This is another of the top adventure serials, and again it was from Republic Studios. Unlike the classic comic book of the 1940s, which was basically light-hearted satire, the serial went for a straightforward, almost grim approach that worked perfectly. Because of the hero's powers, the usual fist fights that took up so much time in the average cliffhanger couldn't be relied on, so a little ingenuity had to be used.
Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel was a terrific choice. Tall and physically very strong in real life, Tyler had an angular face and deepset, brooding eyes that gave his portrayal real presence. Although stuntmaster David Sharpe handled the acrobatic leaps, the way Tyler manhandled the thugs showed how strong he actually was-- you can see him pick the guys up and fling them aside. Although he doesn't speak much, Tyler's Cap has a great line when he enters a room full of the villain's gunmen. One of the goons says, "Looks like a lucky day for the Scorpion," and Tyler gruffly interrupts, "The day isn't over yet." This leads into one of my favorite moments as Captain Marvel walks into gunfire, the bullets popping into puffs of dust on his chest, and then he starts getting rough.
I also smiled at the scene where a crook shoots at Marvel in a cellar, with no result, and as the intimidating figure starts for him, the guy screams and tries to run. You never see villains do that, but under the circumstances, it's quite understandable. At one point, Cap hits a thug in the head with an engine block, so criminals understandably are nervous around him.
The flying scenes still look convincing today (aside from the occasional shot of Tyler hanging from wires in front of fake clouds). As in KING OF THE ROCKETMEN, a slightly more than life-size dummy of Captain Marvel was made of papier-mache and slung on extremely long wires. Seeing the figure sliding down after a fleeing car or man on horseback (in the same shot), you can tell it's not a photographic trick. In one scene, they ran the film backwards and Cap smoothly glides up from the street to the top of a building. In 1941, this must have startling. In fact, the 1978 SUPERMAN movie (and especially the sequels) could have used this trick for some of their scenes with better results than the blue-screen process.
Aside from Tyler, the cast has Frank Coughlin Jr as a likeable Billy Batson (not fourteen as in the comic but maybe three or four years older).And I love Nigel de Brulier as the ancient wizard Shazam! What a great speaking voice. He's only onscreen long enough to give Billy the powers and to explain what the letters of the word 'Shazam' means (let's see, it was the strength of Atlas and the courage of Hercules..no, that's not right..the virility of Zeus? No, not in a family picture.)
This serial has all the classic ingredients. Most of it takes place in Thailand (then called Siam), so there are fierce horse-riding rifle-shooting bandits. Found in a forbidden tomb is the Golden Scorpion itself, a large idol with movable limbs. Set in each leg is a lense, and when lined up correctly, these can cause explosions, melt stone and allegedly turn lead into gold. Trying to get his greedy mitts on this artifact is a masked villain, also called the Scorpion, with his floor-length black robe and cowl, complete with scorpion symbols. Of course, he's actually a member of the archaological expedition that started all the fuss, so there's the side bonus of trying to figure out his identity (which would be easier if the studio didn't dub in a different voice).
My one criticism of ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL is, of all things, the music. After re-viewing SPY SMASHER (which had after all Beethoven's Fifth) and KING OF THE ROCKETMEN (which had a very cool science-fiction march for a theme), Cap's score is a bit lame. The main title music seems to be harp-based, better suited for a general fantasy project. And as soon as Billy turns into Cap, there is a rapid, driving theme played under the action that is effective as first but could use some variation.
One modification made from the comics is that this Captain Marvel has a specific mission, being charged by Shazam with preventing the Golden Scorpion from being misused. (He also warns Billy not to call on Captain Marvel except for good purposes, or the curse of the scorpion will be turned on him, a prudent precaution from the old wizard) After the idol is retrieved and destroyed, Cap turns back into Billy without saying the word (we hear a distant "Shazam" in the wizard's voice), and he is told his job is done. I imagine Billy would have said, "Well, that stinks!" and you have to wonder why this was written into the script. On the other hand, if Republic had started a sequel, it would be easy enough to have an image of Shazam appear and tell Billy a new menace has arisen that requires his help. (And Billy would say, "Okay, but this time I get to keep use of the magic word when this is over.")
