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Books on Movie Serials; A Complete Listing
Topic Started: Mar 22 2017, 08:29 AM (3,078 Views)
The Batman
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Thanks, RR. That seals the deal on Van Hise. Life is too short and I have lots to read.

Interesting you bring up Vanishing Legion. I've had that in my Amazon cart for two years, and would have bought it back then, but I keep hearing it is riddled (no pun intended) with errors. Is this the best of the books to get on Mascot? I'm a fan of the studio's serial output and would like to learn more about them.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Don Diego
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The Batman
Mar 30 2017, 04:08 PM
Where did you get that great deal, Don?

used books on amazon north
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The Batman
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Darn, the cheapest one there now is $8, and the seller's rating isn't very good.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Laughing Gravy
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Sorry I'm late to the party... I have the Bonomo book, and it's worth it just for the pictures, old ads, etc. I've never actually READ the darn thing.
"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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All good, LG, thanks for adding your two-cents.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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The Batman
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'Cat, thanks for the info on the book on Amazon, I'll check it out. And you are welcome, nice to know someone appreciates the effort.


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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williejg
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All good Bats! And thanks right back to you!

'Cat
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williejg
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Riddle Rider,

I haven't figured out how to use the quote function on this site yet--yes, I'm a dumb s__t!

You made this post: By the way, Fernett's book on Mascot is no great shakes either. Much as I hate to admit it, Tuska's Vanishing Legion, while pompously written and riddled with errors, is a more usual resource on Nat Levine and his serials.

Did you mean usual or useful?

Bats also asked you if this was the better book to get over NEXT TIME DRIVE OFF THE CLIFF, but you have yet to reply.

Could you please expound?

Thanks,

'Cat
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riddlerider
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williejg
Mar 31 2017, 09:39 AM
Riddle Rider,

I haven't figured out how to use the quote function on this site yet--yes, I'm a dumb s__t!

You made this post: By the way, Fernett's book on Mascot is no great shakes either. Much as I hate to admit it, Tuska's Vanishing Legion, while pompously written and riddled with errors, is a more usual resource on Nat Levine and his serials.

Did you mean usual or useful?

Bats also asked you if this was the better book to get over NEXT TIME DRIVE OFF THE CLIFF, but you have yet to reply.

Could you please expound?

Thanks,

'Cat

I meant useful. My bad.

Vanishing Legion, despite its unusually pompous conceit of applying Jungian analysis to Mascot serials, is better organized and more informative than Fernett's Next Time Drive Off the Cliff, which has more photos but less info. Tuska's usual failings — repeating the errors of others while pretending that he did the original research, using a film-history book to settle personal scores and lecture the reader on moral issues — are much in evidence here, but Legion still does a better (if incomplete) job of conveying who Nat Levine was and where Mascot was in the film industry's pecking order.
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The Batman
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Sounds like what we really need is another option. A new book on the history of Mascot, from a respected serial historian, with a proven track record.

RR, any chance you got a Mascot book in you?

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Pa Stark
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The Batman
Mar 31 2017, 06:45 PM
Sounds like what we really need is another option. A new book on the history of Mascot, from a respected serial historian, with a proven track record.

RR, any chance you got a Mascot book in you?

I second that idea. While we are at it, Riddle Rider should toss in coverage of the independent serials also. I sure wish someone could give information on the budgets of all those serials, but alas, I'm sure that is lost to the ages.
Honest and Lovable Pa Stark
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williejg
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Bats,

Maybe you need to get both books. Vanishing Legion for the info and Next Time for all of the photos. Then you'll have it all and can make your own decision on which is best.

'Cat
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riddlerider
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There's no market for a book on Mascot and the other independents, even assuming I had enough material to fill it. Or the time to write it.

I don't have many books left in me, although I have decided to move forward with a two-volume history of the B movie, which will include considerable wordage on Mascot and the Poverty Row outfits. By then I will pretty much have exhausted my research on the subject, including all the interviews I conducted decades ago but have not yet drawn from.

Beyond that, to make feasible the writing of more film-history books I need to sell more copies of those I've already written. Everybody tells me I should write a book about so-and-so or such-and-such, but many of those people never get around to actually buying the damn things when I do write them.
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The Batman
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I can't speak for anyone else, but I believe I have bought every book of yours I am aware of. I would appreciate a list of the titles, because if there are some I missed, I sure want to pick them up.

And I am on board for that 2-volume history of the B Movie.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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John Doe
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Here are some more. Several of these were already mentioned by another poster:

Bifulco, Michael
Rocket Men of the Movies
1991 (paperback) Michael Bifulco

Coghlan, Frank “Junior”
They Still Call Me Junior - Autobiography of a Child Star
1993 (hardcover), 2011 (paperback) McFarland & Co

Feret, Bill
Lure of the Tropix: A Pictorial History of The Tropic Temptress in Films, Serials and Comics
1984 (hardcover), 1985 (paperback) Proteus Books

Grams, Martin and Salomonson, Terry
The Green Hornet: A History of Radio, Motion Pictures, Comics and Television
2010 OTR Publishing (paperback)

Grossman, Gary
Superman: Serial to Cereal
1976 (191 pgs., large paperback), 1977 (320 pgs., small paperback) Popular Library

Lyden, Pierce
Those Saturday Serials
1989 & 1991 (hardcover), 1991 (paperback) Volume #5

Mango, Jim
The Thrills Gone By: The Kay Aldridge Story
2015 BearManor Media

McCord, Merrill T.
Perils of Kay Aldridge: Life of the Serial Queen
1979 Alhambra Publishers (paperback), 64 pages

Reed, Robby
Commando Cody The Rocket Man
2016, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (paperback)

https://www.amazon.com/Commando-Cody-Rocket-Robby-Reed/dp/1540855058/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1491158154&sr=8-3-fkmr2&keywords=commando+cody+rocketman

Reinhart, Mark S.
The Batman Filmography
1st edition: 2004 (hardcover), 2010 (paperback) McFarland & Company Inc.
2nd edition: 2013 (paperback) McFarland & Company Inc.

Van Hise, James
Calling Tracy! - Six Decades of Dick Tracy
1990 Pioneer Books

Weiss, Ken
Land Grabs and Six Shooters: Western Serials, 1930-1956
2006 Love's Labor Press

Weiss, Ken
Ray Guns Robots and Rocket Ships. Science Fiction Serials 1930-1953
2004 Love's Labor Press (hardcover and paperback)

Weiss, Ken
Lost Cities, Killer Apes and White Goddesses: Jungle Serials 1929-1955
2005 (hardcover) Love's Labor Press

White, Pearl
Just Me
1919 George H. Doran Company

You can see some pictures of the Jim Ashton serial poster price guide online here (click the pictures for enlargements):

http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/archiveitem/14862476.html


I remember Ken Weiss bringing his books listed above to Cliffhangerfest a couple times. Were these books just cut down versions of his large 3rd edition of "To Be Continued..."?


Edited by John Doe, Apr 2 2017, 06:00 PM.
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