Cliffhangers - Republic Pictures & Other Saturday Matinee Serials

Montana Smith

Active member
Attila the Professor said:
I guess the one preconception I must admit to is that the serials contain a lot of relatively mindless action sequences, which is the sort of thing that bores me unless there's some point of interest - generally character-based - on which to hang my hat.

That's the way I feel about modern movies, and why I seem out of kilter with some views here on what an Indiana Jones movie should consist of. Character development and relationships can be just as gripping, if not moreso, as scenes of action.

Produced mainly for children, the characters in the 30s and 40s serials rarely go beyond the melodramatic, so what I'm looking for is period detail, atmosphere, location, stuntwork when obviously done for real, and the possible original inspirations for Indy (Indiana Jones being a refined version of the serial served up for a more discerning family audience).

The poorer entries rely too heavily on time-consuming repetition of scenes (for economy), and frequent fist-fights (to keep the youthful audience engaged). The better ones move the story forward through different locations, giving a greater sense of the contemporary period. In that regard the urban based serials may be more appealing than a lot of the jungle based ones.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Montana Smith said:
The poorer entries rely too heavily on time-consuming repetition of scenes (for economy), and frequent fist-fights (to keep the youthful audience engaged).
I may be slow in getting around to watching mine, but I've certainly found this to be true for Haunted Harbour.

It seems to be the case in virtually each episode, the hero is going somewhere, so the villains of the piece have to stop him by having a gunfight, followed by a fist fight and so on..........

I think after Haunted Harbour (5 episodes to go) I may watch the Iron Claw, I have high hopes for that one!
 

Montana Smith

Active member
AndyLGR said:
I may be slow in getting around to watching mine, but I've certainly found this to be true for Haunted Harbour.

It seems to be the case in virtually each episode, the hero is going somewhere, so the villains of the piece have to stop him by having a gunfight, followed by a fist fight and so on..........

I think after Haunted Harbour (5 episodes to go) I may watch the Iron Claw, I have high hopes for that one!

There's a couple of reviews about The Iron Claw on IMDB, and unfortunately neither bode well...

The serial does get repetitive after awhile going through one secret passage after another.

If anyone has seen the intriguing still of the heroine in the clutches of the creepy-looking "Iron Claw", let me assure you that this serial doesn't live up to that.

...The first few chapters are pretty boring, with the family listening thru keyholes on each other, and the traditional "serial thrills" (cars going off cliffs, etc) are missing from this film. And, the heroine's fake "scream" (which is, unfortunately, all thru this film) drives you crazy after awhile.

All-in-all, the whole film is "muddled" and is an embarrassment to James Horne. Pass this one up and watch Quigley's classic "The Crimson Ghost" instead!

I used IMDB quite a bit to work through the list and gauge the ones that I thought would be more interesting. For some reason I discarded The Crimson Ghost, but it actually does get good write-ups, so I've added into to my next potential (and likely last) batch list.
 

AndyLGR

Active member
Montana Smith said:
There's a couple of reviews about The Iron Claw on IMDB, and unfortunately neither bode well...
I had tried to steer clear of reviews and to pick them based on the descriptions I read on IMDB.

But it seems at the moment I've got off to a bad start, Haunted Harbor followed by The Iron Claw. I picked Iron Claw because I'm a big fan of the old dark house style movie, Cat and the Canary, The Secret of the Blue Room, Sherlock Holmes faces Death, even What a Carve Up too........
 

Montana Smith

Active member
AndyLGR said:
I had tried to steer clear of reviews and to pick them based on the descriptions I read on IMDB.

But it seems at the moment I've got off to a bad start, Haunted Harbor followed by The Iron Claw. I picked Iron Claw because I'm a big fan of the old dark house style movie, Cat and the Canary, The Secret of the Blue Room, Sherlock Holmes faces Death, even What a Carve Up too........

I'm not sure now whether that kind of style can be found among the serials. The closest I've seen so far is the film noir that creeps into some, such as the murder at the beginning of Mysterious Doctor Satan, and some of the scenes in Jungle Menace, which I'm currently watching.

Some of that creepier atmosphere might also have found its way in via the sets re-used from horror movies, such as those made by Universal.

Earlier serials may have more of the "old dark house" feel, based on the idea that they hadn't yet become exclusively cinema fodder to entertain a younger audience.
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Attila the Professor said:
Your real courtesy is in withholding anything of mine from the list of examples. (Although, I suppose mine is more the reverse: a hesitancy to make any claims that I can't be sure of, being more or less without any concrete knowledge.)
Attila, you made it clear that you were not well-versed with the serials so you are a head above the rest. Most of the other folks made wild presumptions about the serials and presented them as fact. (When asked about their statements, those other people made ridiculous justifications or didn't reply at all.:rolleyes:) Some people seem to believe that; because "X" or "Y" was in the Indy films, "X" or "Y" are present in the classic serials) The person who said that serials featured "fedora clad adventurers encountering the ark" is a perfect example.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
Attila the Professor said:
I'm an active reader, if that counts for anything.
Indeed it DOES count because it shows that you're interested. That said, this thread has received 1000 hits in 3 weeks so the interest is out there. (People are reading it but where are the contributions? They would be most welcome.)
Attila the Professor said:
I guess the one preconception I must admit to is that the serials contain a lot of relatively mindless action sequences, which is the sort of thing that bores me unless there's some point of interest - generally character-based - on which to hang my hat. So while I watch things pretty regularly, the serials aren't on my radar too strongly. Perhaps once I'm done with a run of a certain Canadian sketch comedy import in my Netflix disk queue I'll finally give something a shot. (I did see one chapter of Zorro's Fighting Legion, incidentally, a couple of weeks ago on TCM, but they were actually showing it in installments. Otherwise, I likely would have sat down for the whole thing.)

Your preconception about "mindless action sequences" is correct. They are very few serials that feature characters with any personality. They are mostly cardboard cut-outs. (Good guys/gals or bad guys/gals.)

When you are done with "Kids in the Hall" or "SCTV" (whatever it is you're watching), please have a go at one of the better serials. I would love to hear your opinion. Good or bad.:hat:
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
Stoo said:
When you are done with "Kids in the Hall" or "SCTV" (whatever it is you're watching), please have a go at one of the better serials. I would love to hear your opinion. Good or bad.:hat:

Will do. I'll probably go for Zorro's Fighting Legion, unless you think there's an overwhelming reason to go for one of the others.

(Oh, and it's SCTV. I actually wasn't wild about the episode I watched of Kids in the Hall, despite being quite fond of Dave Foley's work on NewsRadio.)
 
Stoo said:
Indeed it DOES count because it shows that you're interested. That said, this thread has received 1000 hits in 3 weeks so the interest is out there. (People are reading it but where are the contributions? They would be most welcome.)
I've seen my fair share, but they never sparked anything more than consumption. Raiders was the film that I became interested in the creative process...

The thread for me is a bit of an educational tool, a nice introduction to some titles and topics I might delve into at a later time. I imagine I'm not alone, especially with the hit count what it is!

Nice to see you guys posting all this stuff.

Can't remember where I posted that article where the inteviewer spotted reels of old serials in Spielberg's back seat, but I'll repost it here when I find it. They were a couple of names I hadn't heard before...
 
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Stoo

Well-known member
Montana Smith said:
I know that Fighting Devil Dogs re-usued a lot of stock footage, but I read about some new elements that I wanted to see, along with the Vader-ish character of Lightning.
I am not a big fan of "Fighting Devil Dogs" and don't understand why it gets so much love. Re-used footage that I noticed is from "Dick Tracy" and "Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island". Regarding the Darth Vader-type guy...Wait until you here him talk...He's a pipsqueak! but the serial does have a BIG FLYING WING!(y)

FightingDevilDogs_FlyingWing.jpg

Montana Smith said:
I've started on Mysterious Doctor Satan, and I've got to say that it's up there with Spy Smasher. Some great scenes and locations and a lot of very energetic stuntwork, i.e. stuntmen literally throwing themselves across the set or through windows into basements! The robot is very campy, but perfectly pulpy.
According to your review, "Mysterious Dr. Satan", sounds good!;) (Could it possibly be the same, stupid-looking robot used in, "The Phantom Creeps"?):confused:

Much more to say but not enough time...
 

