Captain Video: Master Of The Stratosphere (1951)

Starring Judd Holdren, Larry Stewart, George Eldredge, Gene Roth, Don Harvey
Directed by Spencer Bennet & Wallace A. Grissell
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Captain Video and his partner the Video Ranger use their wide array of scientific inventions to battle the schemes of Vultura, alien dictator, and his agent on Earth, the scientist Dr. Tobor.

Based on a popular television series aimed at children, this movie serial is fun and entertaining, with car chases, fist fights, spaceships, and explosions a plenty.  Put out by Columbia Pictures, the special effects are consistent with their other serials of that era, produced by Sam Katzman, meaning most of the spacecraft are animated, and some of that footage is lifted from past productions.  Holdren doesn't project much of a personality as the ultra-serious Captain Video, but Gene Roth is appropriately villainous as Vultura, and George Eldredge gives a good performance as the criminal scientist Dr. Tobor, trying to hide behind a respectable reputation.  Although it seems there is no danger or death trap that Captain Video can't escape with the aid of a device he happens to have, or that assistant Gallagher at his control center can produce, there's some clever cliffhangers in the serial.  It's not one of the great serials, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. 

Atom Man Vs. Superman (1950)

Starring Kirk Alyn, Noel Neill, Lyle Talbot, Tommy Bond, Pierre Watkin
Directed by Spencer Bennet
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Superman returns in his second movie serial, this time to battle the scientific weapons of criminal genius Luthor, who employs a masked figure named The Atom Man as his partner.

Fans of the original Superman serial from 1948 will be glad to see all the returning players from the first one, as Alyn again plays Superman & Clark Kent, Neill once again is Lois Lane, Bond is Jimmy Olsen, and Watkin returns as Daily Planet managing editor Perry White.  There's also plenty of returning crew behind the camera, including the original co-director Bennet, and the filmmakers again have Superman change into an animated cartoon when flying through the sky.  Lyle Talbot as the comic book villain Luthor is the chief new addition, and he is most welcome, turning in a strong and faithful characterization of Superman's arch enemy.  To the best of my knowledge, the Atom Man never appeared in the comics but was the focal point of a memorable storyline on the Superman radio series, and on film comparatively he's disappointing, with his black cloak and glittery iron mask looking very low budget.  The budget again shows with the stock footage of the fire, earthquake, and flooding disasters Superman faces, which looks at least twenty years older than the rest of the film stock, and it doesn't take an eagle eye to spot use of footage from the first Superman serial.  Despite all that, the results are still entertaining.  It's not a great serial, but if you liked the first one, you ought to like the second.

Batman And Robin (1949)

Starring Robert Lowery, John Duncan, Jane Adams, Lyle Talbot, William Fawcett
Directed by Spencer Bennet
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Caped crimefighters Batman and Robin face a new foe in The Wizard, who steals a remote control machine that allows him to bring all forms of transportation under his power. 

The second Batman movie serial drops the anti-Japanese propaganda of the first and incorporates more elements from the Batman comics, but falls short of being a quality adaptation.  The costumes need work especially Batman's cowl, which Lowery and his stand-ins keep having to adjust on film.  There's no sign of the Batmobile, with Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne driving the same roadster, and paying little attention to the suspicions this might cause.  John Duncan, aged 26 during filming, and looking even a bit older than that, is hardly ideal as Robin The Boy Wonder, but there haven't been many cinematic Robins who were age-cast well.  It's also unfortunate that with Batman's rich Rogues' Gallery, that a villain from the comics wasn't chosen.  However, the masked and cloaked Wizard has a perfect arrogant voice, and there's plenty of characters in the script who the dynamic duo suspect may be behind the mask, including my favorite, the perpetually grumpy and sour-faced Professor Hammil, played by William Fawcett.  It's good to see Vicki Vale and Commissioner Gordon from the comics introduced here, and Talbot as Gordon I think is a fine casting choice.  This isn't a great serial, with nonsense and plot holes a plenty, but it is an entertaining one, with good stunt work and fun music, and I've always liked Lowery, who I think does a more than acceptable job playing the Caped Crusader of the time.

The Atomic Submarine (1959)

Starring Arthur Franz, Dick Foran, Brett Halsey, Tom Conway, Paul Dubov
Directed by Spencer G. Bennet
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The crew of an atomic submarine are tasked with patrolling the Arctic Circle, and stopping an unknown adversary that's been destroying vessels, which they discover is not from this Earth.

One of a number of films in the 1950s produced by special effects artists Irving Block, Jack Rabin, and Louis DeWitt, this is one of their most impressive looking, despite having to combine their visuals with a large amount of stock footage.  The alien ship is effectively designed and smartly shrouded in darkness for much of the picture, and its unique occupant is appropriately striking and fearsome.  Orville Hampton's script is also well-composed, although a subplot creating conflict between Franz and Halsey is while topical a bit too familiar a trope.  The ensemble cast however is most welcome, with Franz a familiar sci-fi headliner, Foran good to see as the sub's determined commander, Conway memorable as a thoughtful scientist, and veteran screen cowboy Bob Steele enjoyable as the sub's grizzled chief petty officer.  The eerie electronic music score by Alexander Laszlo helps create a suspenseful mood throughout and combined with the visuals and the experienced cast makes this an entertaining picture on what had to have been a limited budget.

Superman (1948)

Starring Kirk Alyn, Noel Neill, Tommy Bond, Carol Forman, George Meeker
Directed by Spencer Bennet & Thomas Carr
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Superman, the powerful hero of Metropolis, tries to defeat the plans of the sinister Spider Lady, who's after a deadly weapon the government has developed.

While not one of the better movie serials produced, I've always found this production tremendously entertaining, due to the Man of Steel's ideal capacity as a cinema hero, first proved in the decade's cartoon productions of the Fleischer brothers, and the splendid characterizations of the cast.  Alyn strongly resembles the hero of the comics as drawn by artists of the the time, particularly Wayne Boring, and Neill would become the pre-eminent Lois Lane for some time, returning in not only another serial, but also the popular The Adventures Of Superman TV series in the 1950s.  Much of the serial's story comes not from the comics, but from the Superman radio series, most notably incorporating the "This looks a job for...Superman!" dialogue that actor Bud Collier used as a vocal transformation from Clark Kent to Superman on the airwaves.  The driving music score was used in several other serials and films for Columbia Pictures, but to me never seemed as well-suited as it is here to the exploits of DC Comics' flagship hero.

Mysterious Island (1951)

Starring Richard Crane, Marshall Reed, Karen Randle, Ralph Hodges, Gene Roth
Directed by Spencer Bennet
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

During the Civil War, a Northern captain and his friends escape the South by hijacking a hot air balloon, only to crash on a strange island where they face hostile natives and bloodthirsty pirates.

One of several adaptations of Jules Verne's novel continuing the adventures of Captain Nemo, this movie serial features a major departure from the text in the character of an alien invader from the planet Mercury, taking the place of some of the more fantastic elements of Verne's story.  Nevertheless, many sequences and characters from the book are preserved, although much of the adventure is replaced by standard fistfights and shootouts.  Still, fans of serials should be entertained, as I was, with Roth as always a fine villain, and Crane a noble hero.