Captain America (1944)

Directors:

Elmer Clifton
John English

Writers:

Royal K. Cole (writer) and
Harry L. Fraser (writer) ...

Release Date:

5 February 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Superhero Captain America battles the evil forces of the archvillain called The Scarab, who poisons his enemies and steals a secret device capable of destroying buildings by sound vibrations. |

Plot Keywords:

Scarab | Superhero | Sergeant | Henchman | Masked Man

Cast

Dick Purcell	...	Captain America / Grant Gardner
Lorna Gray	...	Gail Richards
Lionel Atwill	...	Dr. Cyrus Maldor
Charles Trowbridge	...	Commissioner Dryden
Russell Hicks	...	Mayor Randolph
George J. Lewis	...	Bart Matson
John Davidson	...	Gruber
Norman Nesbitt	...	Newscaster
Frank Reicher	...	Prof. Lyman [Ch. 1]
Hugh Sothern	...	Prof. Dodge [Chs. 2-5]
Tom Chatterton	...	J.C. Henley [Chs. 6-8]
Robert Frazer	...	Dr. Clinton Lyman [Chs. 10-12]
John Hamilton	...	Hillman [Chs. 13-14]
Crane Whitley	...	Dirk [Chs. 11-12]
Edward Keane	...	Scarab Agent 33 [Ch. 15]

Also Known As:

Return of Captain America (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

244 min (15 chapters)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Company:

Republic Pictures

Trivia:

Chapter Titles: - 1. The Purple Death - 2. Mechanical Executioner - 3. Scarlet Shroud - 4. Preview of Murder - 5. Blade of Wrath - 6. Vault of Vengeance - 7. Wholesale Destruction - 8. Cremation in the Clouds - 9. Triple Tragedy - 10. The Avenging Corpse - 11. The Dead Man Returns - 12. Horror on the Highway - 13. Skyscraper Plunge - 14. The Scarab Strikes - 15. The Toll of Doom

Goofs:

Continuity: In chapter 2, "Mechanical Executioner," when Professor Dodge agrees to talk the tractor in close-up is halfway over a partially crushed packing crate. In the next shot the crate is completely crushed under the tractor's tread.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Scarab: This is the voice of the Scarab, Wilson. I command you to drive your car over the cliff!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Best Man (2005)

Not your father's Captain America

In the words of the Oldsmobile commercials, "This is not your father's Captain America!" (well, at least my father). Shield-slinging, two-fisted Super Soldier battling Nazis? Nope, this is a pudgy DA battling ordinary criminals, with a revolver!

First off, let me preface this by saying there is a big difference between watching a serial in weekly installments and watching the whole thing on video. The repetition was necessary to recap the previous week's chapter. On video, it gets tiresome by the third chapter. Still, that's what the fast-forward button is for.

Poor Cap! He never got a break in 50 years. He's an orphan, 4F, Bucky is killed by Baron Zemo, the Red Skull just wont die, Nixon, Rob Liefeld, and September 11! On top of it all, he has never been done justice on the silver screen or the tv screen. Captain America should have been great; you have two-fisted action, that cool shield, Nazis, the Red Skull, and a great costume. So where is all of that in the film? The fights are there, but the rest of the package is missing. And these fights don't measure up to those in Spy Smasher, Masked Marvel, or the Adventures of Captain Marvel.

Republic's adaptation of comic book heroes were vastly superior to Columbia's, but this one just doesn't quite work. There's no hook to pull you into it. Still, it's better than "theatrical" effort, nearly 50 years later.