The Fighting Devil Dogs

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The Fighting Devil Dogs
Fightingdevildogs.jpg
Directed by
Written by
Produced by Robert M. Beche
Starring
Cinematography William Nobles
Music by Alberto Colombo
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release dates
  • May 28, 1938 (1938-05-28)(Serial) [1]
  • January 29, 1943 (1943-01-29)(feature) [1]
  • 1950 (1950)(TV) [1]
  • 1966 (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]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
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. [2] It was directed by William Witney and John English. While not often considered a great serial, as it contains much stock footage and two recap chapters, it is famous for its main villain, the Lightning—the first costumed supervillain. [3] There is some speculation that George Lucas used the Lightning as a template for Darth Vader. [4]

Contents

Plot

In Singapore, two Marine Lieutenants, Tom Grayson and Frank Corby, uncover the threat of a masked terrorist called the Lightning, who uses an arsenal of powerful lightning-based weaponry in his bid for world conquest. However, the battle becomes personal when the Lightning annihilates the officers' unit and later kills Lt. Grayson's father as he was helping the investigation of the weapon. Now, the marines have dedicated themselves to stopping the Lightning and bringing him to justice. [5]

Cast

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. [1] [6] 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. [7]

The Lightning's Flying wing was taken from the earlier Dick Tracy serial. [8] 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. Writer Raymond William Stedman claims that the science fiction Flying Wing in this serial was the beginning of the process that killed interest in ordinary aviation. [9] [10]

Release

Theatrical

The Fighting Devil Dogs' official release date is May 28, 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 portions of the serial footage together, was released on January 29, 1943. [1]

Television

In the early 1950s, The Fighting Devil Dogs was one of fourteen Republic serials edited to six 26½-minute episodes for TV syndication. [1] Subsequently, it became one of twenty-six Republic serials edited into a TV-movie in 1966, each of which features ran 100 minutes. The title of this version was Torpedo of Doom. [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. [8] He states that it should be included in "any list of the ten best sound serials of all." [11]

Chapter titles

  1. The Lightning Strikes (29 min 28s)
  2. The Mill of Disaster (15 min 56s)
  3. The Silenced Witness (15 min 50s)
  4. Cargo of Mystery (15 min 47s)
  5. Undersea Bandits (16 min 17s)
  6. The Torpedo of Doom (16 min 24s)
  7. The Phantom Killer (14 min 47s) - Recap chapter
  8. Tides of Trickery (14 min 34s)
  9. Attack from the Skies (15 min 07s)
  10. In the Camp of the Enemy (14 min 29s)
  11. The Baited Trap (17 min 24s) - Recap chapter
  12. Killer at Bay (17 min 39s)

Source: [1] [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939) is a 12-chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Charles Quigley, David Sharpe, Herman Brix, Carole Landis, Miles Mander and Charles Middleton. It was directed by William Witney and John English and is considered one of the better serials produced by Republic. The serial was the fourteenth of the sixty-six serials produced by the studio.

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<i>Jungle Girl</i> (serial) 1941 film by John English, William Witney

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<i>Dick Tracy</i> (serial) 1937 American film

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<i>King of the Royal Mounted</i> (serial) 1940 film by John English, William Witney

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<i>Darkest Africa</i> 1936 American film

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<i>The Vigilantes Are Coming</i> 1936 American film

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<i>The Painted Stallion</i> 1937 film by William Witney, Ray Taylor, Alan James

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<i>Hawk of the Wilderness</i> 1938 American film

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<i>Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc.</i> 1941 film by John English, William Witney

Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941) is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was directed by the team of William Witney and John English with Ralph Byrd reprising his role from the earlier serials. It was the last of the four Dick Tracy serials produced by Republic, although Ralph Byrd went on to portray the character again in two features and on television.

<i>Perils of Nyoka</i> 1942 film by William Witney

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<i>Son of Zorro</i> 1947 film

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<i>The Invisible Monster</i> 1950 film by Fred C. Brannon

The Invisible Monster is a 1950 Republic film serial, starring Richard Webb and Aline Towne.

<i>King of the Carnival</i> 1955 film by Franklin Adreon

King of the Carnival is a 1955 Republic movie serial that contains a substantial amount of stock footage from the earlier Republic serial Daredevils of the Red Circle. It is the 66th and final serial produced by Republic and is often considered to be among the studio's worst. The plot concerns treasury agents investigating a Cold War counterfeiting operation believed to be connected to a circus.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Mathis, Jack (1995). Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 30–31. ISBN   0-9632878-1-8.
  2. ↑ Kinnard, Roy (1998). Science Fiction Serials: A Critical Filmography of the 31 Hard SF Cliffhangers. McFarland & Co. p. 61. ISBN   978-0786437450.
  3. ↑ "World's First Supervillain at The longest list of the longest stuff at the longest domain name at long last". Thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  4. ↑ "The Visual Development of Darth Vader". secrethistoryofstarwars.com. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  5. ↑ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 190. ISBN   0-8160-1356-X.
  6. ↑ "Images Journal". Images Journal. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. 1 2 Cline, William C. (1984). "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 51–52. ISBN   0-7864-0471-X.
  9. ↑ Stedman, Raymond William (1971). "3. At This Theater Next Week" . Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. pp.  64–66. ISBN   978-0-8061-0927-5.
  10. ↑ Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "7. The Aviators "Land That Plane at Once, You Crazy Fool"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. p. 163. ISBN   978-0-7130-0097-9.
  11. ↑ Cline, William C. (1984). "5. A Cheer for the Champions (The Heroes and Heroines)". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 78. ISBN   0-7864-0471-X.
  12. ↑ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 221. ISBN   0-7864-0471-X.
Preceded by Republic Serial
The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938)		Succeeded by
Preceded by Witney-English Serial
The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938)		Succeeded by
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