carey
DICK TRACY 15-Republic Ralph Byrd
DICK TRACY RETURNS 15-Republic Ralph Byrd
DICK TRACY'S G-MEN 15-Republic Ralph Byrd
DICK TRACY vs. CRIME, INC. 15-Republic Ralph Byrd
DON DAREDEVIL RIDES AGAIN 12-Republic Ken Curtis
DON WINSLOW OF THE COAST GUARD 13-Universal Don Terry
DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY 12-Universal Don Terry
DRUMS OF FU MANCHU 15-Republic Henry Brandon
FEDERAL AGENTS v/s UNDERWORLD, INC. 12-Republic Kirk Alyn
FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 12-Republic Marten Lamont
FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS 12-Republic Lee Powell
THE FIGHTING MARINES 12-Mascot Grant Withers
FIGHTING WITH KIT CARSON 12-Mascot Johnny Mack Brown
FLAMING FRONTIERS 15-Universal Johnny Mack Brown
FLASH GORDON 13-Universal Buster Crabbe
FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE 12-Universal Buster Crabbe
FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS 15-Universal Buster Crabbe
FLYING DISC MAN FROM MARS 12-Republic Walter Reed
FLYING G-MEN 15-Columbia Robert Paige
THE GALLOPING GHOST 12-Mascot "Red" Grange 3
GANGBUSTERS 13-Universal Kent Taylor
GHOST OF ZORRO 12-Republic Clayton Moore
G-MEN NEVER FORGET 12-Republic Clayton Moore
G-MEN v/s THE BLACK DRAGON 15-Republic Rod Cameron
GORDON OF GHOST CITY 12-Universal Buck Jones
GOVERNMENT AGENTS v/s PHANTOM LEGION 12-Republic Walter Reed
GREAT ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN KIDD 15-Columbia Richard Crane
GREAT ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKOK 15-Columbia Wild Bill Elliott
GREAT ALASKAN MYSTERY 13-Universal Milburn Stone
THE GREEN ARCHER 15-Columbia Victor Jory
THE GREEN HORNET 13-Universal Gordon James
THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN 15-Universal Warren Hull
GUNFIGHTERS OF THE NORTHWEST 15-Columbia Jock Mahoney
HAUNTED HARBOR 15-Republic Kane Richmond
HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS 12-Republic Herman Brix
HEROES OF THE WEST 12-Universal Noah Berry, Jr.
HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE 15-Columbia Jack Holt
HOP HARRIGAN 15-Columbia William Bakewell
THE HURRICANE EXPRESS 12-Mascot John Wayne
THE INVISIBLE MONSTER 12-Republic Richard Webb
THE IRON CLAW 15-Columbia Charles Quigley
JACK ARMSTRONG 15-Columbia John Hart
JAMES BROTHERS OF MISSOURI 12-Republic Keith Richards
JESSE JAMES RIDES AGAIN 13-Republic Clayton Moore
JUNGLE DRUMS OF AFRICA 12-Republic Clayton Moore
JUNGLE GIRL 15-Republic Frances Gifford
JUNGLE JIM 12-Universal Grant Withers
JUNGLE MENACE 15-Columbia Frank Buck
JUNGLE QUEEN 13-Universal Ruth Roman
JUNGLE RAIDERS 15-Columbia Kane Richmond
JUNIOR G-MEN 12-Universal Dead End Kids
JUNIOR G-MEN OF THE AIR 12-Universal Dead End Kids
KING OF THE CARNIVAL 12-Republic Harry Lauter
KING OF THE CONGO 15-Columbia Buster Crabbe
KING OF THE FOREST RANGERS 12-Republic Larry Thompson
KING OF THE MOUNTIES 12-Republic Allan Lane
KING OF THE ROCKETMEN 12-Republic Tris Coffin
KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED 12-Republic Allan Lane
KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS 12-Republic Slingin' Sammy Baugh
KING OF THE WILD 12-Mascot Walter Miller
THE LAST FRONTIER 12-RKO Lon Chaney Jr.
LAST OF THE MOHICANS 12-Mascot Harry Carey
LAW OF THE WILD 12-Mascot Rin Tin Tin 4
LIGHTNING WARRIOR 12-Mascot Rin Tin Tin
THE LONE DEFENDER 12-Mascot Rin Tin Tin
THE LONE RANGER 15-Republic Lee Powell
THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN 15-Republic Robert Livingston
THE LOST CITY 12-Independent Kane Richmond
LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE 13-Universal Russell Hayden
THE LOST JUNGLE 12-Mascot Clyde Beatty
THE LOST PLANET 15-Columbia Judd Holdren
MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN 12-Columbia Warren Hull
MANHUNT IN THE AFRICAN JUNGLE 15-Republic Rod Cameron
MANHUNT OF MYSTERY ISLAND 15-Republic Linda Stirling
MAN WITH THE STEEL WHIP 12-Republic Richard Simmons
THE MASKED MARVEL 12-Republic William Forrest
THE MASTER KEY 13-Universal Milburn Stone
THE MIRACLE RIDER 15-Mascot Tom Mix
MONSTER AND THE APE 15-Columbia Robert Lowery
MYSTERIOUS DOCTOR SATAN 15-Republic Robert Wilcox
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND 15-Columbia Richard Crane
