Serial

Serial is a term, originating in literature, for a format by which a story is told in contiguous installments in sequential issues of a single periodical publication. By extension, it also came to apply to a film issued in the same installment manner over a period of sequential weeks at a single movie house.

Early serial films

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• What Happened to Mary? (1912)
• The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913)
• Fantomas (1913) ? (Cinema of France)
• The Perils of Pauline (1914)
• The Hazards of Helen (1914-1917)
• The Exploits of Elaine (1914)
• Les Vampires (1915) - (Cinema of France)
• The Ventures of Marguerite (1915)
• The Fatal Ring (1917)
• The Lost City (1920)
• The Phantom Foe (1920)
• The Yellow Arm (1921)
• The Sky Ranger (1921)
• The Ace of Scotland Yard (1929)
• The Galloping Ghost (1931)
• The Phantom of the Air (1932)
• The Three Musketeers (1933)
• The Red Rider (1934)
• Tailspin Tommy (1934)
• The Lost City of the Ligurians (1935)
• The Miracle Rider (1935)
• The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935)
• The Phantom Empire (1935)
• The Black Coin (1936)
• The Clutching Hand (1936)
• Darkest Africa (1936)

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• Flash Gordon (1936)
• The Undersea Kingdom (1936)
• The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936)
• Blake of Scotland Yard (1937)
• Dick Tracy (1937)
• Secret Agent X-9 (1937)
• Tim Tyler's Luck (1937)
• Blondie (1938)
• Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)
• The Lone Ranger (1938)
• The Phantom Creeps (1939)
• Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939)
• The Green Hornet (1940)
• Drums of Fu Manchu (1940)
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
• The Shadow (1940)
• The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941)
• Captain Midnight (1942)
• The Adventures of Smilin' Jack (1943)
• The Phantom (1943)
• Zorro's Black Whip (1944)
• Jungle Queen (1945)
• Adventures of Frank and Jesse James (1948)
• Superman (1948)
• Batman and Robin (1949)
• Blazing the Overland Trail (1956)

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Peak form

The classic sound serial has a first episode of about 30 minutes (approximately three reels in length, and begins with reports of a masked, secret, or unsuspected villain menacing an unspecific part of America. This episode traditionally has the most detailed credits at the beginning, often with pictures of the actors with their names and that of the character they play. Often there follows a montage of scenes lifted from the cliffhangers of previous serials to depict the ways in which the master criminal was a serial killer with a motive. In the first episode, various suspects or "candidates" who may, in secret, be this villain are presented, and the viewer often hears the voice but does not see the face of this mastermind commanding his "spearpoint villain," similar to a sergeant, whom the viewer will see in just about every episode.

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In the succeeding weeks (usually eleven to fourteen) thereafter, an episode nearer 20 minutes (approximately two reels in length was presented, in which the "spearpoint villain" and lesser thugs commit crimes in various places, fight the hero, and trap someone to make the ending a cliffhanger. Many of the episodes have clues, dialogue, and events to lead the viewer to think that any of the candidates were the mastermind. As serials were made by writing the whole script first and then slicing it into portions filmed at various sites, often the same location would be used several times in the serial, often given different signage, or none at all, just being referred to differently. There would often be a female love interest of the male hero, or a female hero herself, but as the audience was mainly children, there was no hugging and kissing.

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One episode, near the end of this run, was often an "economy episode" in which the characters reminisce about their adventures so as to introduce showing those scenes again. This type of episode usually had a cheap, mechanical cliffhanger, like a time bomb rather than being unconscious in a runaway vehicle.

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The last episode was sometimes a bit longer than most, for its tasks were to unmask the head villain (who usually was someone completely unsuspected), wrap up the loose ends, and end with a triumphal proclamation, followed by a joke -- and sometimes a kiss (provided that the story supplied a heroine to receive it).

