"KIRK ALYN - The First Superman" - (1948 to 1950)

1940s Max Fleischer Superman - All 17 episodes and review

Max Fleischer's Superman: 1941-1942 BUY FULL DVD set at AMAZON

If you have not seen these, take some time and hit play. Save some time skipping the same opening sequence over and over. Each episode is about 6-7 minutes. Although listen to the opening sequence at least once. My favorite of all the TV/Serial Live action or animated before 1990.

"THE JEWELS" So basically most of the episodes feature Mad Scientists committing robberies and destruction. A few harken the WW2 times with German and Japanese stories. My favorite may be Episode 5 with a giant dinosaur. A 1990s Superman episode pays tribute when Luthor brings a Museum T-REX robot to life. But this episode is pre-Godzilla.

TRIVIA - Episode One was nominated for BEST ANIMATED SHORT Oscar. Lost to Disney's Pluto, but I challenge you to find better work of the time...

ENJOY!!!

IMDB

Superman (1940s cartoons)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The title card from the first Superman animated short produced by Fleischer Studios.

The Fleischer & Famous Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animatedTechnicolor short filmsreleased by Paramount Pictures and based upon thecomic book characterSuperman.

The pilot and first eight shorts were produced by Fleischer Studios from 1941 to 1942, while the final eight were produced by Famous Studios, a successor company to Fleischer Studios, from 1942 to 1943. Superman was the final animated series initiated under Fleischer Studios, before Famous Studios officially took over production in May 1942.^[1]

Although all entries are in the public domain,^[2] ancillary rights such as merchandising contract rights, as well as the original 35mm master elements, are owned today by Warner Bros. Animation. Warner has owned Supermanpublisher DC Comics since 1969.

1948 Superman Serial

Max Fleischer's Superman: 1941-1942

Full Movie from YOUTUBE


For 1948, special effects are not horrible. I half expect a lizard to crawl out of volcano, as it looks like a 1950 monster film. The corporate board room of Krypton is funny to me. But this has to be the earliest origin story i have seen. And once you get into the serial, with adult Superman, many of the sequences look like 1950s TV show with moments of Max Fleischers Animated sequences for flying.

Interesting, Mr Kent says "You must use these powers for TRUTH, TOLERANCE, and JUSTICE." I have never heard "Tolerance" in the famous mantra before, but cool to see at such an early time. 1940s America was far from being the beacon of Tolerance for many. 




IMDB
Superman (1948) is a 15-part black-and-white Columbia film serial based on the comic book character Superman. It stars an uncredited Kirk Alyn(billed only by his character name, Superman; but credited on the promotional posters) and Noel Neill as Lois Lane. Like Batman, it is notable as the first live-action appearance of Superman on film and for the longevity of its distribution. The serial was directed by Thomas Carr, who later directed many early episodes of the Adventures of Supermantelevision show, and Spencer Gordon Bennet, produced by Sam Katzmanand shot in and around Los Angeles, California. It was originally screened at movie matinées and after the first three scene-setting chapters, every episode ends in a cliffhanger. The Superman-in-flight scenes are animations, in part due to the small production budget.

Directed by	Spencer Gordon Bennet Thomas Carr
Produced by	Sam Katzman
Written by	Lewis Clay Royal K. Cole Arthur Hoerl George H. Plympton Joseph F. Poland
Based on	Characters by Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster
Starring	Kirk Alyn (uncredited) Noel Neill Carol Forman Tommy Bond Forrest Taylor
Music by	Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Cinematography	Ira H. Morgan
Editing by	Earl C. Turner
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	January 5, 1948(United States)
Running time	15 chapters (244 minutes)
Language	English

Max Fleischer's Superman: 1941-1942

1943 Batman Serial

IMDB

Batman is a 15-chapter serial, released in 1943 by Columbia Pictures. The serial starred Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin. J. Carrol Naish played the villain, an original character named Dr. Daka. Rounding out the cast were Shirley Patterson as Linda Page (Bruce Wayne's love interest), and William Austin as Alfred the butler. The plot involved Batman—as a U.S. government agent—attempting to defeat the Japanese agent Dr. Daka, at the height of World War II.

The film is notable for being the first filmed appearance of Batman, and for debuting story details that became permanent parts of the Batmanmythos. It introduced "The Bat's Cave", and its secret entrance through agrandfather clock inside Wayne Manor. Both departures subsequently appeared in the comics. The serial also changed the course of how Alfred Pennyworth's physical appearance would be depicted in later Batmanworks. At the time it was released in theaters, Alfred was overweight in Batman comics. After William Austin's portrayal in these chapter plays, subsequent issues of the comics portrayed him as Austin had: trim, and sporting a thin mustache. The serial was commercially successful, and spawned another, Batman and Robin, in 1949. It was re-released in 1965. The re-released version, called An Evening with Batman and Robin, proved very popular, and its success inspired the intentionally campy Batmantelevision series (and its 1966 theatrical feature film spin-off) starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

Plot

Batman and Robin struggle against Dr. Daka, a Japanese scientist and agent of Hirohito who has invented a device that turns people into pseudo-zombies, and has a base in a Funhouse of horrors, in a Japanese area of the city. Daka makes several attempts to defeat the Dynamic Duo before finally falling to his death when Robin hits the wrong switch, opening a trapdoor to a pit of crocodiles.

