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.
Tiger Woman (The Serial) (1944)
7.3/10
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet
Starring: Linda Stirling
This quintessential 1944 Republic serial (in twelve exciting episodes) was Linda Sterling's serial debut and delivers first-rate action scenes such as... Read more
The Phantom: The Serial (1943)
4.9/10
Director: B Reeves Eason
Starring: Tom Tyler, Jeanne Bates
Tom Tyler stars as the purple-and-black hero of the African jungle, helping fiancee Jeanne Bates' archeologist father locate the Lost City of Zoloz an... Read more
Captain Midnight: The Serial (1942)
8/10
Director: James W Horne
Starring: Dave O'Brien, Dorothy Short
With a terror-stricken nation being blitzed by enemy bombers directed by the evil Ivan Shark, good guy Captain Albright becomes Captain Midnight and s... Read more
Sky Raiders (1941)
7.3/10
Director: Ray Taylor, Ford Beebe
Starring: Robert Armstrong, Donald Woods, Billy Halop
Dastardly spy Felix Lynx attacks our hero Robert Dayton through twelve thrilling chapters of high-flying action! Felix wants to steal Robert's amazing... Read more
Terry and the Pirates (1940)
6.3/10
Director: James W Horne
Starring: Granville Owen, William Tracy, Shelia Darcy
Based on the 1934 comic strip by Milton Caniff, and transferred to the big screen in this thrill-a-minute, 15-episode serial. Young Terry Lee and his... Read more
The Lone Ranger (1949)
7.9/10
Starring: Clayton Moore, Jay Silverheels
Enjoy hours of yesteryear action memories with this collection of seventeen episodes from classic 'The Lone Ranger' series. Along with his Indian comp... 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
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
Three Musketeers: The Serial 1-6 (1933)
6.7/10
Director: Armand Schaefer
Starring: John Wayne, Francis X Bushman, Ruth Hall, Lon Chaney Jr
'One for all and all for one!' Daredevil thrills and spills abound, as John Wayne and the men of the Foreign Legion battle villainous El Shaitan and h... Read more
Captain Video (1951)
5.9/10
Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet, Wallace Grissell
Starring: Gene Roth, Judd Holdren, Larry Stewart, George Eldredge
Two years after his television debut, the space-faring scientific genius and 'Captain of the Video Rangers' became the first TV character to make the... Read more