CAPTAIN AMERICA(1944 SERIAL)
An extremely entertaining serial, with a few tweeks to
the CA legend! The basic story, is a man is calling himself
The Scarab, and he's been going around killing all of the
men who were on an expedition with him in Central America,
researching the Mayan civilization! He wants revenge because
he feels he didn't get the recognition that he thought he
deserved!
To get back at everyone, he decides to steal the plans to
a powerful weapon that he plans to use to gain wealth and
power!
The biggest drawback to this serial as far as I am concerned,
is that they show who the culprit is immediately in the serial!
No suspense! And I guess the fact that the hero, Captain America,
bares no resemblance at all to the actual comic book hero!
However, with all that being said, this ia a lot of fun, and
full of action! Well worth a watch! (Be aware that it's more
than 4 hours long!!!) A
From IMDb.com:
With the release of a Captain America feature this summer,
I thought I'd look at the first time this costumed hero
from the comic books was depicted on the big screen nearly
70 years ago. Among several big differences between that
character created by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby and the one
shown here: He's Grant Gardner, district attorney, not
Steve Rogers, Army soldier. He uses a gun, not a shield.
And the villains are not Nazis. In fact, the actual bad
guy is one Dr. Cyrus Maldor (Lionel Atwill) a.k.a The
Scarab. Oh, and instead of a teen boy named Bucky for a
sidekick, Gardner has his secretary Gail Richards (Lorna
Gray) helping him in his investigations. Now while I was
initially along for the ride in following the story, it
got a little repetitious when each chapterplay ended with
a big fight that results with an explosion that always has
the hero escaping just before it happens being revealed in
the start of the next entry. So this would have probably
been a little better at 12-instead of 15-chapters. Still,
it was worth it to see how it all ends. Oh, and those
fights were just as exciting to see in a Republic serial
as it was on their earlier Adventures of Captain Marvel.
I just wish the print I saw didn't have so many scenes
playing off-sync on the soundtrack. But, all that said,
I thought the three leads I mentioned did well together
and Ms. Gray was certainly easy on the eyes whenever she
appeared. So on that note, this version of Captain America
is worth seeing.-tavm
Dick Purcell ... Captain America / Grant Gardner
Lorna Gray ... Gail Richards
Lionel Atwill ... Cyrus Maldor
Charles Trowbridge ... Dryden
Russell Hicks ... Randolph
George J. Lewis ... Bart Matson
John Davidson ... Gruber
Norman Nesbitt ... Newscaster
Frank Reicher ... Lyman [Ch. 1]
Hugh Sothern ... Eldon Dodge [Chs. 2-5]
Tom Chatterton ... J.C. Henley [Chs. 6-8]
Robert Frazer ... Clinton Lyman [Chs. 10-12]
John Hamilton ... G.F. Hillman [Chs. 13-14]
Crane Whitley ... Dirk [Chs. 11-12]
Edward Keane ... Agent 33 [Ch. 15]
John Bagni ... Monk
Jay Novello ... Simms [Ch. 1]
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sam Ash ... Florist #2 [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict ... Florist #1 [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Wilson Benge ... Lyman's Butler [Ch. 10] (uncredited)
Lynton Brent ... Airplane Mechanic [Chs. 8-9] (uncredited)
Roy Brent ... Nick (uncredited)
George Byron ... Walt Davis (uncredited)
James Carlisle ... J.V. Wilson [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Ed Cassidy ... Tec-Ni-Gas Co. Gate Guard [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
James Conaty ... Victim [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Lorn Courdaye ... Gas Station Attendant [Ch. 5] (uncredited)
Hal Craig ... Patrolman #2 (uncredited)
John Daheim ... Dodge Building Thug #2 [Chs. 1-2] / Lab Thug [Chs. 11-12] (uncredited)
George DeNormand ... Pete (uncredited)
Kenne Duncan ... Ed Graham [Ch. 14] (uncredited)
Ben Erway ... Used Car Lot Manager [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
Al Ferguson ... Detective [Ch. 8] (uncredited)
Terry Frost ... Police Broadcaster [Ch. 3] (uncredited) (voice)
Bud Geary ... Thug at Grant's Office [Ch. 13] (uncredited)
Fred Graham ... Agent B-10 [Chs. 4, 8-9] / Farm Thug [Chs. 14-15] (uncredited)
Duke Green ... Platinum Vault Thug [Chs. 3-4] / Nitro-Gas Thug [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
Ralf Harolde ... Tate - Apartment Thug [Ch. 2] (uncredited)
Howard C. Hickman ... Lyman's Attorney [Ch. 4] (uncredited)
Charles Hutchison ... Merritt [Chs. 1-2] (uncredited)
Jerry Jerome ... Eddie the Informer [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Jack Kirk ... Express Truck Driver [Ch. 5] (uncredited)
Glen Knight ... Morgue Wagon Driver [Ch. 11] (uncredited)
Bert LeBaron ... Airport Thug [Chs. 8-9] / Dynamite Thug [Ch. 10] (uncredited)
Tom London ... Mack - Garage Thug [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
Herbert Lytton ... Carl Evans [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
George Magrill ... Mechanic Thug [Ch. 7] (uncredited)
Paul Marion ... Morgue Wagon Hijacker #1 [Chs. 9, 11] (uncredited)
LeRoy Mason ... Bates--Florist #3 [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor ... Officer at Estate Gate [Ch. 8] (uncredited)
Jack O'Shea ... Express Truck Crewman [Ch. 5] (uncredited)
Post Park ... Detective [Ch. 8] (uncredited)
Gil Perkins ... Barn Thug [Ch. 2] / Hotel Room Thug [Ch. 9] / Waiter Thug [Chs. 13-14] (uncredited)
Allen Pomeroy ... Cave Thug [Chs. 6-7] (uncredited)
Stanley Price ... Purple Death Chemist [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Jeffrey Sayre ... Norden [Chs. 1-2] (uncredited)
George Sherwood ... Officer Clancy (uncredited)
Tom Steele ... Thug at Lyman's [Ch. 1] (uncredited)
Harry Strang ... Police Mechanic [Ch. 4] (uncredited)
Robert Strange ... Gang Lawyer [Ch. 12] (uncredited)
Ben Taggart ... Police Sgt. Donovan [Chs. 5, 9] (uncredited)
Ken Terrell ... Dodge Bldg. Thug [Chs. 1-2] / Gang Sharpshooter [Ch. 6] / Phony Humane Society Driver [Ch. 10] (uncredited)
Dale Van Sickel ... Callbox Motorcycle Cop [Ch. 3] / Rick - Phony Humane Society Workman [Ch. 10] (uncredited)
Edward Van Sloan ... Gregory--Lyman's Aide [Chs. 1-2] (uncredited)
Robert J. Wilke ... Thug with B-10 [Ch. 4] (uncredited)
Joe Yrigoyen ... Box Co. Thug [Chs. 5-6] / Barn Thug [Ch. 9] (uncredited)
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