Serials, more specifically known as movie serials, film serials or chapter plays, are short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction.
Also known as "chapter plays", they were extended motion pictures broken into a number of segments called "chapters" or "episodes". Each chapter was screened at the same theater for one week, and ended with a cliffhanger, in which the hero and heroine found themselves in a perilous situation with little apparent chance of escape. Viewers had to return each week to see the cliffhangers resolved and to follow the continuing story.
Serials covered many genres, including crime fiction, espionage, westerns, war, comic book characters, science fiction, and jungle adventures. Although most serials were filmed economically, some were made at significant expense.
Flash Gordon (1936) and its sequels, for instance, were major productions in their times. [Wikipedia]
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| The Perils of Pauline (1914) |
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| The Son of Tarzan (1920) |
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| Adventures of Tarzan (1921) |
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| Tarzan the Fearless (1933) |
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| Tarzan the Fearless (1933) |
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| The Return of Chandu (1934) |
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| The Phantom Empire (1935) |
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| The Phantom Empire (1935) |
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| The Phantom Empire (1935) Spanish poster |
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| Flash Gordon (1936) |
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| Flash Gordon (1936) |
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| Flash Gordon (1936) |
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| Shadow of Chinatown (1936) |
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| Undersea Kingdom (1936) |
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| Undersea Kingdom (1936) |
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| Undersea Kingdom (1936) |
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| Dick Tracy (1937) |
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| SOS Coast Guard (1937) |
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| Tim Tyler's Luck (1937) |
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| Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) |
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| Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) |
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| Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) |
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| Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) |
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| The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) |
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| The Lone Ranger (1938) |
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| Buck Rogers (1939) |
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| Buck Rogers (1939) |
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| The Phantom Creeps (1939) |
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| Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) |
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| Deadwood Dick (1940) |
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| Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) |
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| Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) |
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| The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1940) |
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| The Shadow (1940) |
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| Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) |
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| Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) |
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| Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc. (1941) |
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| Sky Raiders (1941) |
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| The Spider Returns (1941) |
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| Captain Midnight (1942) |
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| Perils of Nyoka (1942) |
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| Spy Smasher (1942) |
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| Spy Smasher (1942) |
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| The Batman (1943) |
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| The Phantom (1943) |
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| Captain America (1944) |
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| Zorro's Black Whip (1944) |
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| Brenda Starr, Reporter (1945) |
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| The Crimson Ghost (1946) |
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| Superman (1948) |
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| Superman (1948) |
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| Batman and Robin (1949) |
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| Batman and Robin (1949) |
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| Atom Man vs Superman (1950) |
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| Atom Man vs Superman (1950) |
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| King of the Rocket Men (1949) |
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| Flying Disc Man from Mars (1950) |
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| Captain Video (1951) |
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| Captain Video (1951) |
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| Mysterious Island (1951) |
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| Blackhawk (1952) |
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| Radar Men from the Moon (1952) |
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| Zombies of the Stratosphere (1952) |
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| Commando Cody (1953) |
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| The Lost Planet (1953) |
Just when I think my movie knowledge is growing....you post a movie poster page that I have seen zero of the movies. It is pretty amazing that Batman and Superman look pretty much unchanged over the years....excluding the Nolan version of those two superheroes. Ming in one of the Flash Gordon posters looks just like Max von Sydow as well. Interesting group of posters.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting Bruce. I thought this and the previous page were interesting additions to the poster galleries. I've only seen the three Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials, and random chapters of some of the others. Undersea Kingdom has had good reviews, might be worth seeking out.
ReplyDelete