The Voice from the Sky (1929)

Flash Gordon

Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.

Drums of Fu Manchu

The nefarious Dr. Fu Manchu searches for the keys to the tomb of Genghis Khan, in order to fulfill a prophecy that will enable him to conquer the world. His nemesi, Dr. Nayland Smith and his associates fight to keep the evil doctor from getting his hands on the keys. In 1943 the serial was edited together into a feature movie also called Drums of Fu Manchu.

Mysterious Doctor Satan

A mad scientist named Dr. Satan plots to steal key pieces of technology to enable him to build an army of robots based on his prototype to conquer America. The only one standing in his way is Bob Wayne, who fights Satan as the enigmatic Copperhead. Mysterious Doctor Satan is a 1940 film serial named after its chief villain. Doctor Satan's main opponent is the masked mystery man, "The Copperhead", whose secret identity is Bob Wayne, a man searching for justice and revenge on Satan for the death of his step-father. The serial charts the conflict between the two as Bob Wayne pursues Doctor Satan, while the latter completes his plans for world domination.

King of the Rocket Men

Prof. Millard pretends to be dead and helps Jeff King ferret out Vulcan, the evil traitor at the science academy. Donning his Rocket Man costume King goes from one hair raising rescue to the next in order to keep the newly invented Decimator out of the clutches of Vulcan and his minions.

Mysterious Island

It is 1865 and Union prisoners use a military balloon to escape a Southern prison camp near the end of the Civil War. The balloon drifts for days and finally lands on a mysterious volcanic island with very unusual inhabitants. Also landing, in a better aircraft, is Rulu, a visitor from Mercury. She seeks a radio-active material that will enable her to manufacture an explosive that will destroy the world or, at least, the portion known as Earth in this 15 Chapter Serial from the 1950s.

Radar Men from the Moon

Commando Cody, 'Sky Marshal of the Universe', works with American scientists Joan Gilbert and Ted Richards in the development of a flying suit and a rocket to the Moon. When the nation's defences are being sabotaged and destroyed, Cody learns that an atomic-gun is being used and that the men on the moon are the culprits.

The Lost City

An evil scientist invents a earthquake machine and plots to take over the world from his base in Africa.

The Phantom Creeps

A mad scientist attempts to rule the world by creating various elaborate inventions.

The Black Widow

The Daily Clarion hires detective story writer Steve Colt to investigate the deaths of a group of scientists working on an atomic rocket development project. Behind the killings is fortune teller Sombra, a spy from an Asian country intent on world domination, who is determined to pilfer the atomic rocket by luring workers from the project to her parlor and killing them with black widow spider venom when they refuse to cooperate.

Zombies of the Stratosphere

Martians come to Earth to build an H-bomb strong enough to blast Earth out of orbit so that Mars can be moved into its place in closer proximity to the sun. Super-scientist Larry Martin, inventor of the first stratospheric-flight spaceship as well as a jet-powered personal flying suit with helmet, is called upon by the government to investigate ramped-up UFO reports occasioned by the Martians' spaceships. The Martians, meanwhile, led by Marex, engage a renegade earth scientist and a gaggle of gangsters to help them steal supplies, operate a menacing robot, and build their bomb. This movie serial in 12 chapters was originally planned as a sequel to "Radar Men From The Moon" with Commando Cody as the hero but at the last moment the main characters' names were changed and all other references to that serial removed from the script.

Sharad of Atlantis

Crash Corrigan, a recent graduate of Annapolis, and Diana, a go-getting reporter, join Professor Norton for a search for the source of a string of earthquakes, Atlantis. They ride Prof. Norton's rocket submarine searching the sea and little Billy Norton, the professor's son stows away, of course. When they find Atlantis they are caught in a war between peaceful Atlanteans, note their white capes, and war-monging Atlanteans, note their black capes. After many harrowing moments for Crash, Diana, Prof. Norton and Billy, they barely get away with their lives when they escape a tower of Atlantis raised to the surface for the sole purpose of dominating or destroying the Earth (Which one depends on the compliance of the upper world dwellers.)

