TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK: Old-time Movie Serials worth watching!
Films like the STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES sagas are tributes to the classic chapter-play serials from the 1930's, 40's and early 50's. The art of the classic movie serial is rarely seen nowadays due to their seeming hokey and out-of-date with often over-the-top costumed villains, fist-fights that completely wrecked rooms and furniture (but never caused the fighters' hats to come off) and cheesy special effects (although it was attempted on TV in 1979 with the NBC series CLIFFHANGERS!), but here, in no particular order, is a list of some of the best movie serials that are worth a look even more than half a century later.
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- DirectorFrederick StephaniRay TaylorStarsBuster CrabbeJean RogersCharles MiddletonFlash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Alexis Zarkov visit the planet Mongo to thwart the evil schemes of Emperor Ming the Merciless, who has set his planet on a collision course with Earth.
- DirectorFord BeebeRay TaylorStarsGordon JonesWade BotelerKeye LukeA newspaper publisher and his Korean servant fight crime as vigilantes who pose as a notorious masked gangster and his aide.
- DirectorFord BeebeJohn RawlinsStarsWarren HullWade BotelerAnne NagelA wealthy publisher uses a disguise and calls himself the Green Hornet to fight crime in his city.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsTom TylerFrank Coghlan Jr.William 'Billy' BenedictTo protect a magic talisman from being used for evil, a teenage boy named Billy Batson is given the power to become an adult superhero, Captain Marvel, with a single magic word: "Shazam!"
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsVictor JoryIris MeredithJames CravenThe struggle over the Bellamy estate ends with Michael Bellamy accused of murder and killed on the way to prison, while his brother Abel Bellamy takes control of the estate for his own nefarious plans.
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetWilliam WitneyStarsRod CameronRoland GotConstance WorthAmerican, British and Chinese secret agents battle the Japanese Black Dragon Society, a secretive ring that smuggles enemy agents into the U.S. disguised as mummies.
- DirectorB. Reeves EasonStarsTom TylerJeanne BatesErnie AdamsThe Phantom's clan has ruled the jungle tribes for centuries. He battles Dr. Bremmer who plans to build an airfield and gets greedy when Professor Davidson and his niece Diana arrive to search for the treasure of the lost city of Zoloz.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsSilver ChiefChief ThundercloudLynne RobertsHeroic's of Lone Ranger & Tonto, matter!
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetStarsWilliam ForrestLouise CurrieJohnny ArthurA mysterious detective called The Masked Marvel battles Japanese saboteurs intent on blowing up America.
- DirectorFord BeebeSaul A. GoodkindStarsBela LugosiRobert KentDorothy ArnoldA military intelligence officer and a pretty reporter try to find a scientist whose inventions can destroy the world.
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetStarsPaul KellyAnne NagelTrevor BardetteA police detective goes undercover and joins a gang of Nazi agents using explosive gases and artificial lightning to sabotage the war effort, whom he battles in disguise as The Black Commando.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsEduardo CiannelliRobert WilcoxWilliam NewellA mad scientist plots the domination of America and only the masked hero, The Copperhead, can stop him.
- DirectorFord BeebeRobert F. HillFrederick StephaniStarsBuster CrabbeJean RogersCharles MiddletonWhen a deadly Nitron ray strikes Earth, Flash Gordon and his friends travel to Mars to battle Ming the Merciless and his new ally Queen Azura.
- DirectorFord BeebeRay TaylorStarsBuster CrabbeCarol HughesCharles MiddletonA ravaging plague has struck the Earth threatening no less than global extinction. This alien disease is believed to be the evil spawn of Ming, the merciless Emperor of Planet Mongo. The world's only hope now rests with Flash Gordon.
- DirectorFord BeebeSaul A. GoodkindStarsBuster CrabbeConstance MooreJackie MoranA 20th Century pilot named Buck Rogers and his young friend Buddy Wade awake from 500 years in suspended animation to find that the world has been taken over by the outlaw army of Killer Kane.
- DirectorAlan JamesRay TaylorStarsRalph ByrdKay HughesSmiley BurnetteA master criminal called The Spider puts the famous detective's brother under a hypnotic spell and turns him against Dick.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsRalph ByrdLynne RobertsCharles MiddletonDick Tracy battles spies and saboteurs in his efforts to bring to justice the Stark gang, a criminal family led by the vicious Pa Stark.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsRalph ByrdIrving PichelTed PearsonA mad doctor named Zanoff uses a drug to bring himself back from the dead after his execution in prison. Dick Tracy sets out to capture Zanoff before he can put his criminal gang back together again.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsReed HadleySheila DarcyWilliam CorsonThe masked hero leads a fighting force to fight a villian who plots the conquest of The Republic of Mexico.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsJohn CarrollNoah BeeryRichard AlexanderThe California-Yucatan Railroad, being built for the good of Mexico, is under siege by a gang of terrorists hoping to force its sale; no one can prove their connection to profiteer Marsden. Manuel Vega, aged co-owner, calls in the aid of his nephew James, great-grandson of the original Zorro. Alas, James seems more adept at golf than derring-do; but after he arrives, Zorro rides again! Can one black-clad man on horseback defeat a gang supplied with airplanes and machine guns?
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsVictor JoryVeda Ann BorgRoger MooreThe Shadow battles a villain known as The Black Tiger, who has the power to make himself invisible and is trying to take over the world with his death ray.
- DirectorJames W. HorneRay TaylorStarsWarren HullIris MeredithRichard FiskeA crime fighter known as The Spider battles a villain called The Octopus, who is out to sabotage America and install his own government.
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsWarren HullMary AinsleeDave O'BrienThe evil and masked "Gargoyle" is sabotaging all of America's industrial plants. It is up to the Spider to save the country.
- DirectorJohn EnglishWilliam WitneyStarsHenry BrandonWilliam RoyleRobert KellardThe nefarious Dr. Fu Manchu searches for the keys to the tomb of Genghis Khan, in order to fulfill a prophecy that will enable him to conquer the world. His nemesis, Dr. Nayland Smith, and his associates fight to keep the evil doctor from getting his hands on the keys.
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetYakima CanuttWallace GrissellStarsRichard BaileyLinda StirlingRoy BarcroftThe creator of a scientific device is kidnapped, and his daughter enlists the help of a private detective whose investigations lead them to a remote Pacific isle where they confront the evil and shocking descendants of a long-dead pirate.