One thing many people tend to forget about Superman, is that he’s not all about super powers and fighting bad guys. A lot of times he also uses his super powers for things like keeping the peace, and protecting the small guy. “Superman and the Mole Men” is a very good serial that works as an allegory for racism. Superman finds himself in the middle of a war between misunderstood mole people, and a lynch mob that is hell bent on hanging them, if for no other reason that their appearance frightens them.
Category Archives: Movie Serials
Fifteen Years Later, “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” is Still a Marvel
I was always such a big fan of movie serials and pulp superheroes even before my initiation in to comic books. I loved characters like Superman and The X-Men, but I also loved The Shadow, Commander Cody, and the Green Hornet. Some of those heroes made up some of my most entertaining fantasies, and it wasn’t a big adjustment considering most of the nineties’ superhero movies were mainly adaptations of pulp heroes like “The Phantom” and “The Rocketeer.” Kerry Conran remains one of the most prophetic filmmakers of all time.
Knuckleball (2018) [Fantasia 2018]
Following a death in his father’s family, a young boy is dropped off at his maternal grandfather so that his parents can go to the funeral. Once there, grandpa puts him to work and shows him a few things about baseball. As this happens, the odd neighbor comes and goes on the property. As things advance, young Henry has to go get this neighbor for assistance and things go from bad to worse, forcing him to fend for himself and fight for his life.
Panther Girl of the Kongo (1955) [Blu-Ray]
Olive Films brings the 1955 Republic movie serial “Panther Girl of the Kongo” to blu-ray form with every episode of the cliff hanger adventures for fans. Phyllis Coates as Jean Evans is the heroine and adventurer who has been taken in to confidence by the African tribe the Utange. There she lives among the natives and begins helping them fend off various threats to their way of life. This includes a mad scientist who uses various monsters and experiments to battle with Evans. He and his cronies will do everything to push the Utange out of their village for the sake of a very valuable diamond mine.
Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1955) [Blu-ray]
The way these serials kept people coming back to theaters to see them were by repetition and a steady stream of it. If you can appreciate the kitsch value and camp behind “Commander Cody” you could probably ignore the inherent repetitive storylines that follow it. Commander Cody is doing something top secret. There’s a villain who is spying on him. Commander Cody is also spying on them, oddly enough. The villain’s gun wielding henchmen take Commander Cody’s sidekick, the spunky Joan, hostage. Cody then has to go and save her, and wins the day. These serials deliver what the audience wants, even if it can get kind of tedious; especially since the compilation of “Sky Marshal of the Universe” episodes amount to almost four hundred minutes total.
Gotham City Serials – Batman/Batman And Robin: The Complete 1940s Movie Serials Collection (DVD)
It’s a good time to be a Batman fan. With another movie coming up, a new prequel series, and the Adam West Batman show finally coming to DVD this year, Mill Creek is wise to release the forties theatrical serials for Batman fans daring enough to venture in to the sketchy movie serials of the 1940’s. Don’t go in to this string of movie serials expecting modern Batman, or even Adam West Batman. It’s a very low budget adaptation of the Bill Finger character that also is heavily steeped in racial stereotypes. If you can consider the context of the serials, you may just enjoy the two disc DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment.