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Books on Movie Serials; A Complete Listing
Topic Started: Mar 22 2017, 08:29 AM (3,077 Views)
Laughing Gravy
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Say, has anyone mentioned Matinee Melodrama: Playing with Formula in the Sound Serial by Scott Higgins?
"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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John Doe
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Laughing Gravy
Apr 2 2017, 08:45 PM
Say, has anyone mentioned Matinee Melodrama: Playing with Formula in the Sound Serial by Scott Higgins?
I believe I mentioned it in a previous post.

I have a "complete" listing that I have been adding to which is an html web page - need to make a few tweaks to it. I made it on my computer years ago as a personal listing, its not on the internet.

I can give you the html file itself, as well as another that lists all the serials fan publications - that one has pictures of the covers of almost every issue.
Edited by John Doe, Apr 3 2017, 04:35 AM.
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The Batman
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John, thanks for the additions, I am making my way through them, rest assured. And don't worry about doubling up, I'd rather get it twice, than not at all.

I'd be interested in that html, if possible.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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John Doe
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I have mentioned this one in a previous post, and I have come to the conclusion that it DOES NOT EXIST:

Rainey, Buck
Those Fabulous Serials, 1912-1956
1984, AS Barnes & Co., ASIN #0498025845

The info comes from an entry on Amazon.com for selling used copies. I believe that someone mistakenly merged the names of two other books by the same author and created this entry in error when setting up the web page. I am rerering to:

1) Serials & Series: A World Filmography, 1912-1956

2) Those Fabulous Serial Heroines

Those two were published by Scarecrow Press for sure!

I have never found any info on this other one to confirm its existence. If it was published by A. S. Barnes, there would have been national distribution, used copies for sale on Amazon, ebay, AbeBooks, etc. When I added to my own list years ago, I thought there was something funny about it.


Thanks!

Edited by John Doe, Apr 3 2017, 07:11 AM.
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The Batman
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I agree, John. Neither World Cat or GoodReads recognizes the title "Those Fabulous Serials", but both bring up "Those Fabulous Serial Heroines" as a result.


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witneyenglish
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I remember Next Time Drive Off the Cliff from our local library. It reminded me of Alan Barbour's books. A lot of photos and some background info, but not very detailed.
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John Doe
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There are a number of serials books self-published by Mario Demarco that I am getting organized.

Also, I have the publication years figured out for all those Serial Adventures books by James Van Hise. Will post more on all that in the next couple days.



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The Batman
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Thanks, Witney. It sounds like another one that's not a "must read", but if I happen upon a copy (library or good deal), I'll give it a shot.

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Barcroft
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Bats,
My copy of "Those Fabulous Serial Heroines" was published by: The World of Yesterday with an address in Waynesville, N.C. and the ISBN: 0-936505-10-9
Hope this helps.
Barcroft
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The Batman
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John, again thanks, any and all titles (with as much info as possible) are definitely welcome and will be added to the list.

Bart, another thanks, this info will be a great help. My goal is to make the most compete and accurate serial book list possible, for the benefit of all the serial fans of this board.


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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John Doe
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The Batman
Apr 3 2017, 09:47 AM
John, again thanks, any and all titles (with as much info as possible) are definitely welcome and will be added to the list.




I may add the Mario Demarco "books" to the listing of fan publications. They are similar to some of Alan G. Barbour's 1960's serial publications.

My fan publications html page has most of the Alan G. Barbour publications, TEMI, Serial World, Serial Report, Cliffhanger magazine, etc. I included the Jack Mathis serial escape/ending books on the fan pubs page, but his Republic and VOTC books on the books page.

Its hard to tell what category to put them in sometimes. I'd list the James Van Hise books in with the books from mainstream publishers, not the fan publications. Although self-published, he did get national distribution on his publications through the comic book distribution network to comic book stores.
Edited by John Doe, Apr 3 2017, 11:39 AM.
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The Batman
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I'm starting to think a lot of these serial books are more like "fan" publications. The James Van Hise books seem to fall squarely in that category, as does the Next Time Drive Off the Cliff, from the sounds of it. And the Barbour books, too.

I would also add In the Nick of Time, by William C. Cline, which I have just finished. An enjoyable read, but the man seemed to love every serial and felt every single person involved in each of them was a top-notch professional, just a step away from "A" stardom.

Seriously, I don't think he had one derogatory thing to say about anything involving serials.

And even worse? He called Mr. Spock a half-human/half-robot from some obscure planet. Blasphemy!

I did enjoy the book, but am glad I read it now, instead of when I picked it up about 15(!) years ago. I've learned so much about serials in the mean time that I realize his writings have been coloured by his memories of the serials as a kid. Hey, we all do it, but most of us don't write a book about it.


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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riddlerider
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There's something to be said for having a complete list, but at some point it becomes self-defeating because many of the books aren't worth reading. I put the Van Hise and DeMarco publications, among others, in that category. So many of these things simply rehash material — including errors — from earlier books and magazine on the subject. Even Tuska, a bright guy who did a significant amount of reserach, incorporated mistakes from Kalton Lahue's Continued Next Week and Bound and Gagged into his Vanishing Legion. For example, the 1927 Golden Stallion is habitually listed as the first Mascot serial. It wasn't; Nat Levine didn't incorporate Mascot Pictures until several months after Stallion rolled out. His maiden chapter-play release is listed in trade magazines as coming from Nat Levine Productions. This in itself is not a big deal, but it goes to show how mistakes are perpetuated.

Many of the books on serials were put together by well-meaning and enthusiastic fans who, for one reason or another, failed to research the subject properly. Some are entertainingly written but utterly useless as film history.
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riddlerider
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One more point. I see we're now listing works that are only partially dedicated to serials, like Junior Coghlan's biography. If such biographical tomes are permitted in the canon, I'd vote to include One Reel a Week, the 1967 memoir by pioneering producer Fred Balshofer and his protegé Arthur Miller, a three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer. It was Miller who, at the tender age of 19, photographed The Perils of Pauline. He devotes an entire chapter to the serial's production and, along with debunking most of the myths surrounding Pauline, goes out of his way to skewer Lahue (and, by extension, others who would later parrot him) for his misjudgment of Pathé's first chapter play based on the awful French dupes we're all accustomed to screening. The Perils of Pauline was the first narrative film that Miller shot solo, and his memories of it are quite vivid. (Miller later shot the first chapter or two of Pearl White's The House of Hate as well.) So if you're going to include books that only partially cover serials, One Reel a Week definitely rates a spot.
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The Batman
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RR, great post, thanks.

I definitely see your point about some serial books, especially after reading In the Nick of Time. Entertaining, but didn't add much to film history.

Still, I will continue to try to compile the most complete list of serial (and serial-related) tomes. I don't expect to read them all, but it's nice to have a handy reference.

And I definitely welcome books like One Reel a Week, which I had never heard of. Besides the fascinating-sounding chapter on The Perils of Pauline, it sounds like an illuminating look at film history in general, and I am always up for those.

So I continue to encourage additions to the list, whether wholly or tangentially connected to the serials we all love.



Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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