The Masked Marvel

For other uses, see Masked Marvel (disambiguation).

The Masked Marvel
Directed by	Spencer Gordon Bennet
Produced by	William J. O'Sullivan
Written by	Royal K. Cole Ronald Davidson Basil Dickey Grant Nelson George H. Plympton Joseph F. Poland
Starring	William Forrest Louise Currie Johnny Arthur Richard Clarke Anthony Warde David Bacon Tom Steele
Cinematography	Reggie Lanning
Distributed by	Republic Pictures
Release date(s)	6 November 1943 (serial) 1966 (TV)
Running time	12 chapters (197 minutes) (serial) 100 minutes (TV)
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$157,110 (negative cost: $179,960)

The Masked Marvel (1943) was a 12-chapter film serial created by Republic Pictures, who produced many of the best known of the serials. It was Republic's thirty-first serial, of the sixty-six they produced.

Plot

In it the Masked Marvel, a hero dressed in a business suit and a face mask fights the Japanese saboteur Sakima and his espionage organization. The hook of the story is that, in a reversal of the common serial "Masked Mystery Villain" stock character, the audience doesn't know who the hero is until the final reel; all the audience is told is that The Masked Marvel is one of a group of special investigators (the same plotline is used in the Republic serial The Lone Ranger).

Cast

• William Forrest as Martin Crane
• Louise Currie as Alice Hamilton
• Johnny Arthur as Mura Sakima, Japanese saboteur
• Rod Bacon as Jim Arnold
• Richard Clarke as Frank Jeffers
• Anthony Warde as 'Killer' Mace
• David Bacon as Bob Barton
• Bill Healy as Terry Morton
• Howard C. Hickman as Warren Hamilton

Additional (uncredited) cast

• Tom Steele as the Masked Marvel (and two Sakima thugs, both of whom are quickly killed)
• Gayne Whitman as The Masked Marvel's voice

Production

The Masked Marvel was budgeted at $157,110 although the final negative cost was $179,960 (a $22,850, or 14.5%, overspend).

It was filmed between 14 July and 18 August 1943. In terms of cost per chapter, this was Republic's third most expensive serial, behind Radar Men from the Moon and The Tiger Woman. The serial's production number was 1296.

The Masked Marvel is a reverse of the "old mystery villain theme." The identity of the Masked Marvel is kept secret from the audience until the last chapter. The audience are given clues and red herrings about the hero's identity throughout the serial. Four possible candidates are shown: Bob Barton (David Bacon), Frank Jeffers (Richard Clarke), Terry Morton (Bill Healy) and Jim Arnold (Rob Bacon).

The Masked Marvel is really stuntman Tom Steele in all but the very final shot in which he removes his mask. The mask was directly moulded from Steele's face. The voice of the Masked Marvel was Gayne Whitman. Despite this, Tom Steele was given no screen credit at all, even for the bit parts and stunts he performed in addition to the title role. The voice of the Masked marvel was dubbed in by radio actor Gayne Whitman, since Steele's natural voice was a light tenor, somewhat similar to Henry Fonda's, and did not record as particularly "tough." However, in Steele's most visible secondary role, as a murderous assassin, he disguises his voice, apparently believing that his natural voice would be used for the Marvel. Bob Barton was a "jinxed" role. David Bacon got the role because four previous actors had injured themselves and were unable to work. While filming one of the serial’s big fight scenes, every actor but Bacon was seriously injured. "I’ll probably get hurt going home in the car," he had joked. Bacon was murdered and found in his car just two weeks after the production of the serial had been completed.

The Masked Marvel was screenwriter George Plympton's only work at Republic.

Cliffhangers

Chapter four has an unusual cliffhanger, "especially for Republic", as it has no action or death involved. Instead, Sakima, sitting behind his desk in his secret basement, simply (although incorrectly) announces "So, Jim Arnold is the Masked Marvel."

Stunts

In addition to playing the main character, Tom Steele was also the Ram Rod (stunt co-ordinator) on this serial. As stated above, he received no screen credit for this. Steele himself was doubled by a dummy in the scene in which the Marvel is thrown off the top of an enormous gas tank. On the way down one of the dummy's arms gets caught in the rigging of the tank and is clearly ripped off, yet when the Marvel lands in the back of the truck below, he has both arms intact. The budget and schedules of serials mandated retakes only in the most dire circumstances.

As an odd outcome of playing both the Masked Marvel and other stunts and bit parts, in one scene Tom Steele chased himself up some stairs.

One stunt in particular, in chapter 10, is notable. The Masked Marvel crashes his own car into a rolling railroad handcar filled with explosives in order to prevent the handcar destroying a train transporting aircraft parts. The Masked Marvel survives by jumping aside at the last second. Harmon and Glut write that "the scene is both thrilling and perfect craftsmanship."

• Tom Steele, Republic's "Ram Rod" (stunt co-ordinator)
• Fred Graham doubling Roy Barcroft & Harry Woods
• Duke Green doubling Anthony Warde & Stanley Price
• Betty Miles doubling Louise Currie
• Allen Pomeroy
• Ken Terrell doubling Johnny Arthur

Special effects

The effects in The Masked Marvel were produced by Republic's team, the Lydecker brothers.

Release

Theatrical

The Masked Marvel's official release date is 6 November 1943, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

Television

The Masked Marvel was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-edited into features for television release in 1966. The title was changed to Sakima and the Masked Marvel. This version was 100-minutes in length.

Critical reception

Harmon and Glut describe The Masked Marvel as an "exciting serial, one of Republic's best." They especially note "some of the most beautifully photographed and edited action sequences in the history of cliffhangers."

Cline writes that the sight of seeing the hero "jump right into his own fights" rather than have the camera cut between an actor and a stuntman, more than compensated for the reveal in the final chapter when the actor playing the Masked Marvel removes his mask and is clearly not the same actor playing the part in every other scene. This scene is described as almost anticlimactic and "must have been just a little embarrassing." This was one of Republic's best serials.

Chapter list

The Masked Marvel title card

1. The Masked Crusader (26min 11s)
2. Death Takes the Helm (15min 33s)
3. Drive to Doom/Dive to Doom (15min 33s)
4. Suspense at Midnight (15min 33s)
5. Murder Meter (15min 33s)
6. Exit to Eternity (15min 33s)
7. Doorway to Destruction (15min 34s)
8. Destined to Die (15min 34s)
9. Danger Express (15min 33s)
10. Suicide Sacrifice (15min 33s)
11. The Fatal Mistake (15min 33s)
12. The Man Behind the Mask (15min 34s)

_Source:

External links

• The Masked Marvel at the Internet Movie Database
• The Masked Marvel at AllRovi

Preceded by Secret Service in Darkest Africa (1943)

Republic Serial The Masked Marvel (1943)

Succeeded by Captain America (1944)