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Production practices

The firms saved money by reusing the same cliffhangers over the years. Mines or tunnels flooded often, even in Flash Gordon, and the same model cars and trains went off the same cliffs and bridges. Republic had a Packard limousine and a Ford Woodie station wagon used in serial after serial so they could match the shots with the stock footage from the model or previous stunt driving. Three different serials had them chasing the Art Deco sound truck, required for location shooting, for various reasons. Male fistfighters all wore hats so that the change from actor to stunt double would not be caught so easily.

Related Topics:
Flash Gordon - Packard - Ford - Woodie - Art Deco

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Exposition of what led up to the previous episode's cliffhanger was usually displayed on placards with a photograph of one of the characters on it. In 1939, Universal brought the first "scrolling text" exposition to the serial, which George Lucas used in Star Wars in 1977. As this would have required subcontracting the optical effects, Republic saved money by not using it.

Related Topics:
1939 - George Lucas - Star Wars - 1977

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Stylistic differences between the studios

The major difference between the serials made by the various firms lay in that the minor studios had their own retinue of actors and writers, their own prop department, existing sets, stock footage, and music library. The early independent studios had none of these, except for being able to rent the sets of independent Western features. As the serials were bought sight-unseen by the lesser theaters for an audience of children, their product often had the worst acting and scripts, the least capable direction, and the most monotonous music ever screened: worse than any film that got reviewed in print.

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Although Republic was not even a minor studio, the serials they produced have been hailed as some of the best, especially those directed by John English and William Witney who widely considered among the most talented directors in the form. In addition to screenwriting many critics thought was quite capable, the firm also introduced choreographed fistfights which often included their stuntmen throwing things in desperation at one another in every fight to heighten the action. In addition, their productions were praised for their production values such as convincing explosions and other disasters as well as more fantastic visuals such as Captain Marvel flying. However, they were also somewhat hampered with limited shooting facilities, such as lacking their own backlot and props. This often prompted repeated use of familiar cars and locations from generic settings like identical warehouses, stairwells, offices and specialized locations like a certain speedboat rental pier. They were able to get the rights to the newspaper comic character Dick Tracy, the radio character The Lone Ranger, and the comic book characters Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Spy Smasher.

Related Topics:
John English - William Witney - Screenwriting - Captain Marvel - Backlot - Dick Tracy - The Lone Ranger - Captain America - Spy Smasher

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Columbia was the firm that got the most of these name-brand heroes. From newspaper comics, they got Brenda Starr, Terry and the Pirates, Mandrake the Magician, and The Phantom; from the comic books, Blackhawk, Congo Bill, a time traveller named Brick Bradford, and Batman and Superman; from radio, Jack Armstrong, Hop Harrigan, and The Shadow; from the British novelist, Edgar Wallace, the first archer superhero: The Green Archer; and even from television: Captain Video. Columbia substituted animation for more expensive special effects and showed the audience that the cliffhanger would not kill the hero by having a reassuring announcer pose the next episode's menace at the end of the episode. Their scripts had more humor than the others, often to the point of being far more absurd. And even though this was an important studio in comparison to the independent ones, it merely released serials which were subcontacted out to units outside their main production system.

Related Topics:
Brenda Starr - Terry and the Pirates - Mandrake the Magician - The Phantom - Blackhawk - Congo Bill - Brick Bradford - Batman - Superman - Jack Armstrong - Hop Harrigan - The Shadow - Edgar Wallace - Green Archer - Captain Video

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Universal was the studio with the most available resources. It had the best writing, so they made the best use of their contracted actors. The start of some of their episodes has the exposition of the cliffhanger given in conversation, rather than appearing on placard stills. They were able to get the characters Green Hornet and Ace Drummond from radio, and Smilin' Jack, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon from newspaper comics.

Related Topics:
Green Hornet - Ace Drummond - Smilin' Jack - Buck Rogers - Flash Gordon

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Universal also signed on four of Warner Brothers' Dead End Kids to star in three serials. Although Bela Lugosi started working for Universal, his frustration at the greater celebrity of Boris Karloff made him act in several independent serials, but only one for Universal.

Related Topics:
Dead End Kids - Bela Lugosi - Boris Karloff

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