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Books on Movie Serials; A Complete Listing
Topic Started: Mar 22 2017, 08:29 AM (3,073 Views)
John Doe
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Lets not forget this one:

Geltzer, George
An Index to the American Silent Serial, 1913-1930
1955 The New Theodore Huff Memorial Film Society
Some sources list title apparently incorrectly as "Silent American", vs. "American Silent"

Does anyone have a copy of this? I've never seen it. Worldcat only lists one library in the country (Kent State U), with a copy:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/index-to-the-american-silent-serial-1913-1930/oclc/9650540&referer=brief_results

There is also a copy in NYU's William K. Everson collection:

https://www.nyu.edu/projects/wke/findingaid.php

This was mentioned in the August 16, 1955 program notes for the Theodore Huff Memorial Film Society:

https://www.nyu.edu/projects/wke/notes/huff/imagefiles/huff_550816.pdf

or

https://www.nyu.edu/projects/wke/notes/huff/huff_550816.htm

The program notes for the Theodore Huff Memorial Film Society for September 20, 1955 say this:

"We still have left a few copies of George Geltzer's fine index to the silent serial, which we'll be happy to send free of charge to any member who doesn't have a copy. Currently we (meaning the Messrs. Geltzer and Everson) are working on a follow-up Index to the Sound Serial to complete the project."

Does anyone know if such a publication on sound serials was ever made?

See:

https://www.nyu.edu/projects/wke/notes/huff/huff_550920.htm

or

https://www.nyu.edu/projects/wke/notes/huff/huff_550920.htm

Some of this was discussed here In the Balcony before:

http://s13.zetaboards.com/In_The_Balcony/topic/375078/1/
Edited by John Doe, Apr 15 2017, 08:27 AM.
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The Batman
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Thanks, John. Looking over the previous Balcony thread for this book, I'm wont to leave it off the list for a couple of reasons:

1) Its numerous inaccuracies - no point in propagating those

2) Its lack of availability - seems like it requires a Herculean effort to track down a copy of the darn thing


If others feel its inclusion is warranted, then I will certainly add it.


Please, keep 'em coming!
Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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The Batman
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riddlerider
Apr 14 2017, 11:45 PM
The Batman
Apr 12 2017, 06:40 AM

Here's a good one. According to the author, the part of Queen La of Opar is played by Kithnou, and also notes that the part is often incorrectly attributed to Lilian Worth. Intrigued, I head over to IMDb (I know, not 100% reliable) and they say that the part is played by Lilian Worth (under the name Mademoiselle Kithnou). OK, interesting. So, heading over to Wiki for more reliable info (ha-ha) I find this "Mademoiselle Kithnou was a dancer and actress of mixed Indian and European descent from Puducherry, at that time in French India, or possibly from Mauritius". But no mention of Lillian Worth. Ok, then. Back to IMDb, where I find Mademoiselle Kithnou has her own IMDb page, with no reference to Lilian Worth or TARZAN THE TIGER. So, which is it? RR, I surely hope you can help here.

The author says Ford Beebe is credited with writing the title cards - true?
The thing about Lillian Worth playing La in Tarzan the Tiger is one of those mistakes that have been picked up countless times. It was initially made by Gabe Essoe in his 1968 book Tarzan of the Movies, which was the first book on the subject and a reference we all relied on for years. Worth did play La, but in the 1921 serial Adventures of Tarzan, not Tarzan the Tiger. Of course, we didn't know that back in the day. It was only when Tiger was unearthed in the '80s that we learned about Kithnou. She didn't have much of a career in film; other than Tarzan the Tiger she's best known for her supporting role in Rex Ingram's Mare Nostrum. She sure was sexy, though.

Yes, Ford Beebe wrote the titles and got screen credit.


Thanks, RR, good to know the author has seemed to have done his research. Having almost finished volume two, I have a few other questions. Hopefully you will indulge me once I have had the chance to post them.


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The Batman
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LG, I meant to ask, could you pin this thread under the "Rating the DVD Releases of Sound Serials" thread?

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riddlerider
Mar 28 2017, 02:45 PM
I can speak with some authority on The Strongman because my close pal Sam Sherman was its editor, and because he was the one who introduced me to Bonomo, with whom I spoke twice (on one occasion interviewing him before a live audience). Joe was the only silent-serial hero I ever met face to face.

To begin with, I wouldn't question a book's truthfulness only because it was self-published. Joe supervised its distribution because he was more interested in using it as a calling card to his business contacts than in selling it to serial fans or other movie buffs. Over the years he gave away several hundred copies to current and potential clients. To the latter it was a great ice-breaker when they finally sat down with Joe to hash out a deal. But Joe had printed a large quantity to get a good per-unit cost, so naturally he wound up with many more than he needed. Hundreds of copies were remaindered, which is why it's a fairly easy book to find, even in near-mint condition.

I think the book is a compelling read, although it jumps around quite a bit. But so did Joe's memory. Consequently, while most of his stories are true, they aren't always related in chronological order. For example, he refers to the "execution" of an elephant from Universal's zoo. He pinpoints the animal's killing as occurring after the shooting of his 1925 serial The Great Circus Mystery, but I later learned that it had taken place a year or so earlier.

I've since verified most of Joe's claims, the main exception being his insistence (picked up later by many other writers) that he was scheduled to play the lead in what became Tarzan the Mighty (1928), losing the role when he broke his leg on the third day of shooting. As I report in the section on Mighty in Handsome Heroes and Vicious Villains, he was never cast. The vine-swinging injury to which he referred actually took place during filming of Perils of the Wild, Universal's 1925 serial version of The Swiss Family Robinson, in which Joe played the eldest son.

