Gripping Chapters is much more than a history of the sound motion picture serial. Here you'll find all of the sources for sound movie serials, including comic strips, comic books, the pulps, novels and radio shows. There are chapters analyzing the cliffhanger endings of serial episodes, with information focusing on cheat cliffhanger endings, such as time expansion cheats, "survived through it cheats," and re-shot footage cheats, as well as a study of some of the cleverest and most exciting cliffhanger endings of all time. Other topics include serial sequels and series, the stars who appeared in serials, prolific contributors to serials, and stock footage and bloopers, plus an appreciation of three very special serials: The Phantom Empire, Flash Gordon and Zorro's Black Whip.
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"A treasure trove of material that covers just about every facet of serial production...a great resource for any serial fan." Blood 'N' Thunder Magazine
About the Author
Ron Backer is an attorney who has previously written for law reviews and other legal publications. An avid fan of both mysteries and movies, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is also the author of Mystery Movie Series of 1940s Hollywood.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SIMPLY, GRIPPING!!!,
This review is from: Gripping Chapters: The Sound Movie Serial (Paperback)
This is a welcomed edition to my serial, B-Western library. Not so much a history of the motion picture serial 1930's-50's, and not really a review of the individual serials themselves, this book is about the anatomy of the serial and what makes it fascinating to it's fans. This is simply a wonderful read ( with lots of never before seen photos ) detailing types of chapter endings, use of stock footage, cheat resolutions, mistakes and bloopers, going over cliffs and falling off buildings!
Having seen so many of these serials over the last 20+ yrs., I had a great time with this book, which by the way, is well written and nicely put together. No cheap fan-zine type stuff here. The publisher, Bear Manor, put out a quality product. A GREAT book, a GREAT buy!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Serial and a Half,
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This review is from: Gripping Chapters: The Sound Movie Serial (Paperback)
Little about the writers, little about studio tit-bits, and nothing much about working the stunts and tricks -- but oh, boy, what a read! Stuff you don't know and that isn't covered elsewhere, pictures other books don't have, and written obviously by an enthusiastic fan.
Worth the time, the money, and the reading.... and good for references with detailed indexes, for later.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Sound Movie Serial ... Gripping Chapters ... Ron Backer (author) (2010)",
This review is from: Gripping Chapters: The Sound Movie Serial (Paperback)
BearManor Media presents "GRIPPING CHAPTERS: THE SOUND MOVIE SERIAL" (Paperback), by Ron Backer (Author).I was fortunate enough to see most of the serials in this book, either on the big screen or through VHS and DVD media copies. Also, must point out the excellent reviews by my fellow reviewers on this page, job well done. As the author Backer recalls ~ "I had to watch and re-watch portions of a number of serials to locate a particular cliffhanger, a piece of stock footage, a line of dialogue or the like. In the process, I gained renewed respect for the genre, which entertained millions for over 35 years on very limited budgets". A favorite sections of the book elaborates on the prolific contributors to the serials. In the authors own words ~ "The faces of the serial were the performers who played the heroes on numerous occasions, such as Buster Crabbe, Tom Tyler and Kane Richmond or those who often played the heroine, such as Jean Rogers, Linda Stirling and Lucile Browne, or even those who played the villains on numerous occasions, such as Charles Middleton, Roy Barcroft or Walter Miller. There were, however, numerous individuals who made prolific contributions to serials, as producers, directors and character actors, who are not all that well-know to serial fans. This is a look at some of