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Number available?
Topic Started: May 20 2014, 11:54 AM (1,955 Views)
Bulleteer
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Does anyone have a guess as to how many serials (both silent and sound) have been put on DVD? Not looking for an exact number because I doubt if anyone knows exactly. Just a ball park figure, if anyone might have an idea.


"Atomic activity on the moon. Atomic blasts on the Earth."
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The Batman
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Don't know about the silents, but there are 232 sound serials, and I would guess about 220 of them (at least) are available on commercial or grey-market DVD.



Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Bulleteer
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Thanks. No one has a guess about silents?


"Atomic activity on the moon. Atomic blasts on the Earth."
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Barcroft
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Bulleteer:
If anyone knows how many silent serials are on DVD our esteemed buddy RiddleRider would probably have a good idea. Hopefully he'll chime in.
Barcroft
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Pa Stark
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Bulletguy, The accepted total of sound serials is 231. All Republic and Columbia serials are available with only KING OF THE MOUNTIES and BRENDA STARR, REPORTER not quite complete. The missing serials are:

Independents:

VOICE FROM THE SKY
TARZAN THE FEARLESS (one chapter is supposed to have surfaced)

Universal:

ACE OF SCOTLAND YARD
THE JADE BOX
THE LIGHTNING EXPRESS
TERRY OF THE TIMES
FINGERPRINTS
HEROES OF THE FLAMES ( A collector is supposed to have this)
DANGER ISLAND
SPELL OF THE CIRCUS
DETECTIVE LLOYD
THE AIRMAIL MYSTERY)
THE JUNGLE MYSTERY (there was a print existing that was supposed to be restored.)
CLANCY OF THE MOUNTED (last six chapters)

Some chapters from above might still be in Universal's vaults Riddle Rider might know something about this.

All the other 218 titles are floating around and available either on authorized copies or on the gray market. Some only exist in poor condition like WOLF DOG and BRICK BRADFORD
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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The Batman
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Thanks, Pa. Why do I always think it's 232? I do that every time. At least I was close on my guess of how many are available.




Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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riddlerider
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When Tarzan the Tiger was "borrowed" from Universal's storage facility many years ago, the borrower found 35mm nitrate elements on The Jade Box and Terry of the Times. But he said both serials were only half complete, and even the surviving reels were showing signs of decomposition. Since he was paying a small fortune to have Tarzan transferred on one-inch tape, he elected not to spend more money transferring incomplete serials. This was nearly 30 years ago and I'm 99.9 percent sure that those reels are dust and jelly by now — if they haven't been junked. I think it's pretty safe to add Jade and Terry to the list of lost serials.

The fate of Jungle Mystery is unknown. At one time Bob O'Neill thought he'd found all 12 chapters, and preservation was definitely scheduled. But after the Universal fire some years back, Jungle Mystery was put on the back burner indefinitely when the department's priority became replacing the burnt prints and tape masters.

Silent serials available in whole or in fragmentary form (including feature versions) from various legit and gray-market sources include:

The Perils of Pauline
Les Vampires
The Mystery of the Double Cross
Judex
Patria
Lure of the Circus
The Masked Rider
Lightning Bryce
The Master Mystery
The Trail of the Octopus
The Lost City
A Woman in Grey
Son of Tarzan
The Adventures of Tarzan
Days of '49
The Power God
Officer 444
Lightning Hutch
The Golden Stallion
Hawk of the Hills
The Isle of Sunken Gold
Eagle of the Night
Tarzan the Tiger
The Indians Are Coming
(silent five-chapter version)

I think that's all of them.

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The Batman
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Thanks, RR. Wow, I think I have all the available silent serials, cool, except I wish there were more available.



Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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outerlimit
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A pretty good print of Detective Lloyd was once shown on British television by Harlech TV.
It was complete and looked as though it could have been made in Britain.As I recall they showed it late on Friday nights. However I remember reading that nobody knows what happened to the print they had which presumably was on 16mm film. So yes, it too is a lost (sound) serial.....unless it surfaces in someone's collection one day.
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LaneCarson
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I've often wondered if the "count" of 232 sound serials includes the two "Famous Five" serials

Here is my blog about the pair ...
In Britain in the 1950s and early 60s (until TV took over), Saturday morning at the Pictures was the highlight of every (school -aged) kid’s week. The two most popular cinema chains in the early 1950s were Odeon and Associated British Cinemas (ABC). Every Saturday morning, cinemas all over the country would show action/adventure films, B-movies, Westerns etc to the delight of roaring “young adults” - and what bought them back each? - well, it was the Movie Serial, of course! Batman, Flash Gordon, Superman etc ended each showing on a cliff-hanger so one had to come back the following Saturday to see how the hero escaped. Everything had a profoundly US flavour … so Arthur Rank, chairman of The Rank Organisation that owned he Odeon cinema chain set up the Children's Film Foundation (CFA), specifically to make films for children which were to be screened at Saturday morning matinees and used in schools … now British children didn't have to cheer on American heroes - they had their own!
One particular authors work was a prime source of material for the Film Foundation: Enid Blyton who was enjoying a golden period in the 1950s and her work seemed to embody the ethos of the day. The tone of her children's adventure novels always featuring a gang of derring-do-gooders who always managed to outwit the villains - and they managed to fit their many adventures into their school holidays!
The Famous Five is the name of a series of the most popular of Blyton’s novels. They featured the adventures of a group of young children: Julian, Dick, Anne and Georgina (George) and their dog Timothy.
The first book, Five on a Treasure Island, was a huge success and Blyton only intended to write about 6 to 8 books in the series but, owing to their high sales and immense commercial success, she went on to write 21 full-length Famous Five novels. By the end of 1953, more than 6 million copies of these books had been printed and sold. Today, more than two million copies of the books are sold each year, making them one of the biggest-selling series for children ever written.

Two of The Famous Five books were produced by the CFA as movie serials and shown to enthusiastic young Saturday Matinee audiences: Five On A Treasure Island (1957) and Five Have A Mystery To Solve (1963).
With enthusiastic and memorable performances from the well-cast young actors and offering a glimpse into gentler, more innocent times, these are two excellent & exciting Movie Serials

Note that these serials are genuine Movie Serials and were specifically produced to be shown in theatres - they were not a TV series ….

The Famous Five TV series are altogether quite separate productions - they were made in the 1970s & 1990s


So - are Five On A Treasure Island (1957) and Five Have A Mystery To Solve (1963) part of the count?
Trev
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Laughing Gravy
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On a related note, this reminded me to do something I've been meant to do as I consider next season's serial offerings... Check and see which Republic serials I've never seen. Ready?

The Painted Stallion 1937
The Lone Ranger Rides Again 1939
Daredevils of the West 1943
The Phantom Rider 1946
King of the Forest Rangers 1946
Dangers of the Canadian Mounted 1948
Ghost of Zorro 1949
Desperadoes of the West 1950
Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe 1953
Canadian Mounties vs. Atomic Invaders 1953
Trader Tom of the China Seas 1954
Man with the Steel Whip 1954
King of the Carnival 1955

Any of these good?

Oh, and I have a six-episode German serial, Flight Around the World. It's silent with English intertitles. It is the full serial.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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The Batman
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Of the one's I have seen, I enjoyed:

The Lone Ranger Rides Again 1939
Daredevils of the West 1943
King of the Carnival 1955 (but I like carnival/circus themed movies/TV/serials, so your mileage may vary)


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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panzer the great & terrible
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Daredevils of the West is the best by far, but it's not as good as I wanted it to be.

You've seen the best ones.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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Pa Stark
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Riddle Rider, while you are at it, how about a list of silent serials you know to exist, but are not available on DVD. I know the list includes SUNKEN SILVER, PLUNDER, QUEEN OF THE NORTHWOODS, TIMBER QUEEN,etc. Which serials are locked up that will not be made available, and which ones is there a possibility of coming out?
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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rodney
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I'd skip Daredevils of the West for FNF because of the missing footage.

Of the others that I've seen, King of the Forest Rangers is probably the best.
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