I just finished the Bonomo biography and I want to thank you for the recommendation, RR. A very enjoyable read.

Two questions (for now, there may be more):

1) What was Joe Bonomo like in real life? I don't know how well you got to know him during your two meetings, but what are your impressions of the man?

2) Did they really execute that elephant? And if so, did it really happen in such a grisly manner? Why didn't they just donate him to a zoo?


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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AndyFish
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Sorry if this has been mentioned in the thread, I didn't see it on a quick go through.
CAPES CROOKS & CLIFFHANGERS was put out by Heritage Auctions and it includes some nice graphic design and great looks at the best of the superhero serials, and by superhero that includes a lot of other serials besides people in capes and costumes.

Posted Image

Some great collectibles in them too-- it's out of print on Amazon and lists at $95 but you can get it for less than half that at Heritage.
One of my favorite serial books.

ORDER and DETAILS HERE>> CLIFFHANGER BOOK



www.andytfish.com
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AndyFish
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riddlerider
Mar 24 2017, 08:53 PM
I just remembered another worthy addition to the list: The Flash Gordon Serials, 1936-1940, by Roy Kinnard and a couple other blokes whose names escape me. I think it's a Scarecrow or McFarland book, published maybe 5-6 years ago. I don't own a copy myself, but I borrowed it from a friend and was impressed. It's got a lot of info — including some that was new to me — and something like 150 stills, a number of them never before published. It's still available on Amazon, so you can get the other authors and publishing info there.

As for evaluating the various books...a lot depends on your knowledge base. I saw Lahue's Continued Next Week mentioned in a 1965 or '66 issue of Castle of Frankenstein and bought it based on the editor's recommendation. When it arrived in the mail I was initially disappointed to learn that it covered only silent serials, in which I had no interest, having seen none. But the book fascinated me and I determined to learn more about them. It took several decades for me to learn how many mistakes Lahue made, and how close certain sections came to plagiarism. But for many years that book was the only game in town.

Thanks to Screen Thrills and Alan Barbour's self-published books, I knew more about sound serials when his Days of Thrills and Adventure was published by a mainstream New York house in 1970. But it still proved informative and had lots of stills I'd never seen up to that point. And most importantly, it had a complete list of all the sound serials, something that nobody else had at that time. I referred to that book constantly throughout the '70s and '80s, the decades during which I saw most of the talkie serials for the first time. And with each screening I checked off the title in Alan's list. My copy finally fell apart 20 or 25 years ago and I reluctantly threw it away.

Stedman's The Serials, the Weiss-Goodgold To Be Continued, and the Glut-Harmon Great Movie Serials all came out within the next year or two. (By the way, Bats, the first edition of Stedman's book was published in 1971; the 1977 is a second edition.) I found them all valuable at the time, to a greater or lesser extent. The Serials devoted only 140 of its 500+ pages to cinematic chapter plays, but Stedman was a witty writer who seemed to have genuine affection for them. To Be Continued was kind of perfunctory, but I liked the introduction. The Glut-Harmon book had the most extensive coverage and very much impressed me. But recent re-readings of all three have left me cold, since I've now seen all the serials, met and/or interviewed many of the principals, and conducted my own research. Of course, I realize most of today's fans haven't been as fortunate as I was, so for them the books will still prove entertaining and illuminating.
I second and third this one-- I love it. Great book, much nicer than most McFarland Books and hey I've had worked published with them so I'm biting a hand that feeds me. It's not as scholarly looking and is loaded with photos.

Really like this one too.
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AndyFish
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The Batman
Mar 30 2017, 08:05 AM
Calling Tracy! - Six Decades of Dick Tracy

This is another book by James Van Hise (see above). Need more feedback on his work, as so far it doesn't sound like it's worth pursuing.

Anyone?


I'm not a fan of Van Hise's work.
The books are poorly designed, the type is usually gigantic and it looks like they were laid out on an old Commodore 64. He's got quite a few, but they look and read like bad vanity press books to me.
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The Batman
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Andy, thanks for all that, and I still need to add to the list some books that have been posted by our fellow serial fans. But if you have duplicated, no worries, better twice than not at all.

As for Van Hise, I discovered after that post that I had his two books on the Batman serials. Can't remember when I picked them up, but it's been quite a while, and re-reading them I agree, not worth the effort. Definitely fanboy publications.

Which makes me ask: Are his books worthy to be on this list? They are books on serials, but do we want to keep this to more "professional efforts"?


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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AndyFish
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If Van Hise has a book out there on something I'm interested in I would still pass on it based on his previous efforts. So for me whether they're on the list or not won't make a difference, I'm not picking any others up (and I have 5-6 of them!).
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williejg
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Bats,
I understand your concern. The Van Hise books are what they are. But, if you cut them out and limit the list to more professional efforts, you may have to cut others that even though less than professional , do deserve to be on this list. Quite a conundrum, but I think I'd leave his works in. Maybe limit things by cutting out some of his repetitive works? Really quite the conundrum.

'Cat
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The Batman
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I'll just leave them, and all other efforts on the list and let the members decide what they want to read.

I have the two Van Hise books on the Batman serials, and frankly for me, that is more than enough.

Thanks for the input, gentlemen.

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