It's Andy Fish!

The above poster is a beautiful restoration of a very rare THREE SHEET of Columbia Pictures SUPERMAN (1948) – it’s available on eBay if you’re interested.

My love of Movie Serials goes WAAAAAY back to when Channel 56 out of Boston would show the Flash Gordon Serials weekly on Friday nights. I think DARK SHADOWS was re-run before or after it (they didn’t binge programs back then). I didn’t know it was a serial, I just assumed it was another TV Series and I had no concept of it being from 1936.

To me it was an exciting and sometimes goofy action adventure with a space hero battling a galactic villain five years before STAR WARS. I was all in.

In the back of FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND I would see adds for 8mm film versions of serials– and they didn’t call them serials– Captain Marvel, Zorro, Batman and Tarzan are the ones I remember. I asked my mom if I could buy an 8mm projector so I could watch these and she said no.

In 1974 DC Comics released a GIANT Treasury sized comic book for the Summer featuring golden age Batman stories, even back then I preferred Golden Age stories to the modern ones– and in the very back was the first really clear picture of that original Batman from the 1943 serial and my quest was on.

With the invention of VHS we film buffs were able to find the rarest things including serials, I even joined a group called THE SERIAL COLLECTORS OF AMERICA and our goal was to save serials from deteriorating in film vaults because many of the studios ignored them. We would pool our monies so that each month we could “liberate” a film from one of the vaults, get it transferred to VHS and then replaced back into its space usually over the course of a weekend. This highly illegal (and thankfully Statute of Limitations have run out) crime SAVED many old time serials from a vault fire that destroyed a lot of precious films. It also got studios to recognize there was a value in these old serials and many of them released official versions which we collectors who already had bootleg copies of would buy multiple copies of to help sales so that they would release more.

Every Summer it seems I stir up some obsession from my past, whether it means re-reading the entire Burroughs TARZAN Series, Biggers CHARLIE CHAN or Ian Flemings 007 series, usually resulting in my own film festival of the big screen versions, it’s a tradition I’ve stuck to every year.

This year it was back to serials– I opted to put these on in my studio while I worked and in between each chapter (they run 12-15 chapters long) I hit the weights in my effort to regain some muscle loss I suffered last year.

I may be able to run some serial reviews here, working with someone I consider the master of the genre– and if I do you’ll see them here, but meanwhile here’s a quick list of what I consider the best or most important serials of all time (and sometimes both);

THE BATMAN (1943-COLUMBIA) – First appearance of Batman and Robin on screen, the best version of the character in live action. Released by Sony on DVD– don’t buy the cheaper releases which are terrible quality.

THE GREEN HORNET (1939-UNIVERSAL) – Based on the popular radio show, they even dubbed in the radio actors voice for the Hornet. Best release by VCI Entertainment, available on Amazon.

FLASH GORDON (1936) – Buster Crabbe is the king of the serials and the perfect Flash Gordon. Best version released by ROAN available on Amazon.

BUCK ROGERS (1939-UNIVERSAL) – Okay he makes a pretty great Buck Rogers too. Best version released by ROAN available on Amazon.

THE SPIDER’S WEB (1938-COLUMBIA) – A great adaption of the blood thirsty pulp avenger– the body count is in double digits in this one. Great cast. Best version available at serial squadron.com

FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE (1940-UNIVERSAL) – It’s rare that a sequel is better than the original, in this case I think all three Flash Gordon serials are great. VCI Entertainment and ROAN both released nice versions of this.

ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (1941-REPUBLIC) – Hands down, the best serial of all time. Tom Tyler is amazing as Captain Marvel aka Shazam. KINO Released this on Blu Ray– on Amazon.

THE PHANTOM (1943-COLUMBIA) – Another Tom Tyler serial and he’s perfect as The Phantom, the purple suit wearing jungle fighter. VCI Entertainment on Amazon.

SUPERMAN (1948-COLUMBIA) – This serial actually ran in A-Level theaters, it’s kind of bad in a cheap way, but it’s still the first live action version of the character. Both SUPERMAN Serials available from WARNER BROS on DVD on Amazon.

NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN (1949-COLUMBIA) – While the first Batman serial featured mood and atmosphere as well as killer alligators and zombies, this second serial is so dopey you won’t be able to watch it without laughing. The RiffTrax (MST3K) Guys released a version of this I recommend. If ED WOOD made a Batman film this would be it. Released by Sony on DVD– don’t buy the cheaper releases which are terrible quality.

THE DESERT HAWK (1944-COLUMBIA) – Set in the Middle East with all the mysterious trappings we imagined back in the 40s I find this one a lot of fun. Best version available at serial squadron.com

RIDERS OF DEATH VALLEY (1941-UNIVERSAL) – This one is loaded with Western Stars from the day. Terrific fun. Blu Ray available on Amazon.

THE SHADOW (1940-COLUMBIA) – Recommended because Victor Jory is perfectly cast as Lamont Cranston and The Shadow! Available on Amazon.

There are literally hundreds of serials I would recommend– but this is a start. Check them out and remember the best way to watch them is not as a binge watch but one chapter a week– pair it with your regular movie watching and see how much fun they are.

For the next couple of weeks I’m going to focus on some of these great serials with a highlight of reviews from the legendary serial website THE FILES OF JERRY BLAKE!