The Drifter

New member
I must say that I've been reading and keeping my eye on this thread, but I don't know enough at all to throw my two-cents in, but I do have a question.
Are there any good serials on Netflix instant? I want to start watching these, but I have no idea where to start. So any good recommendations from you guys, is one that I trust.
I know that a few have been mentioned, but where would be a good place to start? If you have Netflix instant and know of any, please let me know.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
The Drifter said:
I must say that I've been reading and keeping my eye on this thread, but I don't know enough at all to throw my two-cents in, but I do have a question.
Are there any good serials on Netflix instant? I want to start watching these, but I have no idea where to start. So any good recommendations from you guys, is one that I trust.
I know that a few have been mentioned, but where would be a good place to start? If you have Netflix instant and know of any, please let me know.

I've been wondering this myself. It looks like none of the serials directed by John English or William Witney (who were both involved in the Republic Zorros, among others), are available, even though many of their B-Westerns are, especially those with Roy Rogers.

There are cut-down versions of Spy Smasher (under the title Spy Smasher Returns) and Secret Service in Darkest Africa (under the title The Baron's African War) available, but these are the tv-movie versions, not the full serials.

The only serials I've found on there, checking many of the titles in this thread but also checking a couple of the names of directors that showed up, are the following three: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe; Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers; and King of the Rocket Men.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
According to your review, "Mysterious Dr. Satan", sounds good!;) (Could it possibly be the same, stupid-looking robot used in, "The Phantom Creeps"?):confused:

Not the one from Phantom Creeps, but the one they probably used used in Undersea Kingdom.

Doctor Satan:

Dr._Satan_1.jpeg


Undersea Kingdom:

undersea.jpg


Here he is at a convention:

LACon20IV20Dr20Satan.jpg
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Jungle Menace (1937) was a bit more unusal than the others I've seen so far. Inspired by Republic's Darkest Africa , it was the first serial released by Columbia. Yet it is far better, less juvenile, and much less campy.

To counteract Republic's Clyde Beatty, Jungle Menace has Frank ?Bring ?em Back Alive? Buck, who was a hunter, 'collector of wild animals', as well as a writer, actor, director, producer and circus showman. He's older than Beatty and conveys both more authority and acting ability.

The serial also boasts Sasha Siemel, a prominent adventurer and hunter of the time. Though he's really a one trick pony, who shows the same trick three times: In 1914 Siemel traveled to the jungles of Brazil where he worked as a gunsmith and mechanic in the diamond mining camps of the Matto Grosso. There he met a native who taught him to become a Tigrero, one who kills jaguars armed only with a spear. He found employment with the ranches of the Pantanal, hunting jaguars that were attacking livestock. In 1925, Sasha killed his first jaguar using a zagya, a seven-foot spear, allegedly making him the only white man to attain such a feat.

(http://www.minrec.org/labels.asp?colid=1470)

In Jungle Menace he appears to skewer the same leopard three times.

However, there's much more to this serial. It feels like a hangover from the supposedly more adult-oriented productions. It doesn't always follow the format of having a cliffhanger resolved at the start of the next episode, but instead entices viewers to return to see how this "engrossing" story will unfold. As such there's a lot more talking and less action than later serials. The tangled plot involves the machinations of white men scheming over a rubber plantation in south east Asia (likely Malaya). We see, often in a very film noir style, the progress of the investigation and the underhand dealings of the characters, such as the Toht-like Professor helping to dump a body in the harbour.

Action is often animal oriented, with tigers and leopards attacking people or each other, and is well done.
 

The Drifter

New member
Attila the Professor said:
I've been wondering this myself. It looks like none of the serials directed by John English or William Witney (who were both involved in the Republic Zorros, among others), are available, even though many of their B-Westerns are, especially those with Roy Rogers.

There are cut-down versions of Spy Smasher (under the title Spy Smasher Returns) and Secret Service in Darkest Africa (under the title The Baron's African War) available, but these are the tv-movie versions, not the full serials.

The only serials I've found on there, checking many of the titles in this thread but also checking a couple of the names of directors that showed up, are the following three: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe; Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers; and King of the Rocket Men.

Thanks for the information, Attila.
Saturdays are mine and the wife's movie night. I'll most likely check the ones you mentioned out then.
Which ones out of those mentioned did you like the best?
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
The Drifter said:
Thanks for the information, Attila.
Saturdays are mine and the wife's movie night. I'll most likely check the ones you mentioned out then.
Which ones out of those mentioned did you like the best?

