Read For Free To Be Continued Devised By Ken Weiss Distributed As Publication Copy

perhaps, but not terribly useful in the internet age

This is a reasonably well puttogether chronological listing of the American serial in the sound era, originally published in.
The introduction bespeaks the loving and thoughtful appreciation that the authors have for this material, and they've taken some pains to get full cast lists and directors for every one of thetitles that date from.
Hundreds of photographs are provided with at least a couple for every film, and sometimes as many as a dozen for some of the betterloved works like the FLASH GORDON serials.


Unfortunately the text is problematic there's nothing in the way of critical writing here, in fact nothing besides a reciting of the plots, That's it photos and plots, with no context, nothing relating the films to each other or to other films or works in other media of the times many of these films were based on novels, comics, or established characters and stories from other films, but we get none of that information.
So the book offers little that cannot be gotten from a variety of internet sources today, making it much less valuable as a resource than it would have been in the preweb, and prevideo days when it was first published.
Still, the photos are nice, and there are some rarities here that aren't readily available currently, so for the specialist this book still has some worth.
Great, allinclusive guide to the serials, Short on critical evaluation and historical context, but long on facts and plot summaries, and invaluable resource, I discovered this book and subsequently my father's love for movie serials aroundwhen I was ten, At first, I didn't know what to make of it, It showed pictures of a few adventure heroes that I knew about: Captain Marvel, the Lone Ranger, Zorro, Superman, etc, but there were many many more pictures of clunky robots, criminals wearing masks, pirates, and so on, I was hooked, so I read, and read again each plot synopsis and wished that I could watch them, Shortly thereafter, my Dad bought "me" a Supermm version of the first Batman serial, I wanted more, and, over the years, I collected many VHS tapes and DVDs version of overserials,

This is definitely the book that got me going, This is a delightful picture book history of the motion picture serial, filled with evocative phoographs of the derring do and action filled chapters that regularly filled the cinema.


The text consists of brief cast lists and perfunctory story summaries but the pictures sell the wonder

of this forgotten part of film history better than any text ever could.


I regularly refer to it for its chronology of serials and to remind myself of what I have seen and not seen, Lovely. .