Captain America (Serial)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Captain America |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1944 |
| length | 243 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Elmer Clifton , John English |
| script |
Royal Cole , Harry Fraser , Joseph Poland , Ronald Davidson , Basil Dickey , Jesse Duffy , Grant Nelson |
| production | William J. O'Sullivan |
| music | Mort Glickman |
| camera | John MacBurnie |
| cut |
Wallace Grissell , Earl Turner |
| occupation | |
| |
Captain America is a 15-part serial from 1944 and the first film adaptation of the cartoon character Captain America , and also the last superhero series to be produced by Republic Pictures . The main actor Dick Purcell died a few weeks after the shooting, which apparently had charged him too much, although the stunt scenes by one of the most important of his time in Hollywood stuntmen, Dale Van Sickle , gedoubelt were. The special effects come from the Lydecker brothers . The premiere took place on February 5, 1944.
action
A number of researchers commit mysteriously suicide . The Mayor Randolph asks police chief Dryden and District prosecutor Gardner to investigate the cases. At the same time, he hopes that Captain America , who has helped the police before, will also take care of this matter. Gail Richards, Gardner's secretary, finds out that a chemical substance with hypnotic force , the Purpurtod called, has to do with the suicides. It comes from Dr. Cyrus Maldor aka the scarab , a museum director .
As it turns out, all of the alleged suicides and Dr. Maldor participant in a research expedition to Central America , where Mayan ruins were examined. One of the surviving scientists, Professor Lyman, seeks help from Dr. Maldor, but this one reveals to him as a scarab . He admits to having committed the murders out of revenge because he planned and carried out the expedition, but now all participants benefit from it. Maldor forces Lyman to reveal his plans for a "dynamic vibrator" by means of the Purple Death . Lyman kills himself under the influence of the purple death .
When Dr. Maldor wants to open the vault with Lyman's plans, he meets Captain America . The activated vibrator causes the skyscraper in which it is located to collapse. As if by a miracle, Captain America survived the collapse of the building. After numerous attempts, Dr. To arrest Maldor succeeds in the last episode when Maldor tries to turn Gail into a mummy with a gas . Maldor is sentenced to death in the electric chair . The verdict is carried out at midnight and staged as a classic wall show .
background
Since Republic had already had success with comic book adaptations such as Adventures of Captain Marvel and Spy Smasher , a comic adaptation was taken up again for purely commercial reasons. The shooting took place from October 12 to November 24, 1943. At $ 222,906 in production, it was the most expensive serial Republic ever produced. Despite the significant deviations from the comic book, the production was a success.
The deviations from the comic book are serious. The captain is not a young soldier , but a full-grown public prosecutor and does not wear a magic shield , but a revolver . He's not fighting Nazis either , but a normal, crazy scientist, not uncommon for contemporary comics and serials .
In the opening credits, the captain apparently drives a Harley-Davidson , which may have prompted Peter Fonda to name Wyatt's motorcycle in Easy Rider after the serial model.
Revival, tradition
The serial was brought back to the rental market on September 30, 1953 under the title Return of Captain America , and between episodes of the new series Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders and Trader Tom of the China Seas listed. A VHS edition was released in 1993 and a DVD edition in 2009 . All episodes are posted on YouTube .
literature
- Hank Davis: Classic Cliffhangers, Volume 2 1941-1955 , Baltimore, MD (Midnight Marquee Press, Inc.) 2008. ISBN 978-1-887664-82-0
Web links
- Captain America in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Complete serial on youtube.com
- Portrait of Dick Purcell as Captain America