Captain America

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.

Atom Man vs. Superman

Superman battles Lex Luthor, who is using a teleportation device and a new identity as Atom Man in his criminal plans.

Blackhawk

Based on a successful comic book that began in 1941, the Blackhawks were seven flyers who banded together during WW II to fight the Nazis. After the war, they continued to fight evil where ever they find it. In this movie, they are battling a group of spies and saboteurs bent on destroying democracy. The Blackhawks foil a succession of plots, with a cliff hanger ending in each episode.

Batman and Robin

This 15-chapter serial pits Batman and Robin against The Wizard, who uses a device that allows him to control machinery to hold the city hostage.

The Flaming Disk

Criminals steal a death ray that concentrates the rays of the sun. The inventor's daughter and a government agent try to retrieve it. 18 episode adventure serial.

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe

A mysterious plague, the Purple Death, ravages the earth. Dr. Zarkov, investigating in his spaceship, finds a ship from planet Mongo seeding the atmosphere with dust. Sure enough, Ming the Merciless is up to his old tricks. So it's back to Mongo for Flash, Dale, and Zarkov.

The Eleventh Hour

An evil prince plans to use a super-explosive to take over the world.

Superman

Superman comes to Earth as a child and grows up to be his home's first superhero with his first major challenge being to oppose The Spider Lady.

Batman

Japanese master spy Daka operates a covert espionage-sabotage organization located in Gotham City's now-deserted Little Tokyo, which turns American scientists into pliable zombies. The great crime-fighters Batman and Robin, with the help of their allies, are in pursuit.

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars

When a deadly Nitron ray strikes Earth, Flash Gordon and his friends travel to Mars to battle Ming the Merciless and his new ally Queen Azura.

The Vanishing Shadow

A 12-episode serial in which a son avenges the death of his father at the hands of corrupt politicians. He develops a wide variety of complex devices in his crusade . . . ray guns, robots and a 'vanishing belt.'

The Shadow

The Shadow battles a villain known as The Black Tiger, who has the power to make himself invisible and is trying to take over the world with his death ray.

Panther Girl of the Kongo

Jean Evans of an international wildlife foundation, who is known to Africa as 'the Panther Girl' because of her bravery in jungle living, stumbles on a plot by a mad scientist to frighten the natives out of a diamond-laden district by chemically growing crayfish to giant size, and enlists the aid of a game hunter friend to prevent a monster rampage and bring the culprits to justice.

SOS Coast Guard

An internationally-notorious criminal scientist returns to the US to sell his latest invention, a disintegrating gas, to a foreign power. When he arrives, however, he is spotted by a young Coast Guard man, whom he kills - and thus earns the enmity of the entire US Coast Guard, but especially the murdered Guardsman's older brother who, together with his reporter-girlfriend and her comical photographer, vigorously sets to tracking him down and interfering with his plans to develop the city-melting gas in quantity. A Republic Serial in 12 Chapters.

The Power God

In this movie serial Professor Sturgess invents a miraculous engine which can draw unlimited power from the atoms of the air. When the professor is killed, his daughter and her fiance must fight to keep the secret of the power engine out of the hands of evil Weston Dore and his henchmen.

The Phantom Empire

When the ancient continent of Mu sank beneath the ocean, some of its inhabitant survived in caverns beneath the sea. Cowboy singer Gene Autry stumbles upon the civilization, now buried beneath his own Radio Ranch. The Muranians have developed technology and weaponry such as television and ray guns. Their rich supply of radium draws unscrupulous speculators from the surface. The peaceful civilization of the Muranians is corrupted by the greed from above, and it becomes Autry's task to prevent all-out war, ideally without disrupting his regular radio show.

The Green Hornet

A newspaper publisher and his Korean servant fight crime as vigilantes who pose as a notorious masked gangster and his aide.

The Monster and the Ape

A famous scientist invents a humanoid robot (the titular "monster"), so a greedy rival scientist plans to steal it for use in his criminal plans. His henchmen often kidnap a trained gorilla (the titular "ape") from the zoo, to aid in the schemes.