Dir: William Witney and John English - 12 Chapters
If only this serial had been made ten years earlier! It's really sad. BLACKHAWK required an effort to sit through and to be honest, it wasn't worth the effort. The darn thing wasn't so awful as to be obviously worth jettisoning, it was just lukewarm and mediocre. I kept hoping it would kick into gear and take off, but it never really showed any creative energy.
The BLACKHAWK comic is one of the few Golden Age titles that I actually have a dozen issues from (as opposed to Archives and reprints), and I love the premise. Seven expatriate men from countries overrun by the Axis band together as air vigilantes. From a secret island base in the North Atlantic, they take off in odd-looking fighter planes and tackle the enemy with deadly determination. Grim storylines and exceedingly fine artwork by Reed Crandall made the stories in MILITARY COMICS (later MODERN COMICS) and BLACKHAWK well worth tracking down. After the war, the seven dark knights went after those Commie rats with equal gusto. (Then, of course, the characters were sold from Quality to DC and quickly hurtled downhill.)
The serial is a grave disappointment to me. The Blackhawks are still active, tackling a spy ring which is trying to get hold of a mysterious new fuel called Element X (there's also an unimpressive death ray projector and a cartoon flying saucer in their arsenal), but they sure don't do it with any style or panache. This version of the team has its headquarters and hangars on a secret base somewhere in the American Southwest. (Pretty near Southern California if not actually in it, seems like.) There are still seven of them, although Hendrickson (the Dutchman) seems retired from active duty and seems to be always in greasy coveralls, tinkering with the plane's engines. Chop-Chop (just called Chop) is played by Weaver Levy, and his characterization seems reasonable enough as the team's cook. He doesn't wear a uniform, but he does get in on the action once in a while. (The grotesque original Chop-Chop from the comics looked more like a Martian dwarf than a Chinese man.)
Of the other five, Olaf (from Sweden) and Andre (from France) run around a bit, get to drive the car and participate in a few slugfests but that's about it. Stan (from Poland) has a slightly bigger role, as he is impersonated for a short time by his rotten twin brother Boris. And Chuck is Blackhawk's lieutenant, usually accompanying his chief (Chuck was American in the comics, which kinda disrupted the theme but maybe he had relatives in one of the occupied countries).
Yeah, it'd be trouble trying to have a minor working those twelve hour Republic shooting days.
Henry Diaz
Thanks user.
Eli Campbell
Blackhawk himself is played pretty well by Kirk Alyn, who also portrayed Superman in the two Columbia serials. Alyn looks great in the Blackhawk uniform, although its chest emblem is unfortunately emblazoned across his stomach for some reason. The actors playing the five regular Blackhawks all look way too much alike to be readily told apart, and their identical Storm Trooper uniforms make things worse. It might have helped to have cast one Blackhawk much taller, one blond and one really beefy, but no such luck.
(On the other hand, I can see why they didn't try to keep the exaggerated accents. On a comic book page, that work okay. On a screen with live actors, a jumble of Swedish and French and Polish and Chinese accents would have been hilarious in a bad way.)
Taken just on its merits as a chapterplay, BLACKHAWK is only fair. The action scenes are uninspired punching matches and the chapter closings don't show much creativity, either. (One I did like showed Stan tied to a stake as a pilotless plane rolled toward him, propellers whirling.) The serial seems to do a lot of treading water and there's not much progress made. It's hard to tell what chapter you're watching. I'm also disappointed again in Carol Forman as Laska, the head of the international spy ring. She didn't show any charisma as the blonde Spider Lady in SUPERMAN four years earlier and she doesn't hold my attention this time either; her unrelieved frown and bilious scowl in this serial get tedious. (Also, it's not particularly cunning to shoot someone dead right in front of the assembled Blackhawks who are about to grab you, no matter what grudge you might be holding.)
