Thursday, November 1, 2012

International Movie Serials

Say, have you been following Continued Next Week!, the movie serial image blog I started about a month ago? If you have even a passing interest in that sort of aesthetic, it's something I'd suggest strongly. It's pretty rare that I start a project like this and realize it's not only coming together exactly the way I wanted, but it's broadening in exciting new directions.

Case in point: the theme of this li'l Tumblr is supposed to be American movie serials. I originally was going to concentrate on sound pictures, but the silents crept in before long. And now, we're looking past U.S. borders, too. You see, movie serials existed in other countries. I want to expand my scope to occasionally spotlight these productions. To help identify them, I've added a helpful "international" tag to those entries. There are already two that were added tonight!

Of course, the focus is always going to primarily be on American serials. But now and then, it will be fun to post a few pictures from the cliffhangers of other countries. That will only be as time and resources dictate, natch (much like that blog in general).

One serial I would desperately like to feature on Continued Next Week! if I can find some photos is Las Calaveras del Terror ("The Skulls of Terror"), a 1943 chapter play that is supposedly the only Mexican-produced serial of the 1940s. It stars Pedro Armendáriz and is said to have also been released as a feature film in 1944. According to what I read, promotional material for it is scarce, and I can say I've barely seen anything for it despite putting forth a fair amount of effort. Hopefully, something high quality will eventually turn up.

Meanwhile, enjoy this clip from Las Calaveras del Terror I discovered in my searching. I think it stacks up pretty well against American serials!

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