''Captain Midnight'' is a 1942 American serial film. It was Columbia Pictures 17th released serial and was based upon the radio adventure serial of the same name, broadcast from 1938 to 1949. ''Captain Midnight'' was only one of the many aviation serials released during World War II, whose leading characters were derived from early pulp magazines and radio show favorites.

Plot

Captain Albright is an extremely skilled aviator, better known by his

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

as Captain Midnight. He is assigned to neutralize the sinister Ivan Shark, an evil enemy scientist who is aerial bombing major American cities with his unmarked aircraft. Captain Midnight leads the Secret Squadron, whose staff includes Chuck Ramsay, Midnight's ward, and Ichabod 'Icky' Mudd, the Squadron's chief mechanic. Shark has developed a highly efficient mercenary organization. He is aided by his daughter, Fury, his highly intelligent second in command, and Gardo the henchman, and Fang, an Asian ally. Shark is after a new aviation range finder invented by the altruistic scientist, John Edwards, whose beautiful daughter, Joyce, they attempt to capture in order to blackmail the patriotic inventor. Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron continually battle the henchmen, thwarting Shark's evil plans, while avoiding destruction at every turn by making daring escapes during the serial's 15 weekly chapters.

Cast

* Dave O'Brien as Captain Albright / Captain Midnight *

Dorothy Short Dorothy Short (June 29, 1915 – June 4, 1963) was an American film actress, mainly in low-budget Westerns and serials in the 1930s and 1940s. A native of Philadelphia, Short was the daughter of Mrs. E. M. Short. She began working in films fo ...

as Joyce Edwards * James Craven as Ivan Shark * Sam Edwards as Chuck Ramsey * Guy Wilkerson as Ichabod 'Icky' Mudd *

Bryant Washburn Franklin Bryant Washburn III (April 28, 1889 – April 30, 1963) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 370 films between 1911 and 1947. Washburn's parents were Franklin Bryant Washburn II and Metha Catherine Johnson Washburn. He a ...

as John Edwards * Luana Walters as Fury Shark *

Joe Girard Joseph Samuel Girardi (November 1, 1928 – February 28, 2019), better known as Joe Girard, was an Americans, American salesman, motivational speaker and author. Girard sold 13,001 cars at a Chevrolet dealership between 1963 and 1978, and was re ...

as Major Steel (as Joe Girard) * Ray Teal as Borgman - Henchman #8 * George Pembroke as Dr. James Jordan * Chuck Hamilton as Martel, Henchman #7 (as Charles Hamilton) *

Al Ferguson Al Ferguson (19 April 1888 – 4 December 1971) was an Irish-born American film actor. Born in County Wexford, Ireland, he appeared in nearly 300 films between 1912 and 1956. Billed as Smoke Ferguson, by 1912 he was making Westerns for Selig ...

as Gardo- Henchman #5

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 _Source:

Release

The serial was released in Latin America in November 1942, under the title ''El Capitán Medianoche'', and was shown in English with Spanish subtitles.

References

External links