those unsung, yet important contributors to the sound movies serial" How many times have you sat in a darkened theater watching a cliffhanger, not knowing the names of character actors or villains, but enjoying each and every scene while clinching the armrests of your seat. We all knew the heroes Clayton Moore (The Ghost of Zorro), Buck Jones (Gordon of Ghost City), Allan Rocky Lane (King of the Royal Mounted), Ralph Byrd (Dick Tracy), Kirk Alyn (Clark Kent/Superman), because we wanted to be like them. Playing at school or the backyards with friends, reenacting what we saw on the big screen during the past weekend. Backer goes on to mention, what is surprising is how many of the serials were directed by a very small group of directors. For example, three individuals, either alone or with others, directed a total of 100 different serials, which is slightly less than half of all sound serials. Those directors were Ray Taylor, Spencer Gordon Bennett and Ford Beebe. But my favorites were William Witney and John English are the most famous directing duo in serial history. Witney directed the action sequences and English directed the dialogue and dramatic scenes. This division of the labor allowed them to create many great serials within a short period of time. Very reasonable and a good value for the price --- For product description and editorial review check this out on the Amazon site above my review. TABLE OF CONTENTS: (Chapter, Title and Page Numbers) Introduction --- 1 CHAPTER ONE: A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SOUND MOTION PICTURE SERIAL --- 2 The Independents & Mascot, Republic Serials, Universal Serials, Columbia Serials, The Demise of the Serial. CHAPTER TWO: SERIAL SOURCES --- 21 Daily and Sunday comic Strips, Comic Book Heroes, Radio Series, Pulp Magazines and Other Periodicals, Novels & Other Longer Works, Short Stories & Miscellaneous Sources. CHAPTER THREE: THE STRUCTURE OF A SERIAL --- 107 Chapter Introductions, Number of Serial Chapters, Length of Serial Chapters, Recap Footage, Acting Credits, Chapter Conclusions. CHAPTER FOUR: SERIAL CLIFFOVERS --- 135 City Vehicle Cliffovers, Western Wagon Clifffovers, Individual Western Cliffovers, Individual City Cliffovers, Substitution Resolutions, Multiple Cliffovers. CHAPTER FIVE: CHEAT CLIFFHANGER RESOLUTIONS --- 151 Time Expansion Cheats, "Survived Through It" Cheats, Re-Shot Footage Cheats, "Too Close For Comfort" Cheats, Absurd Resolutions, Conclusion. CHAPTER SIX: A VARIETY OF CLIFFHANGERS --- 171 Special Types of Cliffhangers, A Variety of Cliffhangers, Anticipation Cliffhangers. CHAPTER SEVEN: STOCK FOOTAGE & SERIAL BLOOPERS --- 229 Stock Footage, Bloopers, Inside Jokes. CHAPTER EIGHT: SEQUELS & SERIES --- 261 Sequels & Series, Pretenders. CHAPTER NINE: BEFORE & AFTER THEY WERE STARS --- 281 Before They Were Movie Stars, Before They Were Featured Performers, Before They Were Television Stars, Before & After They Were Football Stars, After They Were Television Stars, After They Were Movie Stars, Oscar, Tony & Emmy Award Winners. CHAPTER TEN: PROLIFIC CONTRIBUTORS TO SERIALS --- 329 Influential Producers of Serials, Prolific Directors of Serials, Prolific Serial Performers. CHAPTER ELEVEN: THREE APPRECIATIONS --- 347 'The Phantom Empire' (1935), 'Flash Gordon' (1936), 'Zorro's Black Whip' (1944). APPENDIX A: SERIAL SOURCES --- 367 APPENDIX B: SERIAL SEQUELS & SERIES --- 373 APPENDIX C: SERIALS WITH SUB-NAMES --- 379 APPENDIX D: PROLIFIC SERIAL DIRECTORS --- 393 BIBLIOGRAPHY --- 393 INDEX --- 397 BearManor Media, a small press that publishes BIG books. They pride themselves on publishing quality entertainment biographies, so they often put out the first book on unique subjects -- plus specializing in books with nostalgic themes and keeping classic Hollywood alive not only thru his publishing house, but thru his own books. Hats off to Ben Ohmart and his staff for sharing all of the history of my favorite genre (serials from the movies), always be a kid at heart. Highly recommend - a good read for all you wanted to know about how they put together those exciting cliffhanger endings. Total Page: 428 Pages ~ BearManor Media #ISBN-13: 978-1593935313 ~ (May 28, 2010)
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