News

By Hank Reineke

Collectors and enthusiasts of the serials produced by Republic Pictures Corporation (1936-1955) have reason to rejoice. Save for the too occasional and often spotty rare film release, proprietary rights to the Republic’s vast back catalog from that studio’s “Golden Age” have mostly languished in the vaults. Then, with little fanfare, Paramount Pictures, Inc. - the company who had obtained the rights through a dizzying history of corporate takeovers and mergers - began to quietly make some of these moribund but treasured troves of rare films digitally available to fans in late 2015. Though streaming through the Youtube channel via the company’s Paramount Vault portal was not the platform that many of us had hoped for, it was a welcome turn of events and certainly better than nothing.

If nothing else it was a long time coming. Devotees of these decidedly nostalgic vintage chapter plays have...

Author: Zehra Phelan

Annabelle: Creation Helmer, David F Sandberg has confirmed on his recent promotional tour of the Conjuring spin-off that the next film to start production from the DC universe will be the comic adaptation of Shazam.

Currently, Justice League is undergoing some very expensive reshoots and the filming of Aquaman is still in full swing at DC HQ, but in a recent interview with Filmriot Sandberg was probed on which comics of Shazam/Captain Marvel he will be taking inspiration from.

Our Recent Interview with Sandberg

“I’m taking it all in. Some of those really old ones are quite fun, when he’s, like, fighting Hitler. Stuff like that. No, cause he’s been around since the 40s for, like, as long as Superman.

So there’s a lot to read and that’s also interesting because he sort of has a couple of different origin stories...

I've got a pretty awesome fan-made trailer for Captain America: Civil War that you've gotta check out! It reimagines the film as if it had been directed by the legendary Ed Wood. The trailer was cut together by Darth Blender using footage from a variety of films from the '30s, '40s, and '50s. You will find a list of those films below the embed. The trailer is surprisingly entertaining, and I think you'll enjoy it.  

Films used to create this trailer include:

- Adventures Of Captain Marvel (1941).

- Captain America (1944).

- Cat-Women Of The Moon (1953).

- King Of the Rocket Man (1949).

- Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940).

- Spy Smasher (1942).

- The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).

- The Green Archer (1940).

- The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938).

- The Avengers (1961).

Don’t you just hate it when work interferes with work? It’s a sure sign that you’re working too hard.

I am rarely accused of this. Nonetheless, it’s late Tuesday, my column goes up early Wednesday, and I’ve got more work stuff I’ve got to do. So, instead of the well-researched, rabid screaming think piece that surgically eviscerates the comic book world as we know it today, I’m going to share with you some stuff I love.

There was a time when comics fans were in touch with related media such as illustration art, pulp magazines, science fiction, old time radio and newspaper comic strips. This was a time that preceded the mega-million dollar superhero motion pictures in which many fans find their legitimacy. No, what we had were movie serials. Most of them preceded comic books per se, but not those media noted...

Joss Whedon’s The Avengers gathers a galaxy of Marvel Comics superstars, but I wish more people could see the first comic book superhero to make the leap to the big screen: Captain Marvel, in what many aficionados consider the best serial ever made, The Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941). Former Western star Tom Tyler made a handsome and heroic superhero, and perennial juvenile actor Frank Coghlan, Jr. was ideally cast as Billy Batson, the plucky young fellow who transformed himself into Captain Marvel by uttering the magic word, “Shazam.” (For the uninitiated, Shazam is an acronym that represents the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the...

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HollywoodNews.com: “A Double Life” (1947), the psychological drama from director George Cukor and writers Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood’s Dark Side” on Monday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The film will be introduced by Oscar®-winning screenwriter Marc Norman (“Shakespeare in Love”).

The film received four Academy Award® nominations, including Directing (Cukor) and Writing – Original Screenplay (Gordon and Kanin). Ronald Colman won a Best Actor Oscar for his change-of-pace role as an actor whose performance as Othello starts to affect his personal life, and Miklos Rozsa took home an Oscar for Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

At 7 p.m., the MGM Tex Avery cartoon short “Bad Luck Blackie” (1949) and “Captain Marvel’s Secret,” the final...

