I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
... View MoreTo all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
... View MoreThe film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
... View MoreIf you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
... View MoreDirector: JAMES W. HORNE. Screenplay: Basil Dickey, George Plympton, Wyndham Gittens, Jack Stanley. Photography: James S. Brown. Film editors: Dwight Caldwell, Earl Turner. Music director: Lee Zahler. RCA Sound System. Copyrighted by Columbia Pictures Corp., chapters one through fifteen on 15 February 1942, 22 February, 1 March, 3 March, 15 March, 22 March, 29 March, 5 April, 12 April, 19 April, 26 April, 3 May, 8 May, 15 May, and 21 May, respectively. Chapter titles: Mysterious Pilot, The Stolen Range Finder, The Captured Plane, Mistaken Identity, Ambushed Ambulance, Weird Waters, Menacing Fates, Shells of Evil, The Drop to Doom, The Hidden Bomb, Sky Terror, Burning Bomber, Death in the Cockpit, Scourge of Revenge, The Fatal Hour. Each chapter is two reels in length, except for Mysterious Pilot which has three. Total running time: 271 minutes.COMMENT: A well-loved serial, despite a basic story-line that's even more preposterous than usual. Plot and characters originated in an "Ovaltine" radio serial, which accounts for its juvenile quality.However, some episodes (six, for example) are crammed with action, and often handsomely staged. We also enjoyed Craven's various impersonations which give the actors impersonated a chance to really show their stuff. Joe Girard — otherwise dull and conventional — is especially convincing in these sequences. And who could resist Luana Walters as the villain's incorrigible daughter? O'Brien makes a fair fist of Midnight.
... View MoreThis series somehow never quite comes up to its potential. Dave O'Brien, who usually does better, totally overacts the title role. Though we usually associate Captain Midnight with an airplane, he spends much time chasing around in cars. Incidentally, why do all the aircraft in these serials have motors that sound like one-cylinder power mowers?The plot is naturally about fighting some evil power wanting to control the world (good patriotic stuff for the war years). You can't criticize this series for being boring, because fights or gun battles break out every couple of minutes. Captain Midnight's military boss stands out as appearing much too old to be believable in an Army uniform, but his two sidekicks succeed in contributing the usual comedy relief (not really needed). The cliffhangers are above average, with all sorts of fiendish contraptions set up to finish the good Captain. Overall, the series is not as good as I thought it would be but follows the standard formula of period serials. That means plenty of fights and chases across terrain that's very familiar to fans of 1940's serials and westerns.
... View MoreIt's been two weeks since I watched Captain Midnight...and I'm still waiting for one thing to happen: Have a plot develop.Now don't get me wrong, Dave O'Brien was great in the title role. This stuntman deserved another shot in front of the camera with his face unmasked for all the great work he's done over the years. But, I wish it could have been in something good.Let's see, at the start there is some bombing being done, in such a way you can't tell if you should be cheering or jeering the bombers. Of course, the bombers are only mentioned again once later in the serial. There are a lot of bad interior plane sets, a lot of thugs going in and out of jail, a lot of impersonations with voice-overs, and the good Captain and Ikky, whose only real similarities to the radio series characters are their names and the fact they fly planes.I love Columbia's serials...they produced by all-time favorite, The Vigilante, but this is definitely not one of their best efforts. Someone somewhere was definitely not drinking their Ovaltine.
... View MoreProbably one of the best movie Serials, with Dave O'Brien in the lead role...close to the classic radio serial...had great production. .it followed main characters and ..moved rapidly without too much padding in any episode. Great stunts, camera work, and each chapter ended with an exciting cliffhanger, that grabbed your attention and filled the viewer with suspense ,and wanting more. Enough to show up at next week's installment to learn what happened...the rousing musical score added to it all, Just recently released on VHS to the cheers of serious Serial fans..the world over.
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