The Masked Marvel
Encyclopedia
The Masked Marvel was a 12-chapter film serial
created by Republic Pictures
, who produced many of the best known of the serials. It was Republic's thirty-first serial, of the sixty-six they produced.
saboteur
Sakima and his espionage organization. The hook of the story is that, in a reversal of the common serial "Masked Mystery Villain
" stock character
, the audience doesn't know who the hero is until the final reel; all the audience is told is that The Masked Marvel is one of a group of special investigators (the same plotline is used in the Republic serial The Lone Ranger
).
was $179,960 (a $22,850, or 14.5%, overspend).
It was filmed between 14 July and 18 August 1943. In terms of cost per chapter, this was Republic's third most expensive serial, behind Radar Men from the Moon
and The Tiger Woman
. The serial's production number was 1296.
The Masked Marvel is a reverse of the "old mystery villain theme." The identity of the Masked Marvel is kept secret from the audience until the last chapter. The audience are given clues and red herrings about the hero's identity throughout the serial. Four possible candidates are shown: Bob Barton (David Bacon), Frank Jeffers (Richard Clarke), Terry Morton (Bill Healy) and Jim Arnold (Rob Bacon).
The Masked Marvel is really stuntman Tom Steele in all but the very final shot in which he removes his mask. The mask was directly moulded from Steele's face. The voice of the Masked Marvel was Gayne Whitman. Despite this, Tom Steele was given no screen credit at all, even for the bit parts and stunts he performed in addition to the title role. The voice of the Masked marvel was dubbed in by radio actor Gayne Whitman
, since Steele's natural voice was a light tenor, somewhat similar to Henry Fonda's, and did not record as particularly "tough." However, in Steele's most visible secondary role, as a murderous assassin, he disguises his voice, apparently believing that his natural voice would be used for the Marvel.
Bob Barton was a "jinxed" role. David Bacon got the role because four previous actors had injured themselves and were unable to work. While filming one of the serial’s big fight scenes, every actor but Bacon was seriously injured. "I’ll probably get hurt going home in the car," he had joked. Bacon was murder
ed and found in his car just two weeks after the production
of the serial had been completed.
The Masked Marvel was screenwriter George Plympton's only work at Republic.
As an odd outcome of playing both the Masked Marvel and other stunts and bit parts, in one scene Tom Steele chased himself up some stairs.
One stunt in particular, in chapter 10, is notable. The Masked Marvel crashes his own car into a rolling railroad handcar filled with explosives in order to prevent the handcar destroying a train transporting aircraft parts. The Masked Marvel survives by jumping aside at the last second. Harmon and Glut write that "the scene is both thrilling and perfect craftsmanship."
.
Cline writes that the sight of seeing the hero "jump right into his own fights" rather than have the camera cut between an actor and a stuntman, more than compensated for the reveal in the final chapter when the actor playing the Masked Marvel removes his mask and is clearly not the same actor playing the part in every other scene. This scene is described as almost anticlimactic and "must have been just a little embarrassing." This was one of Republic's best serials.
Source:
Serial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
created by Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures was an independent film production-distribution corporation with studio facilities, operating from 1934 through 1959, and was best known for specializing in westerns, movie serials and B films emphasizing mystery and action....
, who produced many of the best known of the serials. It was Republic's thirty-first serial, of the sixty-six they produced.
Plot
In it the Masked Marvel, a hero dressed in a business suit and a face mask fights the JapaneseJapanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
saboteur
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
Sakima and his espionage organization. The hook of the story is that, in a reversal of the common serial "Masked Mystery Villain
Masked Mystery Villain
A Masked Mystery Villain is a stock character in genre fiction. The Masked Mystery Villain was frequently used in the adventure stories of Pulp magazines and Movie Serials in the early twentieth century. They can also appear in Crime fiction to add to the atmosphere of suspense and suspicion...
" stock character
Stock character
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...
, the audience doesn't know who the hero is until the final reel; all the audience is told is that The Masked Marvel is one of a group of special investigators (the same plotline is used in the Republic serial The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger (serial)
The Lone Ranger is a 1938 American Republic Movie serial. It was the ninth of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic, the fourth western and the first of 1938...
