Thoughts & life experiences of a Chicago area graphic artist

08 January 2023

Shazam Off the Chain!

 

Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel (1941). He was a wild man!




Great clips above of Tom Tyler as Captain Marvel directed by "Wild Bill Witney" who specialized in some of the most dynamic fight scenes of his day. In his review of Witney's film "I Escaped From Devils Island", Quentin Tarantino said of the inimitable director:

Easily the most violent movies ever made for children were made by Witney (I say that as a badge of honor; get ‘em while they’re young). That would include many of his serials: Drums Of Fu Manchu, Spy Smasher, Dick Tracy Returns. And especially The Adventures of Captain Marvel, which easily contains in Tom Tyler’s Captain Marvel, the most homicidal berserker superhero of cinema. (Most of the gags and set pieces that Spielberg restages for Raiders of the Lost Ark are taken from Witney’s chapter plays).

When Republic Pictures heard the kids at the Saturday afternoon matinees thought Roy Rogers was getting soft, they brought Wild Bill Witney in to toughen him up. (1)

BTW, I'm not entirely sure who paired the music with that video compilation but I got it here.

ALSO...

Check out this excellent video explaining how this original Captain Marvel (now known as Shazam) was much more popular than Superman in the 40s:


More Shazam info in this book review.


 

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