Serial film facts for kids

A serial film (or just serial) was a type of movie popular in the early 1900s. It was a series of short films shown one after another, usually once a week, until the whole story was finished. Each serial had the same characters, like a hero and a villain, and told one big story. You had to watch them in order, like chapters in a book!

Each part of the serial was shown for one week at the movie theater. The most exciting part was that each chapter ended with a cliffhanger. This meant the characters were in a super dangerous situation with no clear way out! Viewers had to come back the next week to see how the hero escaped and what happened next.

Movie serials were a huge hit, especially with kids. For many young people in the first half of the 20th century, a typical Saturday afternoon at the movies included a chapter of a serial, along with animated cartoons, newsreels (short films about current events), and two main movies.

These films covered many exciting topics, like detective stories, spy adventures, stories based on comic books or comic strips, science fiction, and jungle adventures. Many serials were Westerns because they were cheaper to make. Even though most serials were made on a budget, some, like the Flash Gordon serials, were big productions for their time. Serials were full of action, usually showing a hero fighting an evil villain and saving someone in trouble. The villain would constantly put the hero or heroine in deadly traps, and the hero would always find a way to rescue them. They faced one challenge after another, battling many bad guys, before finally defeating the main villain.

History of Movie Serials

• List of film serials by year

Silent Movie Serials

Movie serials have been around since 1912 with Edison's What Happened to Mary. Some even older ones might exist, like a German serial from 1910.

Famous American silent serials include The Perils of Pauline and The Exploits of Elaine, both starring Pearl White. Another popular one was The Hazards of Helen, which had 119 episodes! Actresses like Ruth Roland, Marin Sais, and Ann Little were also early "serial queens." Many big studios like Vitagraph, Essanay Studios, Warner Bros., Fox, and Universal made serials. Even smaller companies made Western serials. Four silent Tarzan serials were also created.

Europe also had its own serials. In France, Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset started his Nick Carter films in 1908. Louis Feuillade made popular crime adventure serials like Fantômas (1913–14), Les Vampires (1915), and Judex (1916). In Germany, Homunculus (1916) was a six-part horror serial about a made-up creature.

Years after they first came out, these serials became popular again at "Saturday Matinees," which were special movie showings on Saturday mornings just for kids.

Sound Era Serials

When movies got sound, it became more expensive to make serials. Many smaller companies couldn't afford the new technology and went out of business. Only one company that specialized in serials, Mascot Pictures, was able to switch from silent to sound films. Universal Pictures also kept making serials.

In the early 1930s, a few independent companies tried making serials. Columbia Pictures decided to try them too, and they were successful enough to start their own serial department in 1937. Columbia was likely inspired by the huge success of Universal's Flash Gordon in 1936, which was the first serial to play in a major theater on Broadway. They were also inspired by the new company Republic Pictures, which focused on making serials and Westerns.

By 1937, only three main companies were making serials: Universal, Columbia, and Republic. Republic quickly became known for making the best quality serials. Each company made about four to five serials per year, with 12 to 15 episodes each. They kept this up until the end of World War II in 1946, when Universal stopped making serials. Republic and Columbia continued until the mid-1950s.

By the mid-1950s, TV shows with episodes became very popular. Also, older serials were sold to TV channels to be shown again. This, along with fewer kids going to Saturday matinees, made making new serials less profitable.

How Serials Were Made

The Classic Serial Style

A classic sound serial, especially from Republic, usually had a first episode that was about 30 minutes long. It would start by introducing a masked, secret, or unknown villain causing trouble. This first episode often had detailed credits, sometimes with pictures of the actors and their characters. It might even show clips from older serials to make the villain seem extra dangerous. In this first episode, several characters might seem like they could be the secret villain. You would often hear the villain's voice but not see their face, as they gave orders to their main henchman.

The next 11 to 14 episodes were usually about 20 minutes long. In these, the main henchman and other bad guys would commit crimes, fight the hero, and trap someone to create a cliffhanger ending. Many episodes had clues or dialogue that made you suspect different characters might be the mastermind. Since serials were written all at once and then filmed in different places, the same locations were often used multiple times, sometimes with different signs or names. There was often a female character who was the hero's love interest or a hero herself. But since the audience was mostly children, there wasn't much hugging or kissing.

At the beginning of each new chapter, the story would quickly recap the last few minutes of the previous chapter. Then, it would show how the main character escaped the cliffhanger. Sometimes, the repeated scene would add a new detail that wasn't shown before, but audiences usually accepted the explanation.

The last episode was sometimes a bit longer. Its job was to reveal who the main villain really was (usually someone you didn't suspect at all!), tie up all the loose ends, and end with a happy victory. Sometimes there was a joke, and if there was a heroine, maybe even a kiss!

In 1938, Republic started using "economy episodes." In these, characters would talk about their adventures, which allowed the filmmakers to show old scenes again (like a "clip show" on modern TV). These episodes often had simple cliffhangers, like a time bomb, instead of a character being trapped in a runaway car.

Production Tricks

Big studios had their own actors, writers, props, old film clips, and music. Smaller studios didn't have these, but they could rent sets from other movie producers.

Studios saved money by reusing the same cliffhangers, stunts, and special effects scenes over and over. Mines or tunnels would flood often, even in Flash Gordon. The same model cars and trains would fall off the same cliffs and bridges. Republic even had a Packard limousine and a Ford Woodie station wagon that appeared in many serials. This allowed them to match new shots with old stunt footage. Male fighters always wore hats so that it was harder to tell when a stunt double replaced the actor. Stuntmen even had a rubber liner in their hats to keep them on during fight scenes!

To explain what happened before a cliffhanger, they often used signs with a character's picture on them. In 1938, Universal introduced "scrolling text" at the beginning of serials, which George Lucas later used in Star Wars (1977). Republic didn't use this because it cost extra money.

Studio Styles

Universal had been making serials since the 1910s. They made four serials a year. In 1929, they made news by hiring Tim McCoy for their first all-talking serial, The Indians Are Coming!. Action scenes from this Western were reused many times in later films. In 1936, Universal got the rights to the popular comic-strip character Flash Gordon, and the serial was a huge success. Universal then made serials based on other popular characters like The Green Hornet and Ace Drummond from radio, and Smilin' Jack and Buck Rogers from newspapers. Universal focused more on good stories and used well-known actors from feature films. In the 1940s, Universal's serials often had city or wartime themes, sometimes using real newsreel footage of disasters. Gang Busters (1942) is one of their best city-themed serials. Universal's last serial was The Mysterious Mr. M (1946).

Republic took over from Mascot Pictures, a company that specialized in serials. Republic's writers and directors were already good at making exciting films. Republic added music to make the action even better and staged more complex stunts. Republic was a smaller studio, but its serials are considered some of the best, especially those directed by John English and William Witney. They had great screenwriting and introduced choreographed fistfights, where stuntmen would even throw things at each other to make the fights more exciting. Republic serials are known for amazing special effects, like big explosions and fantastic visuals of characters like Captain Marvel and Rocketman flying. Most of these special effects were created by Howard and Theodore Lydecker. Republic got the rights to popular characters like Dick Tracy, The Lone Ranger, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Spy Smasher. Republic's serials were written by teams of writers. After 1950, Republic started saving money on serial production. They no longer licensed expensive characters or staged huge action scenes. Instead, they cleverly reused action clips from their older serials. Most of their 1950s serials were written by just one person, Ronald Davidson, who knew the film library well enough to write new scenes around the old footage. Republic's last serial was King of the Carnival (1955).

Columbia made several good serials using its own staff and facilities, such as The Spider's Web, The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, Batman, The Secret Code, and The Phantom. However, Columbia's serials sometimes had a reputation for being cheap because the studio often hired outside producers to make them. Columbia built many serials around famous heroes from newspaper comics (like Terry and the Pirates, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, and Brenda Starr, Reporter), comic books (like Blackhawk, Congo Bill, Brick Bradford, Batman, and Superman), radio (like Jack Armstrong and Hop Harrigan), and even pulp magazines (like The Spider and The Shadow). They even had a serial based on a British novelist's character, The Green Archer, and later, a TV character, Captain Video. Columbia's early serials were very popular. The Spider's Web (1938) was voted the number-one serial of that year. Director James W. Horne, who used to make comedies, directed many of Columbia's serials after 1939. These often had a playful tone, with over-the-top villains and unbelievable heroics (like the hero fighting six men and winning!). After Horne's death in 1942, the serials became more serious but were still made for young audiences. Batman (1943) was very popular, and Superman (1948) was a huge success. Spencer Gordon Bennet, another veteran serial director, directed most of Columbia's later serials. Columbia cut costs more and more, which affected the quality. They even used cartoon animation instead of more expensive special effects for their science-fiction serials. By the 1950s, Columbia serials were very low-budget, mostly reusing action scenes and cliffhangers from older movies. The new footage was so minimal that it would sometimes show the new hero just watching the action from a distance instead of being in it. Columbia was the last studio to stop making serials, with Blazing the Overland Trail (1956)]] being their final one.

Where to Find Serials Today

Many film serials have been released for home viewing from their original film copies. This includes most Republic titles, The Shadow, and Blackhawk. You can also find DVD versions of Flash Gordon, Adventures of Captain Marvel, Batman, Superman, and The Green Hornet. Some groups like The Serial Squadron have even restored and made available partially lost serials like The Adventures of Tarzan. There's also a "gray market" for DVDs, where companies release titles from private collections, so the quality can vary. In 2017, Adventures of Captain Marvel was the first serial to be released on Blu-ray.

Universal's serials were sold to a TV distributor in 1956. Later, VCI Entertainment got the rights and is now offering new Blu-Ray and DVD versions of many Universal serials, including Gang Busters and Jungle Queen. These new releases come from Universal's original film elements.

Modern Serial-Style Entertainment

After the 1950s, there have been several attempts to bring back or remember cliffhanger serials, by both fans and professional studios. Serials were also often made fun of in cartoons from the 1960s.

In the early days of television in the United States, movie serials were often shown, one chapter a day. In the late 1970s and 1980s, they were often revived on BBC television in the United Kingdom. Many have been released on home video. The popular Indiana Jones movies are a well-known, romantic copy of the serials' plot ideas and tricks.