).
Cast
- William ForrestWilliam ForrestWilliam Forrest was an American film actor. He appeared in over 250 films between 1932 and 1976.He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and died in Santa Monica, California from heart failure....
as Martin Crane - Louise CurrieLouise CurrieLouise Currie is a former American film actress, active from the 1940s into the early 1950s.Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Currie first attended Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she became interested in acting...
as Alice Hamilton - Johnny ArthurJohnny ArthurJohnny Arthur was an American stage and motion picture actor.-Early years:Born John Lennox Arthur Williams in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Arthur was a veteran of twenty-five years on stage before he made his screen debut in 1923's The Unknown Purple...
as Mura Sakima, Japanese saboteurSabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is... - Rod Bacon as Jim Arnold
- Richard Clarke as Frank Jeffers
- Anthony WardeAnthony WardeAnthony Warde was a noted American actor who appeared in over 150 films between 1937 and 1964.-Career:A native of Pennsylvania, Warde started his Hollywood career in Escape by Night , appearing in a handful of undistinguished feature films before gaining popularity as one of the hardest working...
as 'Killer' Mace - David Bacon as Bob Barton
- Bill Healy as Terry Morton
- Howard C. HickmanHoward C. HickmanHoward C. Hickman was an accomplished stage leading man, who entered films through the auspices of producer Thomas H. Ince. He co-starred with his wife, actress Bessie Barriscale, in several productions before returning to the theatre...
as Warren Hamilton
Additional (uncredited) cast
- Tom SteeleTom Steele (stuntman)Tom Steele was a stunt man and actor, best remembered for appearing in serials, especially those produced by Republic Pictures, in both capacities.-Early life:...
as the Masked Marvel (and two Sakima thugs, both of whom are quickly killed) - Gayne WhitmanGayne WhitmanAlbert Gayne Whitman was an American radio and film actor. He appeared in 213 films between 1904 and 1957.He was born in Chicago, Illinois...
as The Masked Marvel's voice
Production
The Masked Marvel was budgeted at $157,110 although the final negative costNegative cost
Negative cost is the cost of actually producing and shooting a film. It does not include such costs as distribution and promotion.Low-budget movies, for example The Blair Witch Project, can have promotional expenses that are much larger than the negative cost.The term comes from the costs up to the...
was $179,960 (a $22,850, or 14.5%, overspend).
It was filmed between 14 July and 18 August 1943. In terms of cost per chapter, this was Republic's third most expensive serial, behind Radar Men from the Moon
Radar Men from the Moon
Radar Men from the Moon is the first Commando Cody serial, in 12 chapters, starring newcomer George Wallace as Cody and Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, with serial veteran Roy Barcroft as the evil Retik, the Ruler of the Moon. The director was Fred C...
and The Tiger Woman
The Tiger Woman (1944 film)
The Tiger Woman is a 12-chapter Republic film serial starring Allan Lane and Linda Stirling . The serial was re-released in 1951 under the title Perils of the Darkest Jungle and, in 1966, it was edited into the 100-minute Century-66 film Jungle Gold.Linda Stirling is a jungle girl lost in the...
. The serial's production number was 1296.
The Masked Marvel is a reverse of the "old mystery villain theme." The identity of the Masked Marvel is kept secret from the audience until the last chapter. The audience are given clues and red herrings about the hero's identity throughout the serial. Four possible candidates are shown: Bob Barton (David Bacon), Frank Jeffers (Richard Clarke), Terry Morton (Bill Healy) and Jim Arnold (Rob Bacon).
The Masked Marvel is really stuntman Tom Steele in all but the very final shot in which he removes his mask. The mask was directly moulded from Steele's face. The voice of the Masked Marvel was Gayne Whitman. Despite this, Tom Steele was given no screen credit at all, even for the bit parts and stunts he performed in addition to the title role. The voice of the Masked marvel was dubbed in by radio actor Gayne Whitman
Gayne Whitman
Albert Gayne Whitman was an American radio and film actor. He appeared in 213 films between 1904 and 1957.He was born in Chicago, Illinois...