Glad you guys are interested. These are becoming a forgotten art form.
Sebastian Cook
It would be unreasonable to expect a Columbia serial at this late date to use a real fighter plane like an old Mustang (although God knows they could have benefitted from getting one so they could splice in some combat footage). Instead, the studio got hold of a plain ol' cargo plane but I can deal with that. I can even see why they wouldn't want to make any real modifications on it if they were just renting it. But seriously, what would it take to paint a few Blackhawk emblems on cotton or plywood and fasten them on the wings or fuselage? Give us something to work with here, fellas.
I have no problem going along with cheesy back projection, no matter how obvious. However, in one scene where the spies are speeding along in their convertible, we see film of the trees and scenery behind them running BACKWARDS. Ow, that hurt my feelings, guys, someone should have caught that.
For someone who has defeated dozens of the best German and Japanese soldiers and pilots, not to mention many spies and criminal masterminds and just plain lunatics, Blackhawk really doesn't seem too sharp, nor do his men. At one point, their plane is taxiing in a meadow with no one at the controls while our boys slug it out with the bad guys. As the spies jump in their car and roar off, Blackhawk piles all of his team into their own car and take off after them... leaving their plane rolling across the field in wide circles, certain to smack into a tree soon. Blackhawk, dude! What would it take to say, "Andre, climb in that plane and follow us!" Some master strategist.
[I don't mind Lady Blackhawk showing up, Zinda is okay)
These crimefighters don't carry guns, although they keep a few pistols around their headquarters and don't have any qualms about using guns taken away from their opponents. One of the more realistic aspects of cliffhanger heroes is their practical acceptance of firearms when dealing with armed enemies. Blackhawks in the comics not only wore sidearms, they used Tommy guns as necessary. They were soldiers at war. It's a bit sad that these Blackhawks have to rely on the Mexican State Police as back-up.
Ah, well. I've had great luck so far working my way through cliffhangers. BLACKHAWK joins PANTHER GIRL OF THE KONGO as only the second disappointment.
Dir: Spencer Bennet and Fred F. Sears - 15 Chapters
Seriously, I am so hypnotized by Frances Gifford in her snug little fur-trimmed outfit and mini-skirt that I frequently miss what's going on in some chapters and have to go watch it again. This is by no means a hardship, but it certainly takes forever to watch a fifteen chapter serial this way.
Aside from the lovely Miss Gifford as Nyoka, JUNGLE GIRL is a delight. It doesn't really have a complicated plot or surprising twists, just the usual game of two sides playing hot potato in reverse over some valuable object... in this case, a bundle of diamonds. Since it's set in the jungle, there aren't any of the cars going off cliffs that Republic relied so heavily on, and no lengthy horseback chases, either. Instead we get some chapter endings with a bit more novelty. In fact, most of the chapters seem to have a secondary cliffhanger within them, resolved before the real predicament turns up. Nyoka certainly seems to find herself tied up and wriggling a lot more than the usual serial character, or maybe it's just more enjoyable to watch and more so noticeable. She gets soaking wet at least five or six times too, which is also fine with me.
Ahem. [Shakes head.] About the serial. JUNGLE GIRL has the same title as an Edgar Rice Burroughs book but nothing else in common. The Burroughs name on the credits of a jungle adventure film carried a certain amount of weight in those days even if his stories had nothing to do with the finished product... just as you might notice the Roger Corman flick THE HAUNTED CASTLE proclaimed it was based on something or other by Poe, when it actually was an H.P. Lovecraft story. Such is marketing.
His costume was modeled after military uniforms in light operettas. That's why the tunic has a buttoned flap and the short cape hangs over one shoulder that way.