Cast

• Lewis Wilson as Batman/Bruce Wayne
• Douglas Croft as Robin/Richard 'Dick' Grayson
• J. Carrol Naish as Dr. Tito Daka/Prince Daka
• Shirley Patterson as Linda Page
• William Austin as Alfred Pennyworth
• Robert Fiske as Foster

1942 Serial: Spy Smasher

One has to remember watching these, they were made a long time ago for 12 year old boys. That being said, this is a great watch. Maybe the best I have seen from the movie serials... Historical context, it is these serials that lead to TV versions of our favorite heroes...
IMDB
Spy Smasher (1942) is a Republic movie serial based on the Fawcett Comics character Spy Smasher. It was the 25th of the 66 serials produced by Republic. The serial was directed by William Witney with Kane Richmond and Marguerite Chapman as the leads. This serial was Chapman's big break into a career in movies and television. Spy Smasheris a very highly regarded serial. In 1966, a television movie was made from the serial footage under the title Spy Smasher Returns.

Cast

• Kane Richmond as Spy Smasher, his secret identity Alan Armstrong and his twin brother Jack. The twin brother was added by Republic but other characters, including Admiral Corby, his daughter Eve and the villain The Mask, are all from the original comic.^[2]
• Marguerite Chapman as Eve Corby, Admiral Corby's daughter and Jack Armstrong's fiance.
• Sam Flint as Admiral Corby
• Hans Schumm as The Mask. The Nazi villain of the serial "appeared just as often without the disguise as with it, the only purpose of the mask seemed to be to make him familiar to comic book fans."^[2]
• Tris Coffin as Drake, The Mask's spearhead heavy. Drake is a reporter working for the Ocean-wide Television Network. One of his espionage techniques was to leave the camera rolling after an interview inside Admiral Corby's office or a report from a crime scene. The broadcast was then picked up by the Mask in his submarine ("and presumably [by] the sets of any home viewer tuned into the proper channel").^[2]

1941 Adventures of Captain Marvel - Full Movie All 12 of 12 episodes

One has to put things into context. Compared to today's movies and animations, many may have a hard time sitting through this 12-episode serial. For the young folks reading this, back in the day, before TV and the early days of Film, there would be news reels form the wars, animated shorts form Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, and Super Hero serials like this one.

If you have seen a lot of these, you might recognize this one being better than most. And some how this feels more like what became the 1950s TV Superman style. In this version Billy is a little older than most, working as a reporter.

WIKI 

Adventures of Captain Marvel is a 1941 twelve-chapter film serial directed by John English and William Witney for Republic Pictures, adapted from the popular Captain Marvel comic book character then appearing in Fawcett Comics publications such as Whiz Comics and Captain Marvel Adventures. It starred Tom Tyler in the title role of Captain Marvel and Frank Coghlan, Jr. as his alter ego, Billy Batson.

This serial was the twenty-first of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic and their first comic book adaptation, not counting comic strips. The serial featured an adaptation of the Fawcett Comics superhero, placed within an original story. He fights a masked criminal mastermind called The Scorpion who is determined to gain control of a powerful weapon disguised as a scorpion figurine.

• Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel
• Frank Coghlan, Jr. as Billy Batson, radio operator with the Malcolm Expedition and secret identity of Captain Marvel.
• William Benedict as Whitey Murphy, a friend of Billy Batson.
• Louise Currie as Betty Wallace, a friend of Billy Batson and secretary to John Malcolm.
• Robert Strange as John Malcolm, leader of the Malcolm Expedition.
• Harry Worth as Prof Luther Bentley, a member of the Malcolm Expedition and the mystery villain The Scorpion.
• Bryant Washburn as Harry Carlyle
• John Davidson as Tal Chotali, the Malcolm Expedition's guide.
• George Pembroke as Dr. Stephen Lang, a member of the Malcolm Expedition.
• Peter George Lynn as Prof Dwight Fisher, a member of the Malcolm Expedition.
• Reed Hadley as Rahman Bar, the native chief in the Valley of the Tombs.
• Jack Mulhall as Howell
• Kenneth Duncan as Barnett
• Nigel De Brulier as Shazam, the wizard who gives Billy the power to become Captain Marvel.
• Tetsu Komai as Chan Lai
• Stanley Price as Owens
• Gerald Mohr as the voice of The Scorpion (uncredited)

Stamp Day for Superman 1954 Short Film

Stamp Day for Superman is a 1954 black-and-white short film starring George Reeves as Superman and Noel Neill as Lois Lane. It was produced by Superman Inc. for the United States Department of the Treasury to promote the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds. Never shown theatrically, it was distributed to schools as a means of educating children about the program.

Due to its nature as a government film, Stamp Day for Superman is in thepublic domain and can often be found on inexpensive DVD sets. Warner Bros. also released the film as part of the Adventures of Superman Season 2 DVD set.

FROM IMDB
Clark Kent and Lois Lane, out for a stroll, discover a jewelry robbery in progress. Lois gets a good look at one of the burglars. Later Clark and Jimmy Olsen visit Jimmy's old school to discuss Superman's visit there to promote the U.S. Treasury Department's Savings Stamp program. In the meantime, Lois is captured by Blinky, the jewelry burglar she spotted. When Lois doesn't show up to join Clark and Jimmy, Clark realizes she's in trouble and arranges for Superman to save the day and still make his appearance at the school's Stamp Day.

	George Reeves	...	Superman / Clark Kent
	Noel Neill	...	Lois Lane
	Jack Larson	...	Jimmy Olsen
	John Hamilton	...	Perry White
	Tristram Coffin	...	Principal Garwood
	Billy Nelson	...	Blinky