THE MYSTERIOUS MR. M 13-Universal Richard Martin
THE MYSTERIOUS PILOT 15-Columbia Captain Frank Hawks
MYSTERY MOUNTAIN 12-Mascot Ken Maynard
MYSTERY OF THE RIVERBOAT 13-Universal Robert Lowery
MYSTERY SQUADRON 12-Mascot Bob Steele
THE MYSTERY TROOPER 10-Independent Buzz Barton
(THE NEW ADVENTURES OF) TARZAN 12-Independent Herman Brix
NYOKA AND THE TIGERMEN 15-Republic Kay Aldridge
THE OREGON TRAIL 15-Universal Johnny Mack Brown
OVERLAND MAIL 15-Universal Lon Chaney, Jr.
OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON 15-Columbia Wild Bill Elliott
THE PAINTED STALLION 12-Republic Ray "Crash" Corrigan
PANTHER GIRL OF THE CONGO 12-Republic Phyllis Coates
PERILS OF PAULINE 12-Universal Evelyn Knapp
PERILS OF THE DARKEST JUNGLE 12-Republic Allan Lane
PERILS OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED 15-Columbia Robert Stevens
PERILS OF THE WILDERNESS 15-Columbia Dennis Moore
THE PHANTOM 15-Columbia Tom Tyler
THE PHANTOM CREEPS 12-Universal Bela Lugosi
THE PHANTOM EMPIRE 12-Mascot Gene Autry
PHANTOM OF THE AIR 12-Universal Tom Tyler
PHANTOM OF THE WEST 10-Mascot Tom Tyler
THE PHANTOM RIDER 15-Universal Buck Jones
THE PHANTOM RIDER 12-Republic Robert Kent
PIRATES OF THE HIGH SEAS 15-Columbia Buster Crabbe
PIRATE TREASURE 12-Universal Richard Talmadge5
THE PURPLE MONSTER STRIKES 15-Columbia Dennis Moore
QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE 12-Independent Reed Howes
RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON 12-Republic George Wallace
RADAR PATROL v/s SPY KING 12-Republic Kirk Alyn
RADIO PATROL 12-Universal Grant Withers
RAIDERS OF GHOST CITY 13-Universal Dennis Moore
RED BARRY 13-Universal Buster Crabbe
THE RED RIDER 15-Universal Buck Jones
THE RETURN OF CHANDU 12-Independent Bela Lugosi
RIDERS OF DEATH VALLEY 15-Universal Dick Foran
RIDING WITH BUFFALO BILL 15-Columbia Marshall Reed
THE ROARING WEST 15-Universal Buck Jones
ROAR OF THE IRON HORSE 15-Columbia Jock Mahoney
ROBINSON CRUSOE OF CLIPPER ISLAND 14-Republic Mala
ROYAL MOUNTED RIDES AGAIN 13-Universal Bill Kennedy
RUSTLERS OF RED DOG 12-Universal Johnny Mack Brown
S.O.S. COASTGUARD 12-Republic Ralph Byrd
THE SCARLET HORSEMN 13-Universal Paul Guilfoyle
SCOUTS TO THE RESCUE 12-Universal Jackie Cooper
THE SEA HOUND 15-Columbia Buster Crabbe
SEA RAIDERS 12-Universal Dean End Kids
SECRET AGENT X-9 (1937) 12-Universal Scott Kolk
SECRET AGENT X-9 (1945) 13-Universal Lloyd Bridges
THE SECRET CODE 15-Columbia Paul Kelly
SECRET OF TREASURE ISLAND 15-Columbia Don Terry
THE SHADOW 15-Columbia Victor Jory
SHADOW OF THE EAGLE 12-Mascot John Wayne
SIGN OF THE WOLF 10-Independent Rex Lease
SKY RAIDERS 12-Universal Donald Woods
SON OF GERONIMO 15-Columbia Clayton Moore
SON OF THE GUARDSMAN 15-Columbia Robert Shaw
SON OF ZORRO 13-Republic George Turner
THE SPIDER RETURNS 15-Columbia Warren Hull
THE SPIDER'S WEB 15-Columbia Warren Hull
SPY SMASHER 12-Republic Kane Richmond
SUPERMAN 15-Columbia Kirk Alyn
TAILSPIN TOMMY 12-Universal Maurice Murphy
TAILSPIN TOMMY and the GREAT AIR MYSTERY 12-Universal Clark Williams
TARZAN THE TIGER (silent w/ musical score) 15-Universal Frank Merrill
TERRY AND THE PIRATES 15-Columbia William Tracy
TEX GRANGER 15-Columbia Robert Kellard
THE THREE MUSKETEERS 12-Macot John Wayne
TIM TYLER'S LUCK 12-Universal Frankie Thomas
TRADER TOM OF THE CHINA SEAS 12-Republic Harry Lauter 6
UNDERSEA KINGDOM 12-Republic Ray "Crash" Corrigan
VALLEY OF VANISHING MEN 15-Columbia Wild Bill Elliott
THE VANISHING LEGION 12-Mascot Harry Carey
THE VANISHING SHADOW 12-Universal Onslow Stevens
THE VIGILANTE 15-Columbia Ralph Byrd
THE VIGILANTES ARE COMING 12-Republic Robert Livingston
THE WHISPERING SHADOW 12-Independent Bela Lugosi
WHITE EAGLE 15-Columbia Buck Jones
WHO'S GUILTY 15-Columbia Robert Kent
WILD WEST DAYS 13-Universal Johnny Mack Brown
WINNER OF THE WEST 13-Universal Dick Foran
THE WOLF DOG 12-Mascot Rin-Tin-Tin
YOUNG EAGLES 12-Independent Bobby Cox
ZOMBIES OF THE STRATOSPHERE 12-Republic Judd Holdren
ZORRO RIDES AGAIN 12-Republic John Carroll
ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP 12-Republic Linda Stirling
ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION 12-Republic Reed Hadley