Chase Wright
Nyoka Meredith (Gifford) is a healthy young gal living deep in Africa somewhere with her saintly physician father. (True, most of the natives don't look particularly African to me, but maybe they were refugees from one of the many lost cities full of various ethnic groups which Tarzan had disrupted.) Unknown to Nyoka, her dad had fled into the dark continent because he was ashamed of the vicious crime sprees of his twin brother Bradley. Dr John Meredith is doing good work, healing and teaching hygiene and so forth, so naturally he has made a bitter enemy in the envious witch doctor Shamba (Frank Lackteen), who is aching to do away with both of them. Shamba had a nice racket going with his voodoo until this newfangled white MD muscled in. The doc has also been entrusted with a little silver sceptre which gives him authority over the Lion Men cult who hang out in the Caves of Nacros. These warriors gather around an impressive leonine idol (with flames in its gaping jaws) and guard their treasure of diamonds, waiting for their chance to use those wicked barbed spears.
For some reason, perhaps because she has a lot of free time what with no job and no boyfriends, Nyoka has become an astonishing acrobat. Every chance she gets, the Jungle Girl is hurling herself high above the ground from vine to vine, often doing a charming but unnecessary full somersault between vines. At one point, she even swings UP from the ground on a vine, a neat trick that physics teachers might have trouble explaining.
These vine-swinging scenes are absolutely terrific. I thought they were much more impressive, shown in closer detail than the ones in Weismuller's Tarzan movies. Doing the stunts were Helen Thurston (who also stood in for Kay Aldridge in PERILS OF NYOKA) and Dave Sharpe in drag (thanks, Dave, for putting up with some inevitable teasing to give us your share of those scenes). Nyoka can also summon and ride an elephant on occasion, and she does kill a crocodile underwater with a knife. You have to wonder just how eventful her life was before these outsiders turned up if croc stabbing doesn't seem to faze her.
Soon enough, big trouble arrives in in the Masamba territory. Looking for the diamonds is gangster Slick Latimer (played by Gerald Mohr, who has a wonderfully evil smirk) and his thugs.
Teaming up with Latimer is the crooked twin of Nyoka's father (wouldn't you know it? You can't get away from your undesirable relatives) and soon Latimer has murdered the Doctor Bwana and the evil twin is promptly impersonating him. (Guess that stuff about a psychic link between identical twins doesn't always work, Meredith seems unmoved by having his twin killed right at his feet.) Add this bunch of desperadoes to the scheming witch doctor and the usual assortment of aggressive gorillas and crocodiles and quicksand traps, and Nyoka certainly doesn't seem to have a bright future.
To balance things out, Latimer has brought along two pilots and guides who turn out to be decent guys who side with Nyoka. Jack Stanton is a really buff dude with genuine muscles, and his partner Curly (Eddie Acuff) is a goofball but still loyal and helpful in a fight. Now, even though Jack is the nominal hero and helps Nyoka at the risk of his own life (without even hinting maybe there's a way she could reward him, wink nudge), Tom Neal has a certain shady aura about him. I seriously kept expecting him to sell out to Latimer at some point or turn on everyone and run off with the diamonds himself. Sorry if I misjudged you, Tom.
Although Jack Stanton does carry more than his share of the fistfights and gun battles and death-trap escapes, Nyoka is by no means a helpless little debutante always waiting to be rescued. She saves the heroes by quick thinking as often as they save her by gunfire. In fact, she rescues Jack from drowning the moment she first meets him, diving off a cliff and pulling him out of the lake where he was going under with a bolo around his neck. Our girl gets captured a lot but she also pitches in and whales on the bad guys throughout.
She does seem to have a glass jaw, though. Nyoka can swing fifty feet on a vine and kick over two beefy thugs, but she's invariably dazed for a second whenever she suffers any sort of impact. The girl gets knocked out more in this serial than a pro boxer in an entire career, but she invariably shakes her head and gets back up in a few seconds. By the final chapter, I expected her to be saying, "Don't any of you hear that ringing noise?" (She can be rough, too. When a gangster is crawling for a dropped revolver, she stomps down on his hand with enthusiasm rather than just kicking the gun away. She's running out of patience by this time.)
