Customer Reviews

Gripping Chapters: The Sound Movie Serial

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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!

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.

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)

Although I don't have a huge collection of serials--about a dozen or so--I'm a big fan of them, especially science fiction, action/adventure and superhero ones, such as "King of the Rocket Men," "Terry and the Pirates" and "The Adventures of Captain Marvel." But simply watching and enjoying the serials was not enough for me. As usual when I get interested in something, I tried to find out as much about the topic as I could. I wanted to know everything about serials--how and when they were made, who produced and directed them, which actors played which parts, how they did the stunts, what went on "behind the scenes," and much more. That's where Ron Backer's "Gripping Chapters: The Sound Movie Serial" comes in.

Obviously a labor of love written by a true fan, "Gripping Chapters" pretty much reveals nearly everything anyone would want to know about this unique American cinematic art form. Mr. Backer essentially "deconstructs" serials in his very detailed, informative and fast-paced narrative. From analyzing their sources (radio programs, comic books, short stories, whatever) through their plot structures to their casts to how and where the studios used stock footage, there are few aspects of serials that Mr. Backer does not cover, always with real enthusiasm and often with droll humor. Quite a bit of "Gripping Chapters" focuses on the serials' "cliffhangers" (or, more correctly in many cases, "cliffovers") that were a hallmark of the genre, wherein the hero or heroine seems certain to die at the end of one episode only to be miraculously rescued from his or her fate at the beginning of the next. He groups "cliffhangers" into categories, such as literal cliffhangers (which are surprisingly rare), car crashes, plane crashes, waterfall perils, dynamited bridges, etc.--and analyzes them in great detail using actual serial episodes to make his points. I would have liked to see more "behind the scenes" stories and details about how the stunts were performed, subjects that "Gripping Chapters" barely touches on, but given the time that has passed since these serials were made, perhaps that's asking too much--or maybe a follow-on volume will address these topics. In any event, the book sparkles throughout with well-chosen black-and-white still pictures and images of lobby cards, and there is a good index along with several useful appendices.

The only down side that I found to "Gripping Chapters"--and it is my failing, not the book's--is that I have never seen, and probably never will see, many of the obscure serials that Mr. Backer covers in his sweeping survey. The motion picture studios produced hundreds of serials in their heyday, and very few seem to have escaped Mr. Backer's devoted attentions. I will seek out some of the ones I don't already own, but many of them, as best I can tell, are not currently available on DVD or in any other format. Still, through Mr. Backer's exceptionally approachable tribute to this lost art form, I definitely have a much greater appreciation for the ones I have seen, and I will view them with newfound knowledge of their intimate details when I watch them again. I recommend "Gripping Chapters" highly to all serial fans who want to learn more about the genre.

Boy Ron Backer really gets it right! There's no focus on a single serial or the movie company that made it. This story is the result of many years of research. And it's told from a fan's viewpoint. Mr. Backer discusses a number of things about serials. Many different types of cliffhangers number of chapters length of chapters cheat cliffhangers and even up and coming actors/actresses who achieved greater fame later on. Also chapter openings recap footage narration & so much more. If you're a serial lover (like me!) you'll love this book!