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.

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.

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.

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.