Aside from her ability to cause testosterone surges in male viewers, Frances Gifford clearly has more than the rudimentary acting skills needed for an action serial. She in fact did go on to appear in some big mainstream films before the car accident that sadly sent her life to the dark side. Wishing an actress had not gone on to big-budget Paramount and MGM movies (like THE GLASS KEY and OUR VINES HAVE TENDER GRAPES -bleh) is kind of like wishing a pulp writer had stuck with WEIRD TALES when they wanted to move up to COLLIERS and THE SATURDAY EVENING POST - neither artist would appreciate the thought - but I really would have liked to see Frances Gifford do one or two more serials for Republic in her short career. Imagine her in ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP....
JUNGLE GIRL keeps moving briskly, with plenty of the leaping and tumbling stylized brawls Republic is famous for; they may not be realistic, but they provide great visuals. I am amazed at the way the stuntmen just dive across a room and out a window or up over a table with a skill that makes it all seem effortless. Today, it would be done with wirework and computer effects and not be half as convincing.
There are two cast members I didn't care for. Tommy Cook in an Afro wig as Kimbu gets on my nerves and frankly, I don't like Emil Van Horn's gorilla portrayals, neither the suit nor his half-hearted eforts at ape body language. (Give me Steve Calvert or Ray "Crash" Corrigan every time!) My biggest misgiving is that I would prefer Nyoka had been given the decisive role in the final confrontation where the villain gets his reward. It was her father who was killed after all, and it would have been more fitting if she had been the one to go running after that airplane just as it took off. So the finale is not as satisfying as I would have liked, but aside from those minor quibbles, JUNGLE GIRL is a real treat. My list of top ten favorite serials now stands at around eighteen.
About those less than authentic-looking "African natives".... Beats me. Maybe the studio had enough white extras on the payroll that giving them golliwog wigs and a little body make-up was cheaper than hiring new guys? The effect is bizarre, sometimes I feel like I'm watching a story taking place in the South Pacific or somewhere. My own explanation is that these serials took place near the various lost cities which Tarzan kept finding. They were populated by descendants of Crusaders, Phoenicians, Romans, Israelites and who-knows-who-else. Maybe the areas around Cathne and Nimmr and Opar had a lot of intermarriages and general mingling.
Dir: William Witney and John English. Republic Studios, 1941
Yes! This is one of the best action serials ever made, with no missteps or sagging in the middle chapters. The storyline is coherent and driving, the characters are reasonably believable and the action is terrific. Most notably, though, is that the lighting and sets are very professional-looking, unlike a lot of serials. If you started watching a chapter cold, you would think this was a pretty good 'B' picture and a lot better than some of the Charlie Chan or Falcon movies of that time. SPY SMASHER would be a good choice to screen for a fan of adventure movies who hasn't seen any serials.
The music is an enormous plus. Like the Lone Ranger and Green Hornet, Spy Smasher benefits from the powerful, recognizable use of classical music played full out. Beethoven's Fifth was used during World War II as part of an interlocking set of victory symbols. The four opening notes (dot dot dot daaah) resembled the Morse code for 'V' (dot dot dot dash), which stood for Victory. In 1942, any of these symbols drew a strong response from audiences. Spy Smasher has the V and the Morse for 'v' unobtrusively on his belt, but the most impressive use is in the credits as two spotlights swing back and forth to form a huge V and the music plays...there must have been a lot of cheering eleven-year-olds when this first came on the screen.
My grandfather was really into Blackhawk comics, being in the service while they were published. I wonder if he ever saw the serial?