Fan-Made Serials

An early attempt at a low-budget Western serial, filmed in color, was called The Silver Avenger. Some chapters exist, but it's not known if it was ever finished.

The most famous fan-made serial is the four-chapter, silent 16mm Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates, made to look like Republic and Columbia serials from the 1940s. It was finished in 1966. The story was about a masked villain called The Master Duper who tried to steal rare old films, and the hero, Captain Celluloid, who tried to stop him.

In the 1970s, a serial fan named Blackie Seymour filmed a complete 15-chapter serial called The Return of the Copperhead. However, the raw footage was never edited.

In 2001, King of the Park Rangers, a one-chapter sound serial, was released on VHS video. It was about a Park Ranger and an FBI Agent tracking down killers looking for buried treasure.

A second ten-chapter serial, The Dangers of Deborah, was released in 2008. It featured a female reporter and a criminologist fighting a mysterious villain called The Terror.

In 2006, Lamb4 Productions made their own tribute to 1940s film serials with "Wildcat." This eight-chapter serial was about a superhero named Wildcat trying to save Rite City from a masked villain called the Roach. It was heavily inspired by superhero serials like "Batman and Robin" and "Captain Marvel." "Wildcat" was later posted on YouTube.

Studio Efforts and Spoofs

The serial format was used for stories on the original The Mickey Mouse Club (1955–58), with each chapter lasting about six to ten minutes. Longer stories included "Corky and White Shadow" and "The Adventures of Spin and Marty".

Other Disney programs shown in parts on Walt Disney Presents (like The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh) and even Disney feature films edited into segments for TV often felt like cliffhanger serials.

In England, in the 1950s and 60s, low-budget six-chapter serials like Dusty Bates were shown in theaters, but they weren't very well-liked.

The most famous character to have many serialized TV programs is "the Doctor" from the BBC show Doctor Who, which started in 1963. Doctor Who serials could be anywhere from one to twelve episodes long and were shown weekly, just like the old movie cliffhangers. The show ended in 1989 but was brought back in 2005.

The 1960s cartoon Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle included two serial-style episodes per program. These made fun of the cliffhanger serial format. Within the show, the Dudley Do-Right cartoons specifically parodied the "damsel in distress" (Nell Fenwick) being tied to railroad tracks by the villain Snidely Whiplash and rescued by the noble but clueless Dudley. The Hanna–Barbera cartoon Perils of Penelope Pitstop was a takeoff on silent serials like The Perils of Pauline.

Danger Island, a multi-part story with short episodes, was shown on the Saturday morning Banana Splits program in the late 1960s. Episodes were short, full of action, and usually ended on a cliffhanger. This serial was directed by Richard Donner and featured the first African American action hero in a chapter play.

On February 27, 1979, NBC aired the first episode of a weekly TV series called Cliffhangers!. It had three different serials: a horror story (The Curse of Dracula), a science fiction/Western (The Secret Empire), and a mystery (Stop Susan Williams!). Even though final episodes were filmed, the series was canceled before all the stories could finish.

In 2006, Dark Horse Indie films released a 6-chapter serial parody called Monarch of the Moon. It told the adventures of a hero named the Yellow Jacket, who could control Yellow Jackets with his voice, fought "Japbots," and traveled to the moon.

Serials You Can Watch for Free

Several serials are now in the public domain. This means they are no longer protected by copyright and can often be downloaded legally online or bought as cheap DVDs. Some of these public domain serials include:

• The Vanishing Legion with Harry Carey (1931)
• The Hurricane Express with John Wayne (1933)
• The Lost City with Kane Richmond (1935)
• The Phantom Empire with Gene Autry (1935)
• Undersea Kingdom with Ray Corrigan (1936)
• Dick Tracy with Ralph Byrd (1937)
• Zorro's Fighting Legion with Reed Hadley (1939)
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe with Buster Crabbe (1940)
• Captain America with Dick Purcell (1944)
• Zorro's Black Whip with Linda Stirling (1944)
• Radar Men from the Moon with Roy Barcroft (1952)

Selected Movie Serials

• List of film serials by year
• List of film serials by studio

Selected Silent Era Serials

• What Happened to Mary? (1912)
• The Perils of Pauline (1914)
• The Exploits of Elaine (1914)
• Les Vampires (1915) – (from France)
• Judex (1917)
• Tarzan the Mighty (1928)

Serials from the "Golden Age" (1936-1945)

Other Important Serials

• The King of the Kongo (1929) – The first serial with sound
• The Mysterious Mr. M (1946) – The last serial from Universal
• Superman (1948) - The first time Superman appeared in live-action on film
• King of the Carnival (1955) – The last serial from Republic
• Blazing the Overland Trail (1956) – The very last American serial (from Columbia)
• Super Giant (1957) – A Japanese tokusatsu superhero film serial, released in the U.S. as Starman

See also

• List of film serials by year
• List of film serials by studio
• Pulp magazines, a similar type of story that came out in parts.
• The Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series; creator George Lucas says these movies were inspired by serial films.
• Serial (radio and television)