I found this B/W serial by accident on YOUTUBE and bought the DVD.

The plot is changed drastically...Captain America's identity IS NOT Army Private Steve Rogers, but District Attorney Grant Gardner.

According to IMDB...Republic Pictures rejected the original story because it supposedly would cost too much money

NANJAO:

This series is very violent for 1944.

Captain America / Gardner uses a gun and KILLS the bad guys.

He also pushes the bad guys out of skyscraper windows and off rocky cliffs.

Even Gail Richards (Gardner's secretary) uses a gun to kill a bad guy.

COOL MOMENT: Captain America on a motorcycle.

GREAT MOMENTS: The cliff-hangers at the end of each chapter are nerve-wracking...just as they should be.

SPECIAL GUEST STAR: John Hamilton as G.F. Hillman...he would later play Perry White in "The Adventures of Superman"

ODDITIES:

I found it odd that Gail knows that Gardner is Captain America. Usually the woman who knows the main character is in the dark about the secret identity thing.


I also found it odd that Captain America has no shield in this serial.

BAD SPECIAL EFFECTS DEPT.:

The scene where Captain America falls down a mine shaft is horribly done. You can tell they used a dummy for the effect. It's blatantly obvious.

The other people who fall out of buildings / cliffs / etc are done the same way....but less obvious

OH DEAR...how times have changed....

In the first chapter, Gail is "interested in seeing in the Professor's vibrator."

I laughed out loud when I first heard Gail's line because of the lexicon change over the years.

Of course she was referring to a sonic vibration machine that can destroy buildings.

SAD MOMENT:

According to IMDB, Dick Purcell died shortly after the serial was completed. The fighting scenes were too much for his heart.

Sorry...I meant WIKIPEDIA...not IMDB

CONTINUITY CONFUSION:

The first several episodes show the opening credits with the names AND faces of the main characters.

HOWEVER...

In the last several episodes, they show the names only.

EXTREMELY DUMB ENDING:

The finale has the newspaper printing the fact that Grant Gardner and Captain America are one in the same.

How can he carry on his crusade against evil when everyone in town knows who he really is?

I guess the DA can kiss his superhero life goodbye now.




The ending shows BIG BEN chiming...the series is supposed to be occurring in AMERICA.

BAD WRITING DEPT.

The writers let the audience know the identity of the Scarab in the very first episode.


So much for suspense!

OVERALL REVIEW:

I found the DA / Captain America idea interesting. I can see a DA getting so fed up with crime that he decides to take the law into his own hands by becoming a superhero.

SCORE: 4 out of 5

Another very violent scene:

The Scarab uses a "cat of nine tails" on G.F. Hillman to get info from him


I cannot believe parents would allow their kids to see this back in 1944....but I suppose they did.

If this serial were made today, It'd be "PG-13"

Different times. 1944 was during World War 2. They saw violence in a different light then, and they couldn't afford to be wishy washy about it if they wanted soldiers who could fight in real life.

I never thought of it that way.