Captain Midnight (1942) User Reviews

Captain Superman?

[malvernp · 6/10 · 29 July 2006]

A friend of mine once attempted to explain to me the basic difference between the Republic and Columbia serials. Both had lots of slam bang action and great stunt work. But generally, the Republic serials placed their hero in great peril---and somehow allowed him/her to escape the danger at the last minute through an ingenious solution. On the other hand, the Columbia serials placed their hero in similar great peril----but more often than not----he/she actually went through the exposed danger---and escaped unharmed!

Now how could this happen to mere mortals-----unless these folks were really unknown relatives of Superman? Of course we were led to believe that Columbia's heroes (like Captain Midnight) were just like you and me---except that somehow they were endowed with a special gift allowing them to walk out of plane crashes, auto explosions and collapsed buildings with nothing more than dirty clothes and occasional wooziness! We should all be so lucky!

This serial is very representative of those from Columbia at its peak. Such an observation is not necessarily a compliment. The continuing displays of immortality by a "regular" human being can get a bit tiresome after awhile, and the viewer often longs for a more clever resolution of the cliffhanger situation than just for the hero to experience it without major consequences.

"Captain Midnight" has the usual low budget assortment of cheesy sets, repetitious situations, low-grade special effects and varying degrees of non-acting. But it sure does move along! In its own low-key corny way, "Captain Midnight" can be great fun to someone who is willing to suspend belief and a critical eye for 15 chapters of pure escapism!

Often juvenile, but also often crammed with action!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 23 August 2017]

Director: JAMES W. HORNE. Screenplay: Basil Dickey, George Plympton, Wyndham Gittens, Jack Stanley. Photography: James S. Brown. Film editors: Dwight Caldwell, Earl Turner. Music director: Lee Zahler. RCA Sound System.

Copyrighted by Columbia Pictures Corp., chapters one through fifteen on 15 February 1942, 22 February, 1 March, 3 March, 15 March, 22 March, 29 March, 5 April, 12 April, 19 April, 26 April, 3 May, 8 May, 15 May, and 21 May, respectively. Chapter titles: Mysterious Pilot, The Stolen Range Finder, The Captured Plane, Mistaken Identity, Ambushed Ambulance, Weird Waters, Menacing Fates, Shells of Evil, The Drop to Doom, The Hidden Bomb, Sky Terror, Burning Bomber, Death in the Cockpit, Scourge of Revenge, The Fatal Hour. Each chapter is two reels in length, except for Mysterious Pilot which has three. Total running time: 271 minutes.

COMMENT: A well-loved serial, despite a basic story-line that's even more preposterous than usual. Plot and characters originated in an "Ovaltine" radio serial, which accounts for its juvenile quality.

However, some episodes (six, for example) are crammed with action, and often handsomely staged. We also enjoyed Craven's various impersonations which give the actors impersonated a chance to really show their stuff. Joe Girard — otherwise dull and conventional — is especially convincing in these sequences.

And who could resist Luana Walters as the villain's incorrigible daughter?

O'Brien makes a fair fist of Midnight.

Great Columbia Serial....

[JRobert · 10/10 · 12 October 1998]

Probably one of the best movie Serials, with Dave O'Brien in the lead role...close to the classic radio serial...had great production. .it followed main characters and ..moved rapidly without too much padding in any episode. Great stunts, camera work, and each chapter ended with an exciting cliffhanger, that grabbed your attention and filled the viewer with suspense ,and wanting more. Enough to show up at next week's installment to learn what happened...the rousing musical score added to it all, Just recently released on VHS to the cheers of serious Serial fans..the world over.

I wish all Columbia serials were this good

[TC-4 · 2 November 2002]

I believe, like most serial buffs, that Republic made the best serials. After watching the 1948 Columbia serial Superman which was mostly talk and poor special effects, I was reluctant in purchasing the 1942 Captain Midnight. Boy! was I surprised. This serial did not let up for a minute. Dave O'Brien was perfect as Captain Midnight and James Craven was one of the best heavies ever. Something must have happened after 1942 because all the Columbia serials that I saw from that time on were cheasy. If Superman had been made with the Captain Midnight production values and stuntman Ted Mapes as Superman, that would have been a great serial.

I'm still waiting for something to happen...

[Vigilante-407 · 4/10 · 12 December 1999]

It's been two weeks since I watched Captain Midnight...and I'm still waiting for one thing to happen: Have a plot develop.

