Hello one and all! I hope everyone who celebrates has a Happy and Blessed Easter weekend. I'm taking the opportunity to "resurrect" (see what I did there?) an old feature of the blog. Please welcome the return of the Saturday Matinee!
For those who don't remember, I used to feature a classic movie serial chapter every weekend. Previous subjects have included Batman and The Crimson Ghost. This time, I'm hopping on the red, white, and blue bandwagon of the new movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier by featuring the Captain America serial produced by Republic Pictures in 1944!
Unfortunately, this version of the character bears little resemblance to the Cap we know and love. This Cap is not scrawny patriot turned super soldier Steve Rogers, but ordinary powered district attorney Grant Gardner (Dick Purcell), tracking down the not-so super villain the Scarab, a museum curator who is on the hunt for two dangerous items, "The Electronic Firebolt" and the, ahem, "Dynamic Vibrator" *snicker*. This Cap has also traded in his iconic shield for--a gun. How un-Cap like! Finally, the war doesn't feature in the plot at all; this is simply a straight-ahead crime caper with the hero and villain just happening to wear funny outfits.
Here is part 1 of Republic Pictures' Captain America. Enjoy!
Don't forget to grab some snacks at the snack bar!
2 comments:
Yes, the lack of concern for, well, everything on the part of the makers of comic-book serial adaptations is at times pretty breathtaking...more breathtaking than the action in the films, usually...
Legend says that this storyline was meant for a different lead character, but when Republic acquired the rights to Captain America, they simply swapped out the original protagonist for Cap. I'm sure it shows.
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