Review of The Masked Marvel (1943)

The Masked Marvel (1943) is a 12-chapter serial set during World War 2 and involves a group of investigators pursuing a Japanese espionage and saboteur, Sakima (Johnny Arthur), and his organization, operating on the West Coast. Four investigators are dispatched to foil Sakima’s plans, and one of these four men is the Masked Marvel. We don’t find out who is under the mask until the final chapter. Having the villain be a Japanese espionage operator was a typical wartime trope in 1943.

The Masked Marvel poster - IMDB

The first time I saw this serial was when I was growing up back in the ‘70s, thanks to local TV personality Al Radka, who regularly showed movie serials on Saturday nights. I was hooked on the darn things as they are so much fun, and still enjoy watching movie serials. This week I pulled up a copy of The Masked Marvel on Blu-Ray (there is a company specializing in restoring movie serials), and took a trip down memory lane. I didn’t remember much about the serial except the basic tropes and that two of the investigators were killed during their exploits (sorry, bit of a spoiler there); however I thought that they were government agents, and it turns out that they were insurance company investigators, which is a trifle weird as they were given access to places they probably would not have gotten in reality, like to military sites. That flaw in the plot is excusable as the over all story is interesting as our intrepid heroes and heroine pursue Sakima and his gang of American sellouts. And Sakima goes through a LOT of henchmen.

Johnny Arthur did a good job as Sakima, however it would have been nice to have someone who was at least Asian instead of a typical white dude in the role. That being said, the makeup job was pretty good, and Sakima, although the dialog was stereotypical. But, hey, this was shot on a tight budget in 1943, so not exactly surprising.

The main cast - IMDB

The four investigators wre played by Rod Bacon, Richard Clarke, David Bacon, and Bill Healy. Stuntman Tom Steele was the Masked Marvel, although not credited as his voice was not used in the role (wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masked_Marvel). Louise Currie played the heroine Alice Hamilton, who was gutsy, even when getting in trouble with the bad guys. Add William Forrest as Crane, Sakima’s collaborator, and Anthony Warde as Sakima’s righthand man, Mace. As serials are not known for their big budgets, and generally rated as B-picutres (alsmost), a lot of these actors are unfamiliar to film buffs today.

Most of the cliffhangers in The Masked Marvel are typical, except for one that, although typical in presentation at the end of the chapter, the resolution at the beginning of the next chapter is not as one would expect, but I don’t want to give that away for anyone who chooses to watch The Masked Marvel. That being said, this action and adventure movie serial is a lot of fun to watch, with lots of fist fights, explosions and gun battles, and plenty of thrills to go around. I enjoyed watching this serial again, even though I did spot at least one plot flaw with the investigators not being government agents. I think it would have worked better if they had been Feds.

This is, I think, my fifth entry for movie serials, and I hope I have sparked some interest in this movie format. Many movie serials are in the public domain, and some well known stars made movie serials before making it big, including John Wayne.

Thanks for stopping by.

Posted using CineTV