Any "serials" buffs out there?

[Phillyrich]

I'm interested in exploring the world of classic talkie-era serials. Can someone give me a brief primer?

What were the five or so best serial films? What dvd company makes the best transfers?

Is Alan Barbour's book: "Cliffhanger" (1978) the best place to start reading about them?

Thanks.

[silentfilm]

You need to visit the Serial Squadron web page. They also have a Facebook group you can join.

[CliffordWeimer]

I love Alan's books, but he was very much pro-Republic to the detriment of Columbia and Universal.

Get the Image release of the three Flash Gordon serials to start with.

I've done a lot of bonus material and whatnot for VCI's releases of serials. AC Comics has released a bunch of nice DVD-Rs of many serial titles too.

My website is http://www.inthebalcony.com" target="_blank and there's a special http://www.inthebalcony.com/cliffhanger" target="_blank site that I have that reviews and discusses serials, plus a vibrant message board with a lot of serial fans.

My top five for DVD releases, besides the Image Flash Gordons, would be Sony's BATMAN (1943), VCI's CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT, THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (which I worked on), AC Comics' SPY SMASHER, and Artisan's THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL.

[moviespast]

Serial Squardon, a few weeks, months back, made mention of a good and reliable source told them that prints had been found for the Universal 'lost' serials from the early 30s: Clancy of the Mounted, and, The Secret Code. I have heard nothing more at this point althought I have been writing to the leader of the squad, Dr Groods? A friend has been driving me mad about Clancy for years and the amount of times he has asked to look up details of the cast on IMDB is too many times to calculate now. Serial Squadron work by getting donations from interested collectors to do the expensive restorations. They also have odd reels of lost sound & silent serials on DVD sets and radio material.

VCI(Liberty Home Video in the old days) have been doing serials since the VHS days and made quite good covers for their issues, usually on two tapes. Put a lot of DVDs or Blu rays in that space today. Their quality is excellent but they often compete with Serial Squadron, who maintain they have the best quality in the the marketplace.

There are a lot of shonks out there with terrible copies and often well over priced. Some look like they have come from very poor VHS and many will remember when serials, westerns and other material was issued in EP speed. Sure it got a lot on a tape but the tapes ruined the heads quicker than normal speed tapes. In Australia normal speed was generally 180mins for VHS as E180s and Beta was usually a little longer. USA VHS average was T120s. Glad to see all this lot go. Good in its day until something better came in and disc formats(many never got in general sale) were around before Beta & VHS home video. A guy called Peter Vollmann advertises in Classic Images and sales a lot of serials at a cheap price. Reports are his DVDs are quite good or better and have covers & disc labels.

[CliffordWeimer]

I've "donated" money to the Serial Squadron before for restorations. I consider it money stolen. Just so's ya know.

By the way, VCI's The Phantom Empire is the best copy of that particular serial. The Squadron version has added sound effects and color ray gun blasts and additions like that. Horrible. They do good work sometimes - their Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery and Radio Patrol are terrific - but their work is hit 'n' miss.

Watch serials one chapter a week. Trust me on this one. If you watch then in a block, you'll quickly wonder what all the fuss is about.

[drednm]

Aside from the priceless The Perils of Pauline which was a sensation in the teens and made a huge star of Pearl White, the only other serial I've watched in the last few decades (!) is The Black Coin, a low budget affair that has its moments. It stars Ralph Graves and Ruth Mix. It's likely a little heavier on plot than most 30s serials and was quite enjoyable.

[sepiatone]

I'm planning to revisit HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE (1941) with silent legends Jack Holt and Evelyn Brent. Haven't seen this since VHS heyday and my library has all the VHSs on DvD now. I also would recommend any Nyoka serials, Jungle Girl starring Frances Gifford and Ruth Roman respectively.

[CliffordWeimer]

Jungle Girl stars Frances Gifford as Nyoka; Ruth Roman is in Jungle Queen (not a Nyoka serial). I don't like either of those serials. Nyoka can be also be found (Kay Aldridge) in Perils of Nyoka (usually sold under its reissue title, Nyoka and the Tigermen), one of my favorite serials. I also love Linda Stirling in Zorro's Black Whip and The Tiger Woman.