HollywoodNews.com: “Body and Soul” (1947), the underworld drama from writer Abraham Polonsky (“Force of Evil”) and director Robert Rossen (“The Hustler”), will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood’s Dark Side” on Monday, August 2, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The film will be introduced by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson (“Sneakers,” “Field of Dreams”).

Polonsky received an Academy Award® nomination for Original Screenplay for the film, and John Garfield earned a Best Actor nomination for his powerful performance as a boxer embroiled in a battle with a crooked promoter. Francis Lyon and Robert Parrish won the Oscar for Film Editing for “Body and Soul.”

At 7 p.m. the Warner Bros. Daffy Duck cartoon short “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery” (1946) and the episode “Doom Ship” from the 1941 serial...

HollywoodNews.com: “The Stranger” (1946), directed by and starring Orson Welles, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood’s Dark Side” on Monday, July 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The film will be introduced by screenwriter Ted Griffin (“Ocean’s Eleven,” “Matchstick Men”).

Victor Trivas earned an Academy Award nomination® for Original Motion Picture Story, and Anthony Veiller wrote the screenplay for this topical thriller about the hunt for a Nazi war criminal in suburban America.

At 7 p.m. MGM Tex Avery cartoon short “The Cuckoo Clock” (1950) and the episode “Dead Man’s Trap” from the 1941 serial “Adventures of Captain Marvel” will be screened as part of the evening’s pre-feature program.

“Oscar Noir” is a summer-long series featuring 15 film noir classics from the 1940s, all of which were nominated in writing categories.

HollywoodNews.com: “The Blue Dahlia” (1946), starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake as a veteran accused of murder and the woman who comes to his aid, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood’s Dark Side.”

The film will be introduced by screenwriter Wesley Strick (“True Believer,” “Cape Fear”). Raymond Chandler penned the film’s original screenplay, which earned him his second Academy Award® nomination.

At 7 p.m. noir cartoon short “Donald’s Crime” (1945), starring Donald Duck, and the episode “Boomerang” from the 1941 serial “Adventures of Captain Marvel” will be screened as part of the evening’s pre-feature program.

The screening will take place on Monday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Tickets to individual evenings are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID.

HollywoodNews.com: “The Dark Mirror” (1946), in which Olivia de Havilland plays twin sisters suspected of murder, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood’s Dark Side” on Monday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The film will be introduced by screenwriter John August (“Go,” “Big Fish”).

“The Dark Mirror” earned an Oscar® nomination for Writing – Original Motion Picture Story (Vladimir Pozner). Nunnally Johnson wrote the screenplay and Robert Siodmak, who received a nomination the same year for directing “The Killers,” directed the film.

At 7 p.m. the Oscar-nominated Upa animated short “The Tell Tale Heart” (1953) and the episode “Human Target” from the 1941 serial “Adventures of Captain Marvel” will be screened as part of the evening’s pre-feature program.

“Oscar Noir” is a summer-long series featuring 15 film noir classics from the 1940s,...

HollywoodNews.com: Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite among his dozens of films, “Shadow of a Doubt” will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood’s Dark Side” on Monday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The film will be introduced by screenwriter Dick Clement (“The Bank Job,” “Across the Universe”).

Based on the Oscar-nominated story by Gordon McDonell, “Shadow of a Doubt” is the tale of a young girl who discovers her namesake “Uncle Charlie” may not be the man he claims to be.

At 7 p.m. the noir cartoon short “Showdown” (1942), starring Superman, and the first installment in the 1941 serial “Adventures of Captain Marvel” will be screened as part of the evening’s pre-feature program.

“Oscar Noir” is a summer-long series featuring 15 film noir classics from the 1940s, all...

Frank `Junior’ Coghlan began his career as a child star in the silents, but was best known for his role in the 1941 Republic serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel. By shouting the magic word Shazam! young Billy Batson would instantly transform into the powerful super-hero Captain Marvel (played by Tom Tyler).

Coghlan was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on March 15, 1916. He moved to California with his family as a child and became an extra in silent films along with his mother and father. After several years of appearing in small roles he was signed to a contract under Cecil B. DeMille in 1925 and appeared in numerous silents over the next decade. Coghlan made the transition to talkie films in 1930 and was featured as a young James Cagney in Public Enemy (1931). He also starred as Sam Williams, with Leon Janney as Penrod, in 1931’s Penrod and Sam.

He continued his career...