Nicholas King
Spy Smasher is, well, a spy smasher-- daring young Virginia playboy Alan Armstrong, who has been fighting with the French underground as a costumed hero. The serial version wears the same costume as the character who appeared in his own comic and in WHIZ COMICS (Republic was pretty good at getting the outfits correct, with the dismal exception of Captain America) and it's not gaudy enough to be implausible. The cape, thin and short as it is, does get in the way constantly, and if highly skilled stunt men like Dave Sharpe found it inconvenient, then you know it's awkward. How Batman deals with that floor length blanket he wears is harder to buy than most suspension of disbelief will cover.
Starring as both Alan and his twin brother Jack (Jack? Jack Armstrong?! Are the writers trying to pull our legs a bit here?) is Kane Richmond, who is very good in the dual role. Watching it again, it's satisfying to see how he portrays the two brothers as not quite identical...Alan is more stern and dominating than the more diffident Jack. Richmond seems to be treating Jack almost as Alan's secret identity, but it's more subtle than that. To be honest, a lot of serial players were able to read their lines and avoid staring at the camera at best, and Richmond is so natural and likeable that it's refreshing. Marguerite Chapman is also unusually good; she has a lot more intelligence and character in her face than some of the leading ladies. And as much as I enjoyed Tristram Coffin (great name!) as the hero of KING OF THE ROCKETMEN, he's best suited to play the main henchman, as he does here.
If he did, I hope he wasn't as disappointed as I was.
Golden Age BLACKHAWK comics had solid realistic art by Reed Crandall, lots of action and drama. Unfortunately, they also had the grotesque caricature of Chop-Chop.
Cooper Thompson
This serial also has one of the most impressive chapter endings on film. We're used to seeing cars blow up or whiz over cliffs, or the hero seemingly crushed under a falling boulder or drowned in a sealed room. But this time we clearly see Spy Smasher gunned down at point blank range, reel back off the roof of a building and hit the street. Let's see how he gets out of THAT one! (Spoiler answer below*)
SPY SMASHER also had the weird looking "Bat Plane" (nothing Bruce Wayne ever owned), and like the Flying Wing and spark-spitting rocketships of these serials, it's a delight to watch. The models which the Lydeckers constructed must have been almost as big as the real articles would have been and the results are startlingly convincing.
As for the fight scenes, as you watch them, it sinks in that these are real flesh and blood men doing these stunts. No wires matted out by computers, no CGI figures, just actual stunt men. Watching these serials again, I'm amazed at how long the takes are in the fights. Jet Li or Jackie Chan seem more impressive, but their fights are tightly edited short little clips where each blow is filmed separately and edited together. Dave Sharpe, Tom Steele, Dale Van Sickel-- these guys do whole fights with the accuracy of a Gene Kelly choreography (and that's enough mixed references for one review). ________
*Psst!It was his brother Jack in the costume who in fact did get killed, not Alan.
Of course, they're a funny little art form in themselves and not everyone will enjoy them. Serials were basically four-hour movies produced in ten or fifteen minute installments and shown in order at movie theatres each week. (Each chapter usually ended with the hero or sidekick about to be killed; the idea was to lure more people back each Saturday to find out what happened to Dick Tracy or Flash Gordon.) The opening of each chapter usually included a few minutes from the previous one so you would be refreshed on how the good guys were about to be crushed under a falling boulder or electrocuted when they opened a door. There was a good deal of repetition anyway, lots of fist fights that really didn't advence the story, and usually a recap chapter toward the end that summarized all the lunacy with a barrage of clips.
It's not much fun to watch a serial straight though. They weren't meant to be seen that way, and it's not fair to them to view them in a single sitting. On the other hand, personally I am not organized enough to remember to watch a new chapter once a week. (Saturday, let's see... Chapter Three of THE MYSTERIOUS MR WONG?) Some fans are purist enough to set up a schedule like that and I admire them for it but I myself usually watch two chapters at a time, either on following nights or skipping a night here and there. Its a compromise.
Then there are the low budgets and rushed shooting schedules. Serials were not A or even B pictures. They were about on a par culturally with the cartoon also shown before the show itself started. The sets and acting and production values were way toward the cheap end (although there were exceptions, and studios often used big props or sets from regular movies to give serials some gloss.)