[Richard M Roberts]

Actually, its sort of hard to recommend serials to a newbie because it's sometimes difficult to figure out what someone else wants out of them. We've had the greatest entertainment at our weekly movie nights (which has run a serial a chapter a week for more than a decade) with some of the worst serials. While the Republics are slick, have better budgets at least into the mid-40's, and great special effects by the Lydecker Brothers, they are also frequently the least humorous. Our movie night crowd really enjoys the Columbia James W. Horne- directed serials, of which HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE and CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT are both great examples, because Horne and his casts are really having fun and taking the mickey out of the serial traditions. We also love the lower-budget serials like the ones produced the Weiss Brothers in the mid-30's, THE BLACK COIN, THE CLUTCHING HAND, and CUSTERS LAST STAND, all of which feature nearly all-star casts of silent performers now grabbing a paycheck in really sillly plots. We also love the early 30's Mascot Serials, also because of great casts of has-been actors and because they are more like silent-era serials mixing both action and more complicated plotting (THE HURRICANE EXPRESS (1932) starring John Wayne is a great Mascot Serial).

But if you want jaw-dropping weirdness, nothing beats Sherman Krellberg's THE LOST CITY (1935), with it's jungle/science-fiction plot, political incorrectness, and a great hammy performance by an ill, drunk, and dying William "Stage" Boyd as the main villain. That one has remained the Movie Night favorite for years. But we also had fun running a weekly pool as to how many actual minutes of footage Lionel Atwill would have in Universal's THE LOST CITY OF THE JUNGLE (1946) each week (he died in the middle of shooting), and we always have a good time identifying where the stock footage in the Universal serials came from.

But if you want Republics, I say check out DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE (1939), ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL(1941), SPY SMASHER (1942), DRUMS OF FU MANCHU (1940) and any of the Dick Tracy serials with Ralph Byrd. The Nyokas are okay, but I greatly prefer the late Republic remake PANTHER GIRL OF THE CONGO (1955), because Phyllis Coates fills out the Nyoka costume quite nicely, and manages to get wet in it during various episodes.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Mark Pruett]

To Richard's excellent list of Republics I would add The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938), Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939), and Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940), all directed by the team of John English and William Witney. The Zorro entry captures Yakima Canutt's heart-pounding-stunt-gone-awry, the slide under the wheels, which might have killed him if--well, if he hadn't been Yakima Canutt.

I second Cliff's recommendation of the Flash Gordons (particularly the first one) for those new to serials. And yes, a chapter a week is a great idea. Seasoned actors abound in these things, but it helps to remember that their thespian skills were typically at the mercy of a ludicrous plot and a freight-train shooting schedule. Spacing out the chapter viewings is akin to forgiveness for fluffed lines and stuttering dialogue exchanges, and allows the humor of the proceedings (even if unscripted) to trump the tedium induced by repetition. And humor there is, especially in the sci-fi serials. Let's begin with Wardrobe . . .

Holt of the Secret Service is one of the most enjoyable Horne serials, perhaps because Jack Holt so thoroughly enjoys himself, happily two-fisted and immune to embarrassment. A serial actor's actor!

[Phillyrich]

Thanks, fellow film buffs. A lot of interesting (and humorous) responses that will be of much help to me.

I wish there were one master book that explained thefull history of the serials, but I guess the subject is too broad and no one book can handle it all. (I'd never even heard of the Mascot Studio.) The suggested web sites do help somewhat.

BTW, can anyone advise on the book: "Don't Miss the Next Thrilling Chapter" by Anthony Fletcher?

[bobfells]

I thought I'd put a plug in for the Harry Carey Mascot serials from the early 30s: THE VANISHING LEGION, THE DEVIL HORSE, and LAST OF THE MOHEGANS where he plays Hawkeye. I've watching LEGION all the way through and a previous poster is right - only watch them one chapter at a time. I watched LEGION one per night and that seemed to work out fine. Somebody wrote that Harry Carey had to be the oldest hero in any serial and that's probably true.

Another honorable mention is Bela Lugosi in RETURN OF CHANDU but I have confine my praise to the first six chapters that are a self-contained story unrelated to the second six. The second half was released as a feature called CHANDU ON MAGIC ISLAND (or something like that) but it would have been more accurate to call it CHANDU RUNS OUT OF MONEY because it was poorly produced. But I can recommend the first six chapters that are decently produced and have nice production values.

[CliffordWeimer]

I've been showing serials for 25 years, one chapter a week, as part of my Friday night movie parties. Without question, the most popular serials I've shown were Flash Gordon, Spy Smasher, and The Spider Returns, so you may want to start there. Besides, there's one from Universal, Republic, and Columbia, as good a mix as any.

[FrankFay]

For classic Republic serials I'd go with THE MASKED MARVEL and THE CRIMSON GHOST- and the movie condensation of that (CYCLOTRODE X) is pretty good too.

