Journal Notes

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Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures

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. The plot of the chapter play was described in the following way:

To a remote section of Siam, jealously guarded by unconquered native tribes, comes the unwelcome Malcolm Scientific Expedition seeking knowledge of the ancient Scorpion Dynasty. Billy Batson, assistant to a radio expert, is the only one of the parties who does not enter a forbidden chamber. As a result, he is awarded the power to transform himself into a superman, Captain Marvel, upon uttering the word “Shazam.”

After a dozen spine-tingling chapters, Billy is bound and gagged so he cannot utter the word. He tricks the Scorpion into releasing the gag in order, as he pretends, to explain to him the secret of his invulnerability. Once released, he cries, “Shazam” and becomes Captain Marvel. He is able to free himself and his friends and expose the Scorpion once and for all.

Adventures of Captain Marvel was a huge success for Republic Pictures. Critics called the production “roaring good entertainment.” Many film aficionados consider the serial to be the best ever made.

The collaboration between Republic Pictures and Fawcett Comics continued after the release of the Captain Marvel serial. In 1942, the two entities brought the character Spy Smasher to the screen. Spy Smasher is a costumed vigilante and freelance agent who battles a Nazi villain known as the Mask. The Mask heads a gang of saboteurs determined to spread destruction across America. According to author and film historian Alan G. Barbour, the Mask was the first in a long line of stereotypes that pictured hard-faced Nazis as propagandist tyrants.

Spy Smasher was a twelve-part serial that was shot in thirty-eight days. Production began on December 22, 1941, just a few days after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Spy Smasher wore a cape, leaped from bridges onto fast-moving cars, outgunned Nazi devils, and escaped from all types of death traps, from burning tunnels to compartments slowly filling with water. Spy Smasher used a number of gadgets, among them being various laser beams and his fire-resistant cape, to foil the Nazis’ plans.

To learn more about Captain Marvel and the Spy Smasher read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures

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Greed for gold starkly stands forth as the theme of Wake of the Red Witch. Set in the 1860s in the South Pacific, Captain Ralls, skipper of the Red Witch, has a series of adventures involving sunken gold bullion, pearls, natives, an unscrupulous ship owner, and a giant octopus. The film cost $1.2 million to make: one hundred thousand dollars was paid for the screen rights for the book by Garland Roark from which the film was adapted. It was the most money the studio had ever paid for a story.

Republic built a full-scale replica of a three-mast sailing vessel on one of its largest soundstages. The schooner, over two hundred feet long, was an exact duplication of the one used in the ocean sequences that were filmed on location in Catalina Island.

Audiences flocked to the movie many referred to as “Wuthering Heights on the water.” Moviegoers praised the picture’s non-stop action and listed the underwater sequences and John Wayne’s battle with the giant octopus among the best moments of the film. Wake of the Red Witch performed well at the box office, finishing forty-third on Variety’s list of the top money makers in 1949.

To learn more about Wake of the Red Witch read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures.

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One of Republic Pictures’ big budget films, which raised the respectability of the company known for their cliffhanger serials, was Dark Command. Released on April 15, 1940, the film starred Walter Pidgeon, John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Roy Rogers, Marjorie Main, and George “Gabby” Hayes. Set in a time period immediately following the Civil War, the story involves renegade William Cantrell (presumably intended to be a Confederate William Quantrill), the leader of a pillaging band of guerrillas, who continues to launch raids on innocent civilians, looting, burning, and terrorizing in the name of the Confederacy, and the lawman who must stop the mad rebel at all costs. Pidgeon played Cantrell and Wayne played the marshal dedicated to his arrest.

Critics were complimentary of the movie, calling it “stirring” and “poignant.” The May 11, 1940, edition of the Indianapolis Star noted that the “characterization is more interesting than you usually find it, even in the deluxe westerns, with the roles of Cantrell, taken by Walter Pidgeon and his Ma, played by Marjorie Main, particularly striking.”

Roy Rogers’ performance, as well as Gabby Hayes’, was recognized for being strong and unforgettable. Wayne and Claire Trevor were also praised for their work. “Wayne proves again that he is good at the straight acting required in this sort of film,” the Indianapolis Star review continued. “Miss Claire Trevor is attractive and daring as the town’s banker’s daughter. Raoul Walsh has directed the film, particularly the scenes of far-flung action, forcefully.”

Republic Pictures itself received most of the accolades for the film. Hollywood’s biggest little studio had demonstrated in Dark Command that the majors had no corner on the big-budget western market.

To learn more about Dark Command and the other Westerns produced by Republic Pictures read Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures

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Panther Girl of the Kongo starring Phyllis Coats was the most expensive serial Republic Pictures produced in the 1950s. A great deal of footage used to make this film had been originally shot in 1941 for the movie Jungle Girl. Frances Gifford, the star in Jungle Girl, was the first female lead in a Republic serial, and Phyllis Coats was the last female lead in a Republic serial. In fact, Phyllis Coats wore the same outfit in Panther Girl that Frances Gifford wore in Jungle Girl.

The plot of Jungle Girl was simple.

Dr. John Meredith, ashamed of the crime spree of his evil twin brother, Bradley, travels with his daughter, Nyoka, to Africa. There his skills as a doctor displace Shamba, the resident witch doctor of the Masamba. Years later, Slick Latimer and Bradley Meredith arrive looking for a local diamond mine and team up with the disgruntled Shamba. Bradley kills his brother John and takes his place. They also bring along Jack Stanton and Curly Rogers, who promptly joins Nyoka in trying to stop the villains.