[fate man]

Thanks Richard,you are the best.
Allen

[narfstar]

Some list thanks Richard

[paw broon]

That's some list.
But there are a lot of westerns on it.  Doesn't matter to me, though as I enjoy a number of masked cowboy serials.  I recently was given a copy of Don Daredevil Rides Again and it's only a couple down my pile of "next to watch". 

[narfstar]

Lots of these available on youtube

[mr_goldenage]

That isn't even their cowboy list. LoL. Would you like to see that? Let me know. Lots of masked cowboy stuff there too.

Mr Goldenage Westerner.

[josemas]

I generally have three serials that I find myself working through at any one time.  I watch one chapter of each a week and usually get through 9-12 serials each year.

Currently I'm watching-

The Adventures of Sir Galahad-1949-Columbia-   Two years before he first donned his Superman tights George Reeves was one of the knights of King Arthur's Camelot.  Pretty fun even though budget considerations are showing here and there in the production. The Lil Missus is watching this one with me.

The Call of the Savage-1935-Universal-   A very young Noah Beery, Jr. (The Rockford Files) plays Jan of the Jungle in this adaptation of Otis Adelbert Kline's novel.  Kline is best known for his books that were done in the Edgar Rice Burroughs' tradition.  This is his variation on Tarzan.  Beery plays Jan in a style similar to the monosyllabic movie Tarzans of the era.  Currently watching this with my Movie Night buddies.

The Lost Jungle-1934-Mascot-   Real life big game hunter and animal trainer Clyde Beatty plays himself in this one.  Some really good scenes with the animals so far and Beatty seems to be doing many of his own stunts.  The serial was popular enough in its day that Beatty was brought back for a followup- Darkest Africa (1936).


Some other serials that I would recommend-

Flash Gordon (1936)  and its sequels.  these wome of the highest budgeted and most successful of sound serials and they helped make Buster Crabbe a B movie star.  Charles Middleton makes a great Ming the Merciless too.

Dick Tracy (1937) and its three sequels.  Arguably the most successful series of the sound serials with Ralph Byrd excellently cast as the famous comic strip detective in all four cliffhangers (and later in a couple of feature films and a television series).  While they take their liberties with the comic strip all are exciting with great villains and action.  Love that flying wing in the first serial too.

Fighting Devil Dogs (1938)  Good action and a great super-villain (The Lightning) who looks like a prototype for Darth Vader.  Also reuses the flying wing from Dick Tracy.

Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939)  Wonderfully action-packed!

Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939)  The best of the Zorro cliffhangers.

The Green Hornet (1940) and its sequel.  Well done adaptations of the radio hero.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) and Spy Smasher (1942)  While these two adaptations of the Fawcett Comics characters take liberties with the source material they are both fast paced and well cast, and a couple of the best action-packed serials of the early 1940s.

King of the Rocket Men (1949) This sci-fi cliffhanger was the last of the really good serials before declining budgets began to severely hamper productions.  Spawned two followups.

plus any of the Columbia serials directed by James W. Horne (Captain Midnight, The Green Archer, Holt of the Secret Service, The Iron Claw, the Spider serials and more).  Horne brings a sense of humor to his serials that have made him a favorite with my Movie Night group.

Best

Joe

[Powder Solvang]

I have got to weigh in on this! In the early 1980's I was rummaging around in a book store and I found Cliffhanger: A Pictorial History Of The Motion Picture Serial by the late Alan Barbour. Being a comics fan I was struck by the fact that many of the serials were based on comic book characters. I saved up $400.00, bought my first vcr and began collecting vhs tapes of superhero and sci-fi serials. (most of which were low quality dubs but i didn't care!) My interests have since expanded to include serials of all genres. In fact my username and avatar are from a silent serial. (Lightning Bryce, 1919)

Check out:

www.cliffhangerproductionsmessageboards.yuku.com

www.backyardstudiosforums.yuku.com

www.serialsquadron.com

www.serialexperience.com

www.westernclippings.com/sr/serialreport_2008_01.shtml