[greta de groat]

To Richard's excellent list of Republics I would add The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938), Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939), and Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940), all directed by the team of John English and William Witney. The Zorro entry captures Yakima Canutt's heart-pounding-stunt-gone-awry, the slide under the wheels, which might have killed him if--well, if he hadn't been Yakima Canutt.

Which episode of Zorro was that in? I just went through that one, but i took me a while so i've forgotten some details. Is that really Billy Bletcher as the voice of Del Del Oro?

One of my all time favorite serials is Daredevils of the Red Circle, i'd highly recommend that one. Anything with Bela Lugosi is great, especially the one with the cardboard robot. Has anyone mentioned the bizarre sci-fi/western The Phantom Empire? (which my video label helpfully calls "Phantom of the Empire." And Tarzan the Tiger is a hoot!

greta

[Mark Pruett]

Don't remember which episode of Zorro that stunt is in, but you can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IltyRrKq ... re=related

[greta de groat]

Don't remember which episode of Zorro that stunt is in, but you can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IltyRrKq ... re=related

Oh, i remember that now. That wasn't planned? In that case that really was scary!

greta

[josemas]

I thought I'd chime in that I agree with those suggesting that you watch serials a chapter per week. They just seem to work better that way. If you find that too slow for getting through the number of serials that you want to see than do what I do and watch two or three per week. I watch one serial with my Movie Night crew (currently The Son of Tarzan-1920), one serial Friday or Saturday mornings (currently The Vanishing Legion-1931) usually with a comedy short (currently working my way through Columbia's complete Three Stooges sets) and a vintage cartoon or two (most recently checking out some Thunderbeam oddball toons from the 1930s) and occasionally I watch one with my film viewings with the Lil' Missus (most recently The Adventures of Captain Marvel-1941). That way I end up viewing 8-12 serials per year (and over the last couple of decades has got me through a large number of the 200+ extant sound serials and a number of silent serials as well) which manages to keep me happy in the chapter-play viewing department.

Best

Joe Moore

[CliffordWeimer]

In The Balcony Spotlight this week: The Mysterious Mr. M (1946, Universal's last theatrical serial): http://inthebalcony.com/spotlight/" target="_blank

[Nathan Ensoll]

This is a little Off Topic - but I'm a fan of the Classic "Doctor Who" series also. I can now see where the series must have drawn inspiration from - through these old Hollywood Sci-Fi/Horror Serials. The classic series of Dr Who being; self contained stories, episodic in nature, generally 4 to 6 episodes per story, each ending with a cliffhanger, slowly paced, low budgets, suspect sets, props etc - All generally overcome by good story, acting & charm. Nothing like the modern Dr Who series, which takes it formula from Star Trek/Buffy etc...

That also reminds of Dark Shadows, notoriously low budget - it was a common site to see microphone booms in the frame and camera shadows... Again, the series somehow manged to be extremely entertaining and maintain suspension of disbelief.

[Richard M Roberts]

This is a little Off Topic - but I'm a fan of the Classic "Doctor Who" series also. I can now see where the series must have drawn inspiration from - through these old Hollywood Sci-Fi/Horror Serials. The classic series of Dr Who being; self contained stories, episodic in nature, generally 4 to 6 episodes per story, each ending with a cliffhanger, slowly paced, low budgets, suspect sets, props etc - All generally overcome by good story, acting & charm. Nothing like the modern Dr Who series, which takes it formula from Star Trek/Buffy etc...

Well, yes and no. The 6-13 episode series was and to some degree still is a standard in British television, as is the serialized story. DR WHO is far more directly inspired by Nigel Kneale's Dr Quatermass series the Beeb did in the late 50's. I don't think anyone ever is inspired to have a low budget, things just were low budget in live television most of the time.

That also reminds of Dark Shadows, notoriously low budget - it was a common site to see microphone booms in the frame and camera shadows... Again, the series somehow manged to be extremely entertaining and maintain suspension of disbelief.

Yes, and that said, I don't think all the fancy CGI in the world tops good acting, writing, and imagination for engrossing entertainment. I love old Dr Who, and can care less about the new ultra-hip, fancy smancy retreads with too damn young actors playing the Doctor. Give us an old Dr Who again! Wouldn't it be great to get one of the ageing Monty Pythons in control of the Tardis? I'd rather see cheap sets, toilet plungers on the Daleks, and Royal Shakesphere Company actors in rubber suits picking up paycheck to subsidize their stage work over the new modern crap anyday.


RICHARD M ROBERTS