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Adventures of Captain Marvel
Original theatrical poster for Adventures of Captain Marvel Episode 10: "Doom Ship".
Directed by	William Witney John English
Produced by	Hiram S Brown Jr
Written by	Ronald Davidson Norman S Hall Arch B Heath Joseph Poland Sol Shor Bill Parker & C.C. Beck (character)
Starring	Tom Tyler Frank Coghlan Jr William Benedict Louise Currie Robert Strange Harry Worth Bryant Washburn John Davidson
Cinematography	William Nobles
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release date(s)	1941
Running time	12 chapters (216 min)
IMDb profile

Adventures of Captain Marvel is a twelve-chapter film serial directed by John English and William Witney for Republic Pictures in 1941, adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character then appearing in Fawcett Comics publications. It starred Tom Tyler (who also played The Phantom) in the title role of Captain Marvel and Frank Coghlan Jr as his alter ego, Billy Batson.

The serial has been hailed as among the finest of the form for both its writing and its production values. In particular, the special effects produced primarily by the Lydecker brothers, and specifically the shots showing Captain Marvel flying, are often impressive. The flying scenes were done in long shots by sliding a hollow, slightly-oversized mannequin backward down a thin slanted wire and then printing the footage in reverse, to produce the illusion of a flying man. The same technique was used in the Rocket Man serials, King of the Rocket Men, Radar Men from the Moon, Zombies of the Stratosphere and Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe, released during 1949-1953. Many critics think this kind of flying superhero special effect was not topped for decades, until the first Superman film starring Christopher Reeve in 1978. The cheaply-made Columbia Pictures Superman serials which appeared in the late 1940s used a crude animated cartoon sequence to represent Superman's flights.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Chapter titles 4 Trivia 5 References 5.1 External links

[edit] Plot

The serial featured an adaptation of the Fawcett Comics superhero, placed within an original story in which he fought a criminal mastermind, called The Scorpion, who is determined to gain total control of a magical gold scorpion figurine, which is a disguised optical weapon of incredible power (including, but not limited to, melting rock via a projected death ray).

The Golden Scorpion is found during an expedition to Siam, which is also where young journalist Billy Batson meets the wizard Shazam while trapped in a crypt. Shazam grants him the ability to change into Captain Marvel in order to prevent the Golden Scorpion from falling into the wrong hands.

Back in the USA, the lenses of the Golden Scorpion are split between several people for safe keeping. However, one of them is of course the Masked Mystery Villain, The Scorpion. The heroes must discover his identity whilst preventing him from gaining all of the lenses and making use of the figurine's powers for criminal purposes.

While the Captain Marvel of the Fawcett comics participates in fairly light-hearted adventures and rarely causes injury, much less death, it was something of a shock to audiences in 1941 when the serial Captain was shown casually tossing villains off cliffs and the tops of buildings.

[edit] Cast

• Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel
• Frank Coghlan Jr as Billy Batson
• William Benedict as Whitey Murphy
• Louise Currie as Betty Wallace
• Robert Strange as John Malcolm
• Harry Worth as Prof Luther Bentley
• Bryant Washburn as Harry Carlyle
• John Davidson as Tal Chotali
• George Pembroke as Dr Stephen Lang
• Peter George Lynn as Prof Dwight Fisher
• Reed Hadley as Rahman Bar
• Jack Mulhall as Howell
• Kenneth Duncan as Barnett
• Nigel De Brulier as Shazam

[edit] Chapter titles

.

1. Curse of the Scorpion
2. The Guillotine
3. Time Bomb
4. Death Takes the Wheel
5. The Scorpion Strikes
6. Lens of Death
7. Human Targets
8. Boomerang
9. Dead Man's Trap
10. Doom Ship
11. Valley of Death
12. Captain Marvel's Secret

[edit] Trivia

• The film was originally intended to feature Superman. However, National Periodical Publications (DC) turned down the offer. The film company approached Fawcett Comics for their most popular character, and that publishing house did not refuse the opportunity. That decision made Captain Marvel the first comic book superhero to be depicted in film. About a decade later, Fawcett ceased publication of all its comic series, and the Captain Marvel character was purchased to Fawcett's chief rival, DC.

[edit] References

• Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement; Mathis, Jack, 1995, ISBN 0-9632878-1-8
• The Adventures of Captain Marvel at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] External links

• The Adventures of Captain Marvel at the Internet Movie Database
• Adventures of Captain Marvel Trailer at You Tube
• Dr Hermes Review of The Adventures of Captain Marvel
• The Serial Squadron

Preceded by Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940)

Republic Serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941)

Succeeded by Jungle Girl (1941)