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Cliff-Hanger Serials

A world unto their own, the great serial chapters of the 1930s, '40s and '50s brought adventure and intrigue to the cinema screens every week as young and old alike would check out the latest instalment to see if our hero would survive (naturally!) and if the bad guys would be stopped in their tracks (of course!). The best part was always the 'cliffhanger' where the filmmakers would come up with an ingenious hook to keep you coming back for more. Films like 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and 'The Rocketeer' owe a debt to these thrill-a-minute extravaganzas, where saving the Earth from peril was all in a days work.

Flash Gordon: 4 Classic Episodes (1954)

6.5/10
Starring: Steve Holland, Irene Champlin

These four great episodes follow the voyages of space hero Flash Gordon portrayed by Steve Holland, Dale Arden (Irene Champlin) and Doctor Zarkov ("Jo... Read more

Flash Gordon: Flash Gordon's Trip To Mars (1938)

6.5/10
Starring: Lane Chandler, Kenne Duncan, Charles Middleton, Larry 'Buster' Crabbe, Reed Howe...

Life on Earth is about to be destroyed! A mysterious beam of light - emanating from Mars - is sucking the nitrogen from the planet's atmosphere, and o... Read more

Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers - Chapters 1-4 (1936)

6.5/10
Director: Ray Taylor, Ford Beebe
Starring: Larry 'Buster' Crabbe, Carol Hughes, Charles Middleton

Chapters 1-4. Buster Crabbe stars as Flash Gordon in this classic 1930s serial. Humanity is doomed to destruction! A distant planet has broken its orb... Read more

Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers - Chapters 9-13 (1936)

6.5/10
Director: Ray Taylor, Ford Beebe
Starring: Larry 'Buster' Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Charles Middleton

Chapters 9-13. Buster Crabbe stars as Flash Gordon in this classic 1930s serial. Humanity is doomed to destruction! A distant planet has broken its or... Read more

King of the Rocket Men (1949)

7.2/10
Director: Fred Brannon
Starring: Tristram Coffin, Mae Clarke, House Peters Jnr

Ray guns! Evil scientists!! Ransoms!!! New York City at bay!!!! All this and much more in this ultra-exciting series in twelve death-defying episodes... Read more

Les Vampires (1915)

6.9/10
Director: Louis Feuillade
Starring: Musidora , Edouard Mathe

Ten-part silent serial from French pioneer Louis Feuillade. Made at a time when France was in the grip of fear and suspicion due to WWI, this hugely p... Read more

Lost City (1935)

5.2/10
Director: Harry Revier
Starring: Willian "Stage" Boyd, Kane Richmond

One of the most thrilling and fondly remembered of movie serials, with William "Stage" Boyd as the tyrannical ruler of a super-advanced city inside a... Read more

Mandrake the Magician (1939)

7.1/10
Director: Norman Deming
Starring: Warren Hull, Al Kikume, Doris Weston, Forbes Murray

The comic's crimefighting prestidigitator came to the big screen in this thrill-laden serial with Warren Hull as the top-hatted, splendidly caparisone... Read more

New Adventures of Tarzan: Volume 1 (1935)

5.4/10
Director: Edward Kull
Starring: Herman Brix, Ula Holt

This oddity was produced by Edgar Rice Burroughs own company and was the first Tarzan film shot on location (in Guatemala). Their goal: the "Green God... Read more

New Adventures of Tarzan: Volume 2 (1934)

5.4/10
Director: Edward Kull
Starring: Herman Brix, Ula Holt

This oddity was produced by Edgar Rice Burroughs' own company and was the first Tarzan film shot on location (in Guatemala). The adventurers seek the... Read more