REEL RETRO CINEMA | 13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture

Apr10

HAVE NAZIS, WILL SMASH: 1942’s SPY SMASHER Movie Serial

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Apr 10, 2019

HAVE NAZIS, WILL SMASH: 1942’s SPY SMASHER Movie Serial

REEL RETRO CINEMA: Shazam! rules the box office, but one of Fawcett’s other big heroes was once a silver-screen star too… — By ROB KELLY During the Golden Age of Comics, some of the most iconic superheroes ever created made the leap from comic books to the silver screen: Superman. Batman. Captain Marvel. Captain America. Spy Smasher. Spy Smasher? Yes, Spy Smasher, who had the good fortune to debut right behind Earth’s Mightiest Mortal in Whiz Comics #2, proved to be such a, er, smash with kids during the days just before America entered World War II that Republic Pictures decided to build a 12-chapter movie serial around him, just like they did with 1941’s The Adventures of Captain Marvel, still considered by most experts to be the finest example of the genre. Using a lot of the same behind-the-scenes crew (director William Whitney; writers Ronald Davidson, Norman S. Hall and Joseph Poland; as well as the studio’s crack SFX and stunt teams), Spy Smasher hit movie screens April 4, 1942. Spy Smasher stars lantern-jawed Kane Richmond as Alan Armstrong, a reporter who was believed killed investigating Nazi spies in Europe. Alan decides not to dispel that notion, so he can operate independently and secretly as the masked hero Spy Smasher. Unlike The Adventures of Captain Marvel, which took a few chapters to detail Captain Marvel’s origin, this is the most we get when it comes to explaining how Spy Smasher came to be. Richmond also plays Alan’s twin brother Jack, who learns in Chapter 1 (America Beware) that his brother is alive. He, too, understands the grave threat America is under from the Nazis, and agrees to help his brother’s cause, as does his fiancée Eve Corby (Marguerite Chapman). Spy Smasher’s main foe is the Mask, a scowling, grim-faced bad guy played by Hans Schumm. The Mask’s initial plan is to flood the U.S. with phony money, thereby ruining the country’s economy. With the help of another pal, the dashing Capt. Pierre Durand (Franco Corsaro), Spy Smasher ruins the Mask’s plot, leaving the villain to try other schemes from his undersea sub, parked off the coast of the United States. Movie serials are by their nature repetitive, opening and closing each week the same way: a brief recap of the previous installment, and a cliffhanger that seemingly guarantees...

Apr04

CAPTAIN MARVEL: The World’s Mightiest Superhero Serial

Posted by Dan Greenfield on Apr 4, 2019

CAPTAIN MARVEL: The World’s Mightiest Superhero Serial

SHAZAM! Rob Kelly’s REEL RETRO CINEMA returns with a look at Billy Batson’s fantastic ’40s film series… — UPDATED 4/4/19: Shazam! is out! Perfect time to re-present this column on the original Captain Marvel’s screen debut! Dig it. — Dan — By ROB KELLY With one magic word, not only does young Billy Batson transform into the superhero Captain Marvel, but Republic Pictures created the finest comic book-based movie serial of all time. Republic, never an “A” studio but one that had more resources than the others on Poverty Row, spent a long time trying to acquire the rights to make a Superman movie serial. But by then DC had sold those rights to Fleischer Studios, which was hard at work on a series of lushly animated shorts starring the Man of Steel. Republic then turned their attention to Superman’s #1 rival for comics readers’ sticky dimes, Fawcett Comics’ Captain Marvel. Produced by five writers and directed by the team of William Witney and John English, 1941’s The Adventures of Captain Marvel — which will become available on Blu-ray on 9/19 — opens in Thailand, at an archeological expedition at the volcanic Valley of the Tombs. Inside a sealed crypt, a mysterious, powerfully destructive device called the Golden Scorpion is discovered. When the Golden Scorpion’s series of quartz lenses are aligned, it emits a powerful beam, which seals the tomb. A member of the expedition, young radio broadcaster Billy Batson (Frank Coghlan Jr.), heeded the crypt’s seal not to enter, so he is chosen by an ancient magical wizard named Shazam (Nigel De Brulier) to be the recipient of amazing powers. All Billy has to do is utter the wizard’s name, and he is transformed into…Captain Marvel! The expedition’s team of scientists decides that the Golden Scorpion is too powerful to risk falling into the wrong hands, so the various lenses that power it are divided among them upon returning to the States. But a mysterious, hooded figure simply known as the Scorpion steals the device, and starts knocking off the various scientists in order to possess the lenses. Hot on his heels and threatening to ruin his plans is Captain Marvel (Tom Tyler), who uses his super abilities (the genius of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the speed of Mercury, etc.) to stop the Scorpion’s henchmen. Billy figures...

Home » REEL RETRO CINEMA