Oh, I still haven't watched them myself. But once you asked, and revealed that at least two of us would benefit from somebody poking around on Netflix Instant, I decided to be the somebody.
 

The Drifter

New member
Attila the Professor said:
Oh, I still haven't watched them myself. But once you asked, and revealed that at least two of us would benefit from somebody poking around on Netflix Instant, I decided to be the somebody.

And thanks for doing that. I wasn't at home at the time I first asked. I may go poking around myself and if I find anything, I'll post it here.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Attila the Professor said:
The only serials I've found on there, checking many of the titles in this thread but also checking a couple of the names of directors that showed up, are the following three: Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe; Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers; and King of the Rocket Men.

I've discovered that the Flash Gordons aren't the best introduction to serials. It was thinking of them that put me off delving very deeply into the subject. As Stoo wrote very early on in this thread:

Stewie said:
That is why the science fiction serials don't interest me very much. The low budgets are a hindrance and the costume & set designs are often painful to look at.

They do look like the makers raided the props department and either gathered up the first costumes they found, or simply took everything that wasn't already booked out. Hence it often looks like Robin Hood in space.

However, I want to eventually watch all three Flash serials, after I get through the pile I already have.
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Jungle Jim (1937) looks like Universal?s response to Republic's Darkest Africa. The plot is similar, in that a white girl stranded in the jungle is unscrupulously passed off as a goddess in order to control the natives. Yet it's much better than Republic?s effort. However, after watching Jungle Menace it also appears quite simplistic. That is, it?s a more ?traditional? serial.

There?s a great sequence at the beginning with a ship being tossed around in a storm. Animals break out of cages on deck and a tiger descends below to threaten our heroine-to-be?

Lions are then seen leaping off the floundering vessel into the sea. It?s a really atmospheric beginning, but the serial never reaches those heights again. The contemporary fascination with watching big cats fighting each other (and people) means that Jungle Jim doesn?t disappoint. In the first episode when villains unlock the cages of captured animals an incredible scene ensues: several lions burst out as though they were electrocuted, and one engages a black leopard in fierce combat. Amongst it all there?s a confused hyena and a fleeing zebra.

Later on there?s tiger vs. lion combat, and quite a few tiger and lion vs. men encounters. There?s also a tiger killing a crocodile in the river.

Even Jungle Jim?s sidekick, Malay Mike, wonders at one point why there are tigers in Africa: ?They?ve no business in this country.? The explanation may be that they?re descended from those from the shipwreck. In Darkest Africa the excuse was that the natives had brought them there as they worshipped them.

At one point the Africans don headdresses remarkably similar to Marge Simpson?s hair, and it soon becomes apparent why: stock footage of a real lion hunt was intercut, and the actors had to match the footage. .

Slightly out of place in the African wilderness, yet providing a detailed lair for The Cobra and his sister, Shanghai Lil, is a castle set leftover from Universal?s horror movies.

The character names ?Malay Mike? and ?Shanghai Lil? betray Jungle Jim?s comic-strip origins as a hunter operating in south-east Asia, not Africa. And that would explain the tigers!

For Indy-isms, there's a fall from a cut rope bridge into a croc infested river; and a bullwhip swing from a castle balcony (though Jungle Jim isn't as proficient with the whip as Indy!)
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Montana Smith said:
For Indy-isms, there's a fall from a cut rope bridge into a croc infested river; and a bullwhip swing from a castle balcony (though Jungle Jim isn't as proficient with the whip as Indy!)
Yeah, Jungle Jim!(y) The whip swing from the balcony is the scene I mentioned earlier and it freaked me out the first time I saw it. Comparison images coming soon!:whip:

Smiffy, I have so much to say regarding your previous posts...

@Attila, Drifter and Rocket: Nice to see you guys joining the discussion!(y) More on that later...
 

Montana Smith

Active member
Stoo said:
Yeah, Jungle Jim!(y) The whip swing from the balcony is the scene I mentioned earlier and it freaked me out the first time I saw it. Comparison images coming soon!:whip:

That scene came as a surprise. I don't know if it was lifted from something even earlier, but it was an unusual concept to see a jungle hero using a bullwhip, which he's unfamiliar with, to swing from the balcony of a European castle in the African jungle. Half a century later, however, it looks completely natural when an Archaeologist mimics it!
 
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