, since Steele's natural voice was a light tenor, somewhat similar to Henry Fonda's, and did not record as particularly "tough." However, in Steele's most visible secondary role, as a murderous assassin, he disguises his voice, apparently believing that his natural voice would be used for the Marvel.
Bob Barton was a "jinxed" role. David Bacon got the role because four previous actors had injured themselves and were unable to work. While filming one of the serial’s big fight scenes, every actor but Bacon was seriously injured. "I’ll probably get hurt going home in the car," he had joked. Bacon was murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed and found in his car just two weeks after the production
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
of the serial had been completed.
The Masked Marvel was screenwriter George Plympton's only work at Republic.
Cliffhangers
Chapter four has an unusual cliffhanger, "especially for Republic", as it has no action or death involved. Instead, Sakima, sitting behind his desk in his secret basement, simply (although incorrectly) announces "So, Jim Arnold is the Masked Marvel."Stunts
In addition to playing the main character, Tom Steele was also the Ram Rod (stunt co-ordinator) on this serial. As stated above, he received no screen credit for this. Steele himself was doubled by a dummy in the scene in which the Marvel is thrown off the top of an enormous gas tank. On the way down one of the dummy's arms gets caught in the rigging of the tank and is clearly ripped off, yet when the Marvel lands in the back of the truck below, he has both arms intact. The budget and schedules of serials mandated retakes only in the most dire circumstances.As an odd outcome of playing both the Masked Marvel and other stunts and bit parts, in one scene Tom Steele chased himself up some stairs.
One stunt in particular, in chapter 10, is notable. The Masked Marvel crashes his own car into a rolling railroad handcar filled with explosives in order to prevent the handcar destroying a train transporting aircraft parts. The Masked Marvel survives by jumping aside at the last second. Harmon and Glut write that "the scene is both thrilling and perfect craftsmanship."
- Tom SteeleTom Steele (stuntman)Tom Steele was a stunt man and actor, best remembered for appearing in serials, especially those produced by Republic Pictures, in both capacities.-Early life:...
, Republic's "Ram Rod" (stunt co-ordinator) - Fred Graham doubling Roy Barcroft & Harry Woods
- Duke Green doubling Anthony Warde & Stanley Price
- Betty MilesBetty MilesBetty Miles was an American B-movie film actress of the late 1930s and well into the 1940s. Her father, George Henry T...
doubling Louise Currie - Allen Pomeroy
- Ken TerrellKen TerrellKen Terrell was an American western and action film actor and stuntman best known for playing Joe Marcella in the 1956 film The Indestructible Man. He died March 8, 1966 from arteriosclerosis-Partial filmography:...
doubling Johnny Arthur
Special effects
The effects in The Masked Marvel were produced by Republic's team, the Lydecker brothersLydecker brothers
-Partial filmography:*Darkest Africa *Women in War - Oscar nominated*Adventures of Captain Marvel *Flying Tigers - Oscar nominated*Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe...
.
Theatrical
The Masked Marvels official release date is 6 November 1943, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.Television
The Masked Marvel was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-edited into features for television release in 1966. The title was changed to Sakima and the Masked Marvel. This version was 100-minutes in length.Critical reception
Harmon and Glut describe The Masked Marvel as an "exciting serial, one of Republic's best." They especially note "some of the most beautifully photographed and edited action sequences in the history of cliffhangers."Cline writes that the sight of seeing the hero "jump right into his own fights" rather than have the camera cut between an actor and a stuntman, more than compensated for the reveal in the final chapter when the actor playing the Masked Marvel removes his mask and is clearly not the same actor playing the part in every other scene. This scene is described as almost anticlimactic and "must have been just a little embarrassing." This was one of Republic's best serials.
Chapter list
- The Masked Crusader (26min 11s)
- Death Takes the Helm (15min 33s)
- Drive to Doom/Dive to Doom (15min 33s)
- Suspense at Midnight (15min 33s)
- Murder Meter (15min 33s)
- Exit to Eternity (15min 33s)
- Doorway to Destruction (15min 34s)
- Destined to Die (15min 34s)
- Danger Express (15min 33s)
- Suicide Sacrifice (15min 33s)
- The Fatal Mistake (15min 33s)
- The Man Behind the Mask (15min 34s)
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