| The Fighting Devil Dogs | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | William Witney John English |
| Produced by | Robert M. Beche |
| Written by | Franklin Adreon Ronald Davidson Barry Shipman Sol Shor |
| Starring | Lee Powell Herman Brix Eleanor Stewart Montagu Love Hugh Sothern Sam Flint Perry Ivins Forrest Taylor John Picorri |
| Cinematography | William Nobles |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  28 May 1938 (serial)[1] 29 January 1943 (feature)[1] Early 1950s (TV)[1] 1966 (TV movie)[1] |
| Running time | 12 chapters / 204 minutes (serial)[1] 69 minutes (feature)[1] 6 26½-minute episodes (TV)[1] 100 minutes (TV movie)[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $94,656 (negative cost: $92,569)[1] |
The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) is a 12-Chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Lee Powell and Herman Brix, the latter better known by his later stage name, Bruce Bennett. It was directed by William Witney and John English. While not often considered one of the best serials ever made, as it contains a lot of stock footage and two recap chapters, it is famous for its main villain, The Lightning—the very first costumed supervillain[2].
Contents |
Plot
The Masked Mystery Villain, The Lightning, seeks to conquer the world with his arsenal of advanced electrical weaponry. Opposing him are two Marines, Lt Tom Grayson and Lt Frank Corby. Lt Grayson has a special reason to defeat The Lightning as he killed his father, but first they must discover The Lightning's true identity.
Cast
- Lee Powell as Lt Tom Grayson
- Herman Brix as Lt Frank Corby
- Eleanor Stewart as Janet Warfield
- Montagu Love as General White
- Hugh Sothern as Ben Warfield
- Sam Flint as Col Grayson
- Perry Ivins as Crenshaw
- Forrest Taylor as Benson
- John Picorri as Prof Gould
Production
The Fighting Devil Dogs was budgeted at $94,656 although the final negative cost was $92,569 (a $2,087, or 2.2%, under spend) making it one of only three pre-war Republic serials to be produced under budget.[1] It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1938 and the second cheapest of all Republic serials.[3][1] It has two recap chapters rather than the usual one (or sometimes none), in which the entire plot of the serial so far is repeated, and makes extensive use of stock footage. The cheapest Republic serial[1] was The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936) at $87,655, while the next cheapest after The Fighting Devil Dogs is Undersea Kingdom (also 1936) at $99,222.
It was filmed between 10 March and 29 March 1938.[1] The serial's production number was 793.[1]
One of the directors, William Witney, believed this to be one of the worst of the serials he ever made.[4]
The Lightning's Flying wing was taken from the earlier Dick Tracy serial.[5] Aviation was one of the most popular serial genres of the early 1930s, along with Westerns and Jungle serials. Aviation films were even expected to displace Westerns as the most popular genre but science fiction took over instead. Stedman claims that the science fiction Flying Wing in this serial was the beginning of the process that killed interest in ordinary aviation.[6][7]
Release
Theatrical
The Fighting Devil Dogs' official release date is 28 May 1938, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1]
A 69-minute feature film version, created by editing the serial footage together, was released on 29 January 1943. It was one of fourteen feature films Republic made from their serials.[1]
Television
In the early 1950s, The Fighting Devil Dogs was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.[1]
The Fighting Devil Dogs was also one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to Torpedo of Doom. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.[1]
Critical reception
The Fighting Devil Dogs is, in Cline's opinion, one of the best mystery serials ever released, with a "colourful" mystery villain, "stirring" musical score and "magnificent" editing. He also notes that it is "apparently one of the least costly" serials ever released, with two recap chapters and stock footage taken from newsreels and earlier serial releases.[5] He states that is should be included in "any list of the ten best sound serials of all."[8]
Chapter titles
- The Lightning Strikes (29 min 28s)
- The Mill of Disaster (15 min 56s)
- The Silenced Witness (15 min 50s)
- Cargo of Mystery (15 min 47s)
- Undersea Bandits (16 min 17s)
- The Torpedo of Doom (16 min 24s)
- The Phantom Killer (14 min 47s) -- Re-Cap Chapter
- Tides of Trickery (14 min 34s)
- Attack from the Skies (15 min 07s)
- In the Camp of the Enemy (14 min 29s)
- The Baited Trap (17 min 24s) -- Re-Cap Chapter
- Killer at Bay (17 min 39s)
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Mathis, Jack. Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 30–31. ISBN 0-9632878-1-8.
- ^ World's First Supervillain at The longest list of the longest stuff at the longest domain name at long last
- ^ Images Journal
- ^ Witney, William (2005). In a Door, Into a Fight, Out a Door, Into a Chase: Moviemaking Remembered by the Guy at the Door. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-2258-6.
- ^ a b Cline, William C.. "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. pp. 51–52. ISBN 078640471X.
- ^ Stedman, Raymond William. "3. At This Theater Next Week". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 64–66. ISBN 9780806109275.
- ^ Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut. "7. The Aviators "Land That Plane at Once, You Crazy Fool"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. p. 163. ISBN 9780713000979.
- ^ Cline, William C.. "5. A Cheer for the Champions (The Heroes and Heroines)". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. p. 78. ISBN 078640471X.
- ^ Cline, William C.. "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. p. 221. ISBN 078640471X.
External links
- The Fighting Devil Dogs at the Internet Movie Database
- The Fighting Devil Dogs at the Internet Movie Database (1943 feature version)
| Preceded by The Lone Ranger (1938) |
Republic Serial The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) |
Succeeded by Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
| Preceded by The Lone Ranger (1938) |
Witney-English Serial The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) |
Succeeded by Dick Tracy Returns (1938) |
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