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The Serials

Columbia entered the field of cliffhanger serials in 1937 with the release of JUNGLE MENACE. What followed were 19 years and 56 more of these staples of Saturday Morning adventures. Presented in chapters (usually 12, 13, and 15), these 15-20 minute adventures were presented weekly, and always kept the audiences coming back to the theater to see the fate of their favorite heroes and heroines.

There is a lot of silly visual and verbal humor to be found in the Columbia serials, and many of these that fall into this category were directed by comedy shorts veteran James W. Horne.  Horne directed all of Columbia's serials from the late '30s to his death in the early 1940s. These Horne directed efforts aren't quite on the same level as a Jules White directed two-reel comedy, but serials such as THE IRON CLAW, THE GREEN ARCHER, and THE SHADOW come close, relying on a heavy dose of comedy relief.

The goofiest of all Horne serials by far is THE SPIDER RETURNS. The lead masked villain, The Gargoyle, is a hoot. In one scene, he spies on his henchmen, who are having a party and wearing silly party hats. "No wonder all my plans fail" he mutters.


The various producers of the serials include The Weiss Brothers, Jack Fier, Larry Darmour, Rudolph Flothow, and Sam Katzman. Knox Manning did most of the serial narration, coming on board around 1941 and continued until 1954. RIDING WITH BUFFALO BILL was Manning's last narrated Columbia serial. Columbia's last three serials, ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN AFRICA, PERILS OF THE WILDERNESS, and BLAZING THE OVERLAND TRAIL, were narrated by someone else. Manning was an excellent narrator, as he added life to the beginnings and endings of Columbia serial chapters. His distinctive voice was sorely missed in the final serials.

In 1956, Columbia decided to bring down their final curtain with the customary cheapness expected from them; they chose a Western, BLAZING THE OVERLAND TRAIL, and a very routine one at that. The simple plot found evil Rance Devlin (Don C. Harvey) planning to create a private army to take over the territory. Opposing him were Lee Roberts and Dennis Moore (Moore had the dubious distinction of appearing in the final serials of both Universal and Columbia). The film was so full of stock-footage from earlier serials and features that it was hard to accept it as a new attraction. Spencer Gordon Bennett, who had directed over twenty assorted titles for Columbia, as well as the thrill-packed Republic serials SECRET SERVICE IN DARKEST AFRICA, THE MASKED MARVEL, and HAUNTED HARBOR seemed a fitting choice to bring the life of the serial, now in its terminal stage, to a peaceful and routine end. BLAZING THE OVERLAND TRAIL climaxed an uninterrupted flow of silent and sound serials which totaled more than five hundred titles spanning a period of forty-odd years.



A handful of serial titles were syndicated by Screen Gems Television in the late 1950's, while a few others would be theatrically re-released in the 1960's.


THE FOLLOWING IS A COMPLETE LIST OF THE COLUMBIA SERIALS BY YEAR OF RELEASE



1937

JUNGLE MENACE

THE MYSTERIOUS PILOT


1938

THE SECRET OF TREASURE ISLAND

THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF WILD BILL HICKCOCK TRIVIA: Segments of this serial were issued in 2 200 ft 8mm home movie versions by Columbia in the 1960's.

THE SPIDER'S WEB


1939

FLYING G-MEN

MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN

OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON


1940


THE SHADOW

TERRY AND THE PIRATES

DEADWOOD DICK

THE GREEN ARCHER


1941

WHITE EAGLE

THE SPIDER RETURNS

THE IRON CLAW TRIVIA: Re-Released theatrically in December
1964


HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE


1942

CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT

PERILS OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED

THE SECRET CODE TRIVIA: At the end of every chapter, a series of lessons on code, written and directed by code expert Henry Lysing, was given, and a book called "The Secret CODE Digest" (by Mr. Lysing) was on sale in the theater lobby for ten cents.

THE VALLEY OF VANISHING MEN

BATMAN TRIVIA: Re-Released theatrically as "An Evening With Batman" in 1965, and on 8mm in 7 silent home movie chapters. In the mid 1970's, Columbia again reissued the serial in it's complete form in the super 8mm format. It was sold in individual chapters.

THE PHANTOM


1944


THE DESERT HAWK

BLACK ARROW


1945


BRENDA STARR, REPORTER

THE MONSTER AND THE APE

JUNGLE RAIDERS TRIVIA: Re-Released theatrically in June 1964

WHO'S GUILTY?


1946


HOP HARRIGAN TRIVIA: Columbia reissued this serial in the mid 1970's in it's complete form in the super 8mm format. It was sold in individual chapters.

CHICK CARTER, DETECTIVE

SON OF THE GUARDSMEN


1947

JACK ARMSTRONG

THE VIGILANTE

THE SEA HOUND

BRICK BRADFORD


1948


TEX GRANGER

SUPERMAN

CONGO BILL


1949

BRUCE GENTRY

BATMAN AND ROBIN

THE ADVENTURES OF SIR GALAHAD


1950

CODY OF THE PONY EXPRESS

ATOM MAN VS SUPERMAN

PIRATES OF THE HIGH SEAS


1951


ROAR OF THE IRON HORSE

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND

CAPTAIN VIDEO


1952

KING OF THE CONGO

BLACKHAWK SON OF GERONIMO


1953

THE LOST PLANET

THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN KIDD


1954

GUNFIGHTERS OF THE NORTHWEST

RIDING WITH BUFFALO BILL


1955

ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN AFRICA TRIVIA: Re-Released theatrically in April 1965


1956

PERILS OF THE WILDERNESS TRIVIA: Re-Released theatrically in September 1964

BLAZING THE OVERLAND TRAIL

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