''Blackhawk'' is a 1952 American 15-chapter

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

movie serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

from

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, based on the comic book ''

Blackhawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to: Animals * Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856 * Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus'' * Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii'' * Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus uru ...

'', first published by

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

, but later owned by competitor

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. It was Columbia's forty-ninth serial. The one-sheet poster referred to the serial as ''The Miraculous Blackhawk: Freedom's Champion''. The home video release added the tagline: "Fearless Champion of Freedom". ''Blackhawk'' stars Kirk Alyn as Blackhawk and

Carol Forman Carol Forman (19 June 1919, Epes, Alabama – 9 July 1997, Burbank, California) was an American actress best known for playing exotic villains in action serials, particularly Spider Lady in the 1948 Superman serial, as well as Sombra, the ...

as the foreign spy that must be stopped from stealing the experimental super-fuel "Element-X"; Alyn and Forman were also the hero and villain of Columbia's earlier '' Superman''. ''Blackhawk'' was produced by the famously cheap

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. E ...

and directed by the team of

Spencer Gordon Bennet Spencer Gordon Bennet (January 5, 1893 – October 8, 1987) was an American film producer and director. Known as the "King of Serial Directors", he directed more film serials than any other director. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Benn ...

and Fred F. Sears. It is considered cheap and lackluster, made in the waning years of studio movie serial production.

Premise

A flying squadron of World War II veterans, The International Brotherhood, is a private flying investigative force led by Blackhawk. They uncover a gang of underworld henchmen, led by the notorious foreign spy Laska, who reports to The Leader, a mystery man. During the serial, Blackhawk and his flying squadron set about bringing these criminals to justice, following a series of cliff-hanger adventures.

Cast

* Kirk Alyn as

* Michael Fox as Mr. Case * Don C. Harvey as Olaf (as Don Harvey) *

Rick Vallin Rick Vallin (born Eric Efron; September 24, 1919 – August 31, 1977) was an actor who appeared in more than 150 films between 1938 and 1966. Early years Born in Feodosia, in the Crimea, Russia, Vallin came to the United States at age there ...

as Stan/Boris * John Crawford as Chuck * Frank Ellis as Hendrickson hs. 1-2,4,8-9* Larry Stewart as Andre *

Weaver Levy Weaver Levy was a Chinese American character actor who had a long career in Hollywood that began in the 1940s and continued through the early 1980s. He was best known for his main role in the TV series '' Adventures in Paradise''. Biography W ...

as Chop-Chop *

as Laska *

Zon Murray Zon Murray (April 13, 1910 – February 2, 1979) was an American actor. Filmography He appeared in the films: ''The El Paso Kid'', '' Ghost of Hidden Valley'', '' Song of the Sierras'', '' Jack Armstrong'', '' Rainbow Over the Rockies'', ''West ...

as Bork * Nick Stuart as Cress * Marshall Reed as Aller *

Pierce Lyden Pierce W. Lyden (January 8, 1908 – October 10, 1998) was an American actor best known for his work in television and film Westerns. Early life Lyden was born in a sod house on a ranch near Hildreth, Nebraska on January 8, 1908. The son of a hor ...

as Dyke * William Fawcett as Dr. Rolph hs.4-7*

Rory Mallinson Charles Rory Mallinson (October 27, 1913 – March 26, 1976) was an American film and television actor. Career Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Mallinson began his acting career after signing a contract with Warner Brothers in 1945. That year he ha ...

as Hodge hs. 11-14

Chapter titles

# Distress Call from Space # Blackhawk Traps a Traitor # In the Enemy's Hideout # The Iron Monster # Human Targets # Blackhawk's Leap for Life # Mystery Fuel # Blasted from the Sky # Blackhawk Tempts Fate # Chase for Element X # Forced Down # Drums of Doom # Blackhawk's Daring Plan # Blackhawk's Wild Ride # The Leader Unmasked

Production

Writer George Plympton described a production staff meeting where they listened to a recording of the short-lived Blackhawk radio series. Everyone at the meeting was "aghast at the confusing babble of accents". For Columbia's serial, all recruits of the Blackhawk squadron speak with standard American accents.

Stunts

In chapter 3 Kirk Alyn performs a potentially dangerous stunt without the use of a stunt double. In order to save the life of squadron member Stan, who's tied to a stake in the path of a taxiing plane, Blackhawk (Alyn) runs up to the vehicle and turns it aside by grabbing the wing. A hidden pilot inside the plane steered it to simulate the movement. When writing this scene, the screenwriters were thinking of a small lighter wood-and-canvas plane, not the heavy metal aircraft used in the final scene; it could have easily killed Alyn if the stunt's timing had gone wrong.

Home media

The serial was released on VHS in 1997 by

Columbia TriStar Home Video Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures li ...

. In 2016, it was released on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment under license from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Critical reception

William C. Cline describes the serial as a "pretty good airplane adventure" in his book ''In the Nick of Time''. Despite this, ''Blackhawk'' was the last aviation serial; fliers had rapidly become less impressive in American popular culture, and science fiction was taking its place. Made during the 1950s, ''Blackhawk'' was produced after the movie serial's heyday; many from this period were generally inferior to those made in the previous decade.Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture
- The Decline of the Serial

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miraculous Blackhawk: Freedom's Champion, The 1952 films 1950s English-language films 1950s crime films American aviation films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures film serials Films directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet Films directed by Fred F. Sears Live-action films based on DC Comics Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton 1950s American films Films based on DC Comics