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Film Serial: Difference between revisions
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The genre first started with such serials as the silent film ''The Perils of Pauline''. Although some big studios like Universal played the field with the ''[[Flash Gordon Serial]]'' serials, the most famous and renowned producer of serials was Republic Pictures, especially with the director team of Whitney and English, who produced classics like ''Daredevils of the Red Circle'' and ''[[The Adventures of Captain Marvel]]'' (the first [[Superhero]] film).
Eventually, the genre petered out against the competition of television; furthermore, a common criticism during the genre's waning years was that the focus had shifted from plot and character development to action and stunts, highlighting the importance of the Cliffhanger as a gimmick tool (and also underscoring said gimmick's [[Cliffhanger Copout|flaws]] to boot). But the spirit of the Film Serial lives on whenever a TV show episode cuts to commercial with a
The influence of these serials also led to film series such as [[Star Wars]] and [[Indiana Jones]].
* [[As You Know]]: Characters would routinely remind one another about the overarching plot, in order to keep audiences up to speed.
* [[B-Movie]] / [[Exploitation Film]]: Many serials were genre stories such as [[The Western|Westerns]], [[Space Opera]], [[Mad Scientist]] etc., or were based upon pulp/genre characters ([[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Flash Gordon]], [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]] et al).
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* [[History Marches On]] / [[Zeerust]] / [[Space Clothes]]: Naturally for any such set in the future, like [[Buck Rogers]], or in space, like [[Flash Gordon Serial]].
* [[Neutral Female]]: Due to the era in which they were made, women rarely occupy a proactive role.
* [[Sharp-Dressed Man]] / [[Badass in a Nice Suit]]: Also a product of the genre's era, a time when men generally wore suits, ties and hats as a matter of course (at least, for works that were contemporary in setting). [[The Hero]], in particular, never seems to get his suit smudged no matter what he goes
* [[Stock Footage]] lifted from previous episodes helped stretch the budgets. Exaggerated when serials started lifting footage from '''other''' serials.
** [[Recap Episode]]: Commonly, one episode (usually close to the end of the story) would be spent summarizing the story up to that point, using (you guessed it) [[Stock Footage]].
{{examples}}
* ''The Perils Of Pauline'' (1914, General Film Co): notable for '''not''' featuring chapter-ending [[Cliff Hanger|Cliffhangers]]. That aspect of serials came later.
* ''[[Flash Gordon Serial]]'' (1936, Universal): starring Buster Crabb (who also played [[Buck Rogers]]).
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* ''[[The Phantom Creeps]]'' (1939, Universal): starring [[Bela Lugosi]] as a [[Mad Scientist]]. Also appeared on [[Mystery Science Theater 3000]].
* ''The Green Hornet'' (1940, Universal)
** ''The Green Hornet Strikes Again!'' (1940,
* ''[[The Adventures of Captain Marvel]]'' (1941, Republic)
* ''[[The Batman (film)|The Batman]]'' (1943, Columbia): the Caped Crusader's first foray into live action. Also credited with creating [[Canon Immigrant|the Batcave]].
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** ''Zombies Of The Stratosphere'' (1952, Republic): [[Billing Displacement|"starring"]] [[Star Trek|Leonard Nimoy]]! Though technically part of the Commando Cody franchise, note again the absence of the actual character Cody.
* ''Flying Disc Man From Mars'' (1950, Republic): Generally considered one of the weakest examples of the genre.
* [[Affectionate Parody|Spoofed and homaged]] in the comedy film ''[[J-Men Forever!]]'' (1979, Pan Canadian Film Dist.), which uses re-dubbed Republic serials (including Commando Cody, Spy Smasher, [[The Adventures of Captain Marvel|Captain Marvel]] and
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Film Genres]]
[[Category:Formats]]
[[Category:
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