And frankly, serials were juvenile adventure and mystery stories. You wouldn't go to see fifteen chapters detailing the emotional struggle of doctor recovering from alcoholism or showing a senator trying to clean up corruption. You watched them to see Spy Smasher chase enemy agents or Buck Rogers saving the Earth from destruction. Uusually, serials had a "hot potato" plot. The bad guys were trying to get something valuable, a treasure map or a formula for a new explosive, something like that, and there was a tug of war week after week as the heroes and villains hassled each other in a series of brawls and deathtraps and schemes. They were a lot of fun, but serials were not considered classics of cinema *Art.* Fine with me, there's room for both CASABLANCA and ZORRO RIDES AGAIN.
Liam Gonzalez
I had taken the time to watch this one last summer and I loved it! Thanks for this post, I'll have to look into the others.
Ayden Butler
BATMAN (1943)
Batman wearing a simple cloth outfit....?!
From 1943, BATMAN was a lot more fun than I expected. To be honest, I'd always been a Republic fan and I approached this Columbia serial without expecting much. But it's enjoyable and compelling in its own way, and encouraged me to check out other well-known chapterplays from that studio.
The Republic cliffhangers had bigger budgets and great stuntmen, and they sometimes looked like as polished as the 'B'-pictures of that era. BATMAN on the other hand is more like an early black & white TV episode. The special effects (car crashes and ray guns and so forth) aren't as convincing, Batman's lab seems seriously understocked, and the solutions to the chapter endings aren't particularly inventive (Batman just dusts himself off and walks away from a plane crash, for example) but none of these things are fatal drawbacks.
For one thing, the fights and stunts are awkward and unspectacular, but they also seem more realistic, like real brawls. Batman and Robin fight gamely but they're not superhuman in skill or strength. Our heroes are shown actually climbng and jumping, without special effects. And it's strangely appealing to see a Batman who is wearing a simple cloth costume, not a gadget-laden black rubber get-up that would weigh a ton and be difficult as a straitjacket to move in. This is a Batman who fits in with other human mystery men of that time, like the Phantom and the Green Hornet. It's odd but Batman seems more real here than he has ever since.
The cast is pretty good, overplaying their roles a bit but that's appropriate. Lewis Wilson wasn't athletic-looking (especially compared to guys like Tom Tyler and Buster Crabbe) but he had the right voice and languid gestures for Bruce Wayne.
And the fact that he played the role in a straightforward and sincere manner helped. William Austin as Alfred added some comic relief from the unbearable suspense and Shirley Pattterson as Linda Paige had surprising charm. (When she's made into a brain-controlled zombie who will follow any orders, many teenage boys in the audience must have had some ideas of their own on what Batman should do next.)
But it's J. Carroll Naish who takes over the serial and runs with it. I've always liked his broad style of acting (remember him as the love-smitten hunchback in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN?) and here he plays the Japanese spymaster Dr. Daka as a completely diabolical mastermind. Daka not only compels his American agents to betray their own country and work for Japan (boo! hiss!), he uses the advanced gizmos found in the world of the serials. There's the explosive radium gun, the mind-controlling zombie helmets and a pit in the floor containing hungry alligators. (You just KNOW where he's going to end up in Chapter Fifteen!)
Admittedly, Naish's make-up looks crude today and his accent is a bit strong, but it works. Even a big MGM production like THE MASK OF FU MANCHU had make-up that looked more like a Martian than an Asian. There aren't as many (or as virulent) anti-Japanese slurs as I had expected after hearing the protests when this was re-released on video. Seeing this for the first time, I find the 1966 TV series suddenly makes more sense. The bombastic narration, the death-traps and imminent crashes at the end of the episodes, the wild fistfights.... they were all there back in 1943, just dusted off and put on the small screen twenty-odd years later where they were met with amused condescension. The thrills offered were the same, it was the audience that had changed.
