Binge Watching a 1930s Adventure Serial

Written by the lovely Ruth at Silver Screenings.

Before episodic television series, there were film serials at the movie theatre.

These serials were divided into chapters, about 10-20 minutes each, with a new episode each week. There were roughly 12-15 chapters per series, and each one ended in a cliffhanger with an endangered hero/heroine and gleeful villain.

These serials were often geared to children and shown during Saturday matinees, along with cartoons and a feature film or two. It was a shrewd business move, a way to fill theatre seats on an otherwise dead Saturday.

Indiana University Cinema quotes a moviegoer’s reminisces of these matinees: “The theatre was packed, nearly every seat filled with noisy, bratty kids eating sweets and popcorn…with hardly any adult supervision. It was a blast! We were in our element, our world, where we were king!

To read the rest of Ruth's review click here! Be sure to head over to The Film Detective to catch 1933 serial Perils of Pauline!