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Cowboys, Creatures and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures
Scene from the Crimson Ghost – 1946
Moviegoers throughout the 1930s and 1940s enjoyed film adventures from heroes on exotic animals to those in space crafts. Such was the case with The Purple Monster Strikes, the original Republic Martian invader serial. The Purple Monster was actually not a monster at all, nor was he purple. The villainous character was in reality a Caucasian, Martian space soldier. He was part of the advance guard preparing a vast invasion of earth, dressed in a blue, tight-fitting outfit, trimmed with scaly gold metallic material, and wearing a matching gilded hood. Among the Purple Monster’s alien abilities was the power to become a transparent phantom and enter the body of another, controlling his actions, thereby donning the ultimate disguise.
The Purple Monster Strikes was the first post-war serial of 1945. Republic was prohibited from using the term “rocket ship” when referring to the spacecraft the Purple Monster used in the film. Universal Studios had a copyright on the word which was used quite extensively in their serial Flash Gordon.
Billed as 1941’s “sensational serial surprise,” Republic introduced a chapter play that combined monsters designed to take over space with earthly fiends. Entitled The Mysterious Doctor Satan, the villain is a mad scientist who wants to rule the world and planets from other galaxies with an army of mechanical monsters. Audiences were treated to fifteen shivering, shuddering, surprising episodes of Dr. Satan manipulating the hideous robots he creates to rob and terrorize the nation into submission. Dr. Satan’s sworn enemy is a beefy man in a copper mask appropriately known as Copperhead. Copperhead assumes the identity from his deceased father who was a fugitive from crooked justice in the Old West. The misunderstood hero is determined to protect society from the depredations of Dr. Satan, and, at the same time, wipe out the stigma attached to the name Copperhead.
According to Jack Mathis’ book Valley of the Cliffhangers, The Mysterious Doctor Satan was intended to be a series that would feature Superman as the fighter against evil. At the last moment, DC Comics, the owners of the Superman character, refused to let Republic use the radio and comic series star. Instead of abandoning the project, the writers replaced Superman with Copperhead, a character of their own creation.
A popular character Republic Pictures was allowed to introduce in one of its chapter plays was Captain Marvel. Also known as Shazam, the superhero was created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker for Fawcett Comics. Captain Marvel was the most popular comic book superhero of the 1940s. He was also the first to be adapted into film. The film was entitled Adventures of Captain Marvel.
In an interdepartmental memo passed from various executives at Republic to Herbert Yates, the project was touted as having “massive potential to be a box office hit.” The twelve-part series premiered in March 1941.
To learn more about the many films Republic Pictures produced read
Cowboys, Creatures and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures
