The Serial Squadron Cinema Cliffhanger Archive
THE HOPE DIAMOND MYSTERY
featuring Boris Karloff
in his first major motion picture role
Work on this complete 15-episode serial which put Karloff on the map has begun. When THE HOPE DIAMOND MYSTERY is fully restored, pledge participants will receive DVD copies. You may still preorder the title on the Hope Diamond Mystery DVD page, and please do, as this will be an expensive and time-consuming project for which we need as much support as possible. PREORDER THE HOPE DIAMOND MYSTERY NOW
THE DESERT SONG
Archive DVD
featuring John Boles and Myrna Loy
121 Min. Feature
The mysterious freedom fighter known as the Red Shadow is actually the son of the General sent to the region to seek out and destroy him. Filming of stage operetta originally released in part 2-color Technicolor with sound on Vitaphone disks. A long-unseen film thought lost by many, but, yes, this really is it. Complete with restored musical sequence & color tones. 2 acts with intermission.
SEVEN FOOTPRINTS TO SATAN
Archive DVD
featuring Creighton Hale and Thelma Todd
Restored Edition
116 min. Feature
View Video
James Kirkham inherited a lot of money and wants a life of adventure, exploring in darkest Africa, but instead, after a robbery at an antiquities auction, finds himself and his fiance Eve kidnapped by parties unknown and taken to a macabre mansion of horrors such as the world has never known, inhabited by demonic-looking freaks, torturers, and killers. He and Eve will be granted freedom only if he agrees to the "ordeal of seven steps" presided over by the mansion's owner -- apparently Satan himself! Color tinted, in a new English translation, with new score and sound effects!
THE SPIDER'S WEB
Archive DVD
featuring Warren Hull
15 Chapters (Complete)
VIEW SCENES FROM THE SERIAL
One of the major original pulp heroes comes to the screen in the greatest adaptation of pulp to film ever created, featuring Warren Hull and Iris Meredith. Consistently rated one of the top 5 cliffhanger serials of all time by fans, and hugely influential. Source: new digital transfer of 16mm original print, complete, with generally excellent sharp picture quality, restored picture element with stabilization, exposure correction, and noise reduced audio.
Status: Restoration complete, archive DVD requests are shipping now. To request a research copy, click here.
THE GREAT ADVENTURES OF
WILD BILL HICKOK
Archive DVD
Featuring Bill Elliott
15 Chapters (Complete)
“Wild Bill” Hickok, “a peaceable man” with a lightning-fast quick-draw, rides into town to protect Abilene from the destructive Phantom Raiders. This serial introduced Elliott and provided him with his nickname. Cast includes Monte Blue, Kermit Maynard, Chief Thunder Cloud, Sammy McKim, Dickie Jones, Ray Mala, 3 familiar serial-kids: Frankie Darro, Dickie Jones and Sammy McKim, and future Zorro Reed Hadley.
Two different transfers of this title have been added to the archive.
Status: Archive DVD requests are shipping now.
More titles from the Archive: Graft / The Lost Special / Radio Patrol
The Rustlers of Red Dog / Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery
Note to New Members: We are essentially a library, not a commercial storefront like Amazon.com and due to the very low demand for what we make available we do not keep large quantities of titles in stock or ship DVD orders or requests every day but make requests to order and send them in batches in the order in which they were received about twice a week. So PLEASE do not email us right after you send your order with shipping questions, but instead allow about 2 weeks for delivery of Squadron or Archive DVDs. We cannot make what we do available any other way without charging twice as much for our services. Thank you!
SILENT AND SOUND SERIALS RESTORED FOR PRESENTATION ON DVD
(Commercial sale titles)
These DVDs and the Republic serial restorations above are available for commercial sale or dealer inquiry. And they're not just copies of other people's stuff, either. Most are new digital transfers from rare existing original film prints with restored picture and sound, some with extras and viewing options and even special color tone effects, commentary and new musical scores. The silent titles in particular have been painstakingly restored shot-for-shot in most cases and include restored sections or summaries of action for content that survives only in incomplete form.
THE LONE RANGER
No Subtitles
Complete on DVD
THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN
No Subtitles
Complete on DVD
DAREDEVILS OF THE WEST
Complete on DVD
With Fully Restored Audio
KING OF THE MOUNTIES
With Restored Audio & Subtitled Missing Dialogue
DRUMS OF FU MANCHU
Transferred from the Original Print
SOUND SERIAL DVDs
The Black Whip
Blake of Scotland Yard
Daredevils of the West
Drums of Fu Manchu
The Eagle in "The Vigilantes are Coming"
The Fighting Marines
Gang Busters
Holt of the Secret Service
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger Rides Again
Mala, Secret Agent of the South Seas
The Mystery Squadron
The Painted Stallion
The Phantom Empire Special Edition
The Sign of the Wolf
S O S Coast Guard
Undersea Kingdom
The Vanishing Legion
Zorro Rides Again
Zorro's Fighting Legion
Click here to for more information about our well-regarded DVD titles.
Are you a DVD dealer or Video Store, Theater Owner or Broadcaster?
Click Here for information about ordering Squadron DVDs to sell, show or broadcast.
Click Here for a Printable List of DVDs we have available.
ORDERING / SHIPPING NOTES - CUSTOMERS: PLEASE ALLOW 30 DAYS FOR DELIVERY FOR ALL ORDERS -- Note that we are not primarily a commercial company like Amazon.com with a huge staff that ships DVDs every day but a collectors' service and library-like archive and ship once or twice a week and sometimes need to have titles reprinted. That being said, most orders ship within 1-2 weeks. If you received a receipt email from PayPal there is no need for you to email us asking for a shipping date of any package -- that means we've got your order. We fill orders in the queue in which they were received and when we have everything you have requested ready to go and when your order is processed you will receive an email with tracking information. If you need a replacement disk please keep your case and use the Disk Replacement Form or Mail Order Form.
Author of THE SERIALS: SUSPENSE AND DRAMA BY INSTALLMENT, the inspiration for this website, and retired Squadron Commander has moved to an assisted living community due to a very serious medical condition. Anyone who would like to send good wishes, movie theater candy, or comic books by mail, send them to Eric Stedman, 440 S. State Street G6, Newtown PA 18940-1973 and we will make sure he receives them.
A long-thought-lost chapter of TARZAN THE FEARLESS has resurfaced -- Chapter 9, "Eyes of Evil," on 35mm nitrate, in good condition. It's short, and was stored on one reel, but it includes opening and closing titles. We're looking into restoring the film and presenting it in context with content from the rest of the serial.
These projects have been green-lighted and will be published or added to the Archive within the next few months, when completed.
Links which will allow you to order projects will be added when the project is near completion and/or ready to ship.
THE MASKED RIDER DVD Vol. 3
The final 3 half-hour episodes of the great Western serial, restored and newly scored, which reveal the identity of the Masked Rider and bring the story to a close.
Status: Mostly scored and restored; some new music and sound effects being added.
MASKED RIDER
Companion Book
An amazing collection of original stills and much more related to the ground-breaking serial shot in San Antonio which introduced the original Masked Western Hero. Includes the entire content of the ultra-rare original pressbook and the script for serial chapters and other content not included in the DVD as well as images from the personal collections of the stars, co-producer, and cameraman.
Status: Mostly written and assembled, in final design pass stage.
CLIFFHANGER TREASURY #3
172 more thrilling pages of the original adventures of Captain Video, the golden age Blue Beetle, mighty Thunda of the jungle by Frank Frazetta, Bulletman, Dr. Fu manchu, Spy Smasher and more serial heroes. This publication will now include photo and article features on classic serials as well as comics.
Status: Almost ready for publication.
ADVENTURES OF TARZAN
DVD Upgrade
The existing Squadron edition of this serial contains condensed versions of the first 6 episodes. This edition will upgrade that set with new transfers of the complete episodes from original nitrate reels in excellent condition. (The last 4 chapters in the existing Squadron edition are already near- or fully-complete) Source: 35mm original nitrate reels from 1928
Status: Sponsored & awaiting transfer
Hey, kids of all ages --
The OFFICIAL SERIAL SQUADRON 2014
MEMBERSHIP KIT is shipping now!
It includes a special 120-page Club Membership Handbook which includes a 2014 calendar, a comprehensive list of American sound serials in order of release date, Secret Codes, Video Lists, and much more, a Membership Certificate, Squadron Pin, Membership Card, Stickers, a Lone Ranger color lobby card repro and a beautiful mini-poster of Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers! CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE SQUADRON and help support preservation of rare cinema serials.
Note: the 2014 kits are currently sold out. We will be reprinting a "standard" version of the kit shortly.
"I am the serial. I am the black sheep of the motion picture family and the reviled of critics. I am the soulless one with no moral, no character, no uplift. I am ashamed . . . Ah me, if only I could be respectable!" -- THE NEW YORK DRAMATIC MIRROR, 1916
