Mysterious Doctor Satan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Mysterious Doctor Satan | |
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| Directed by | William Witney John W English |
| Produced by | Hiram S Brown Jr |
| Written by | Franklin Adreon Ronald Davidson Norman S Hall Joseph F Poland Barney A Sarecky Sol Shor |
| Starring | Edward Ciannelli Robert Wilcox William Newell C Montague Shaw Ella Neal Dorothy Herbert |
| Cinematography | William Nobles |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1937 |
| Running time | (15 chapters)/267 min |
| IMDb profile | |
Mysterious Doctor Satan is a 1940 film serial named after its chief villain. Dr. Satan's chief opponent is the Copperhead, Bob Wayne.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Wayne's father, an outlaw who fought injustice, was killed at the hands of a world-domination-seeking mad scientist, so Wayne decides to create the "Copperhead" persona, donning a snakeskin outfit, complete with chainmail cowl. The Copperhead fights Dr. Satan, preventing him from using his army of killer robots to take over the world.
The plot has obvious parallels with that of a comic book character that appeared the year before, Batman.
[edit] Cast
Edward Ciannelli as Doctor Satan
Robert Wilcox as Bob Wayne/'Copperhead'
William Newell as Speed Martin
C Montague Shaw as Prof Thomas Scott
Ella Neal as Lois Scott
Dorothy Herbert as Alice Brent
Tom Steele as The Robot
[edit] Trivia
- Mysterious Doctor Satan was originally scripted to be a Superman serial for Republic, but DC Comics withdrew permission based on changes Republic incorporated into their character's backstory. The material was subsequently reworked with the Copperhead standing in for Superman. The Copperhead's love interest, Lois, was not changed between these drafts.
- This Serial features the famous 'Republic Robot'. It first appeared in "Undersea Kingdom" (1936) and would appear again in "Zombies of the Stratosphere" (1952). It was parodied in the metafictional "The Adventures of Captain Proton" 'holo-novels' of Star Trek: Voyager as Satan's Robot.
- Director William Witney considered this one of his lesser serials.
- The Title of Chapter 5, "Dr. Satan's Man of Steel", refers to Doctor Satan's Robot (which is made of Steel), the actor inside the robot costume (Tom Steele) and the orginal intent of making a Superman serial ("The Man of Steel" is one of Superman's most famous epithets).
[edit] External Links
- Mysterious Doctor Satan at the Internet Movie Database
- Serial Site page on The Mysterious Dr. Satan
- Dr Hermes Review of The Mysterious Doctor Satan
- Pulp Heros Encyclopedia entry on the Copperhead
- The Serial Squadron
| Preceded by King of the Royal Mounted (1940) |
Republic Serial The Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940) |
Succeeded by Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) |
| Preceded by King of the Royal Mounted (1940) |
Witney-English Serial The Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940) |
Succeeded by Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) |