Now don't get me wrong, Dave O'Brien was great in the title role. This stuntman deserved another shot in front of the camera with his face unmasked for all the great work he's done over the years. But, I wish it could have been in something good.

Let's see, at the start there is some bombing being done, in such a way you can't tell if you should be cheering or jeering the bombers. Of course, the bombers are only mentioned again once later in the serial. There are a lot of bad interior plane sets, a lot of thugs going in and out of jail, a lot of impersonations with voice-overs, and the good Captain and Ikky, whose only real similarities to the radio series characters are their names and the fact they fly planes.

I love Columbia's serials...they produced by all-time favorite, The Vigilante, but this is definitely not one of their best efforts. Someone somewhere was definitely not drinking their Ovaltine.

Nothing Like The Radio Show

[skallisjr · 5/10 · 4 April 2005]

As I was growing up, I became hooked on the Captain Midnight radio show, which was extremely popular. The few surviving episodes on record give just a hint as to how good it was, particularly in those years it was sponsored by Ovaltine.

The serial is nothing close to the radio show. It is a typical Columbia serial, which isn't bad, but has much action and little thought.

Spoilers in the following: As with many Columbia serials, "Captain Midnight" is a Secret Identity to Captain Albright. A masked Secret Identity at that. In the radio show, "Captain Midnight" was a code name for Captain Albright, conferred upon him by a general near the close of World War I, and not at all secret.

The chief villain, Ivan Shark, was made a "master of disguise" and an all-around baddie who was leading bombing attacks, for no given reason, other than to be really nasty. By the time the film was released, the United States was involved in World War II, but the Shark forces were independent, not allied with the enemy.

Captain Albright is asked to look after an invention, which he does in both roles. He clashes over the various episodes with various of Shark's gang, often with vigorous fistfights, as can be found in most serials.

Major spoiler.

At the close of one chapter, Captain Midnight is in a disabled aircraft in a dive, and he with no parachute. The camera follows the stricken plane to the ground, where it crashes. End of chapter. At the opening of the following chapter, the scene is repeated, with no extra footage where Captain Midnight finds a previously concealed parachute, or anything like that. After the crash, Captain Midnight stumbles out of the wreckage! Not only isn't he hurt significantly, but he shakes off the effects of the crash sufficiently to engage in a fistfight with Shark men minutes later! The serial was "lost" for many years, but surfaced in the 1980s on VHS and recently moved to DVDs. It's okay, but should never be confused with the original radio show.

Product of its time

[ossie85 · 5/10 · 15 April 2023]

While it's an interesting look at an entertainment product of its time, it's also a difficult show to fully engage with, even for fans of vintage cinema.

The serial's plot is simple and formulaic, following Captain Midnight and his sidekick Chuck as they battle a variety of villains intent on doing harm to the good people of the world. The formulaic nature of the story makes it somewhat predictable, but it still manages to be enjoyable at times due to the corny charm of the era.

However, the 1940s serial style of storytelling can be a bit challenging for modern audiences to fully embrace. Hanging chapter endings can be somewhat frustrating, as well as the overacting, cheesy dialogue, and campy special effects.

There are moments of excitement and action that are enjoyable, such as the aerial dogfights and fistfights, and the character of Captain Midnight himself has a likable quality to him. However, these moments can be few and far between, with many of the episodes feeling slow in pace and lacking in real tension.

Should Be Titled "Almost Midnight"

[cloudcover315 · 22 August 2004]

This series somehow never quite comes up to its potential. Dave O'Brien, who usually does better, totally overacts the title role. Though we usually associate Captain Midnight with an airplane, he spends much time chasing around in cars. Incidentally, why do all the aircraft in these serials have motors that sound like one-cylinder power mowers?

The plot is naturally about fighting some evil power wanting to control the world (good patriotic stuff for the war years). You can't criticize this series for being boring, because fights or gun battles break out every couple of minutes. Captain Midnight's military boss stands out as appearing much too old to be believable in an Army uniform, but his two sidekicks succeed in contributing the usual comedy relief (not really needed). The cliffhangers are above average, with all sorts of fiendish contraptions set up to finish the good Captain.

Overall, the series is not as good as I thought it would be but follows the standard formula of period serials. That means plenty of fights and chases across terrain that's very familiar to fans of 1940's serials and westerns.