Captain Midnight (1942)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Admirable film.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Director: 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.

As I was growing up, I became hooked on the Captain Midnight radio show, which was extremely popular. The few surviving episodes on record give just a hint as to how good it was, particularly in those years it was sponsored by Ovaltine.The serial is nothing close to the radio show. It is a typical Columbia serial, which isn't bad, but has much action and little thought.Spoilers in the following: As with many Columbia serials, "Captain Midnight" is a Secret Identity to Captain Albright. A masked Secret Identity at that. In the radio show, "Captain Midnight" was a code name for Captain Albright, conferred upon him by a general near the close of World War I, and not at all secret.The chief villain, Ivan Shark, was made a "master of disguise" and an all-around baddie who was leading bombing attacks, for no given reason, other than to be really nasty. By the time the film was released, the United States was involved in World War II, but the Shark forces were independent, not allied with the enemy.Captain Albright is asked to look after an invention, which he does in both roles. He clashes over the various episodes with various of Shark's gang, often with vigorous fistfights, as can be found in most serials.Major spoiler.At the close of one chapter, Captain Midnight is in a disabled aircraft in a dive, and he with no parachute. The camera follows the stricken plane to the ground, where it crashes. End of chapter. At the opening of the following chapter, the scene is repeated, with no extra footage where Captain Midnight finds a previously concealed parachute, or anything like that. After the crash, Captain Midnight stumbles out of the wreckage! Not only isn't he hurt significantly, but he shakes off the effects of the crash sufficiently to engage in a fistfight with Shark men minutes later! The serial was "lost" for many years, but surfaced in the 1980s on VHS and recently moved to DVDs. It's okay, but should never be confused with the original radio show.

This 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.

Probably 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.