Jungle Girl was the first sound serial to have a female lead.

The director of Jungle Girl was studio favorite William Witney. From 1935 to 1956, Witney practiced the philosophy Herbert Yates, head of Republic Pictures, taught which was “make ‘em fast and make ‘em cheap.” Witney was a specialist in outdoor action and stunt direction. He directed or co-directed more Republic serials than any other company hire. He is considered the greatest action director in B movies.

Among Witney’s fans are directors Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino gave Witney high praise for his rough and believable action scenes and visual style. Witney’s Republic serials served as the inspiration for Spielberg’s Indiana Jones movies.

To learn more about William Witney and Jungle Girl read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classic: The Story of Republic Pictures

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Republic Pictures made a number of ridiculous horror films. The Catman of Paris was the studio’s version of the successful motion picture Werewolves in London

In April 1946, thrill seekers were looking forward to the release of The Catman of Paris. The gruesome mystery melodrama involved a man suffering from a loss of memory who was accused of being a feline filler operating in Paris.

The tagline read: “Walks like  man. Attacks like a cat. Who is the Catman of Paris.” The plot involved author Charles Regnier returning to 1896 Paris after exotic travels, having written a best seller that the Ministry of Justice would like to ban. That very night, an official is killed on the dark streets…clawed to death! The prefect of police suspects a type of cat, but Inspector Severen thinks there is nothing supernatural about the crime and thinks Regnier is responsible for the murder. Regnier denies he had anything to do with the crime but begins to doubt himself when he has a hallucinatory blackout during a second killing.

Vienna-born stage actor Carl Esmond played the troubled author Regnier. Lenore Aubert, the female lead in the movie, was also from Vienna. The press packet Republic Pictures circulated to theaters and media across the country contained plenty of information about the film as well as background information about the picture’s stars. Aubert’s story of how she made it from Vienna to Hollywood could have been a movie on its own.

To learn more about cliffhanger horror films made by Republic Pictures read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures.

On behalf of Women Writing the West, congratulations on your book The Widowed Ones: Beyond the Battle of the Little Bighorn being selected as a 2023 WINNER in the WILLA Literary Awards Scholarly Nonfiction category. We are pleased to honor you and your work with this prestigious award.

I’m humbled and honored.

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Cowboys, Creatures, and Classic: The Story of Republic Pictures

Drums of Fu Manchu premiered in the spring of 1940.  The creepy chapter play featured a race of bald-headed, fanged slaves known as “Dacoits” who had been lobotomized into doing the bidding of the immortal and insidious Doctor Fu Manchu. Fu Manchu hopes to conquer Asia and subsequently the world but needs specific artifacts from the tomb of Genghis Khan to achieve his goal.

In Los Angeles, California, he convenes a meeting of the S-Far, an international conspiracy group that helps him draw up his plans. When archeologist Dr. James Parker is killed so Fu Manchu can obtain rare scrolls in his possession, his son Allan joins forces with Sir Denis Nayland Smith of the British Foreign Office to avenge his father’s death.

The sixteen frightful-looking “Dacoits” who contributed many of the thrills to Drums of Fu Manchu were a product of the makeup artists Bob Mark’s wizardry. The normal-looking people became grotesque monsters in Mark’s hands.

Rubber caps entirely covered  their hair, giving them the impression of baldness. These caps, which could be worn only once, were specially manufactured at the cost of five dollars each. They were fitted tightly over the “Dacoit’s” heads, and heavy, theatrical grease paint was applied over them. The scars, which represented the incisions where Dr. Fu Manchu had removed the frontal lobes of their brain, were made of a special rubber composition and were held in place by rubber cement. The makeup of Fu Manchu himself, an elaboration of the “Dacoit’s” makeup, took exactly 2.5 hours each day to apply.

The fifteen-part Fu Manchu series was directed by William Witney. He considered Fu Manchu to be his finest work.

To learn more about the Drums of Fu Manchu read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures.

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Daredevils of the Red Circle was a twelve-part serial that included a cape-wearing villain. The suspenseful, spin-tingling, mystery film told the tale of diabolical mastermind Harry Crowel, a.k.a. Prisoner 39013. Crowel escapes from prison and, aided by a seemingly endless supply of henchmen, sets out to destroy all holdings of industrialist Horace Granville, the man who put in him prison. One target is an amusement park, home of three Daredevils of the Red Circle who perform death-defying stunts.

When head Daredevil Gene’s kid brother is killed in Crowel’s attack, the three heroes swear to capture Prisoner 39013. Unbeknownst to them, he is holding the real Granville captive and, with a near perfect disguise, has taken his place. A mysterious cloaked figure known as the Red Circle aids the daredevil in their crusade.

Shot in five weeks on a budget of $1,500 an episode, Daredevils of the Red Circle, directed by William Witney, who was one of Republic Picture’ best directors, consistently appears on lists of all-time greatest serials. Audiences referred to the serial as the “greatest thrill show on earth!”

To learn more about Daredevils of the Red Circle and other exciting cliffhanger serials read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures

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Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures

Moviegoers throughout the 1930s and 1940s enjoyed film adventures, from heroes on exotic animals to those in spacecrafts. 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 Studio had a copyright on the word which was used quite extensively in their serial Flash Gordon.

To learn more about the Purple Monster and other fascinating serials produced by Republic Pictures read

Cowboys, Creatures, and Classics: The Story of Republic Pictures.

Tune in tomorrow for another exciting tale about the

ghouls, freaks of nature, and the walking dead made famous by Republic Pictures.