The Invisible Monster

Man-woman team of investigators uncover a gang whose mad scientist leader has developed an invisibility chemical and plans to build a mercenary army of invisible men.

The Fighting Devil Dogs

Two marine lieutenants battle a masked would-be world conqueror who uses electricity as a weapon.

The Secret of Treasure Island

A variety of people are searching for a long-hidden treasure somewhere on an island. Chapters: 1. The Isle of Fear, 2. The Ghost Talks, 3. The Phantom Duel, 4. Buried Alive, 5. The Girl Who Vanished, 6. Trapped by the Flood, 7. The Cannon Roars, 8. The Circle of Death, 9. The Pirate's Revenge, 10. The Crash, 11. Dynamite, 12. The Bridge of Doom, 13. The Mad Flight, 14. The Jaws of Destruction, 15. Justice

Flying Disc Man from Mars

Mota is a Martian representative, who has come to impose interplanetary law on the Earth (which has become too dangerous); opposing his authority is Kent Fowler, who resists the alien plot, without understanding its details.

Blake of Scotland Yard

A 15 episode serial in which Blake battles the "Scorpion" over possession of a 'death ray' machine.

Buck Rogers

Buck Rogers and Buddy Wade are in the middle of a trans-polar dirigible flight when they are caught in a blizzard and crash. Buddy then releases a special gas to keep them in suspended animation until a rescue party can arrive. However, an avalanche covers the craft and the two are in suspended animation for 500 years. When they are found, they awake to find out that the world has been taken over by the outlaw army of Killer Kane. Along with Lieutenant Wilma Deering, Buck and Buddy join in the fight to overthrow Kane and with the help of Prince Tallen of Saturn and his forces, they eventually do and Earth is free of Kane's grip.

The Purple Monster Strikes

A Martian invader crashes his spaceship conveniently close to the workshop of a scientist who is developing an interplanetary craft. If the extraterrestrial Purple Monster can complete the rocket ship and return to Mars, he will be able to start a full-scale invasion of Earth. Good thing Craig Foster sets out to thwart the Monster's mission!

Manhunt of Mystery Island

Claire Forrest seeks her kidnapped scientist father, hidden somewhere on Mystery Island. He is held and forced to work on diabolical inventions by Captain Mephisto, a costumed villain.

The Lost Planet

Dr. Ernst Grood , having already dominated the planet Ergro, now intends to take over the control of the Earth. Unfortunately for him, reporters oppose his sinister designs.

G-men vs. the Black Dragon

Japanese spies attempt to subvert America's war effort; G-Men attempt to thwart their plot.

The Vampires or, The Arch Criminals of Paris

Paris is prey to an invisible terror against which the police can do nothing: a sinister organization that sows chaos and death. The intrepid journalist Philippe Guérande and his partner embark on a long crusade to put an end to the crimes of the Great Vampire and Irma Vep, his dangerous accomplice. (A ten episode movie serial.)

Pearl of the Army

A 1916 movie serial.

King of the Wild

Richard Grant, imprisoned in India for a crime he did not commit, escapes and makes his way to Africa.

The Timber Queen

The Timber Queen follows Ruth Rowland as the inheritor of a wealthy timber business who tries to stay independent of a cruel man who wants to marry her and steal her wealth. The UCLA Film and Television Archive has preserved episodes one, four, eight and nine, and distributor Harpodeon has preserved episode twelve.

The Spider Returns

The evil and masked "Gargoyle" is sabotaging all of America's industrial plants. It is up to the Spider to save the country.

The Adventure of the Torture Cage

Lieutenant Commander John Byrne of the Naval Secret Service and his partner Pvt. Bill Riggers chase criminal Dr. Sin Fang, who is desperate to find a lost sacred seal. (The fifth and only surviving episode of a six-part serial about an evil mastermind inspired on Sax Rohmer's Dr. Fu Manchu.)

The Girl Detective

A series of 2-reel thrillers in which a society girl has a position as a special investigator for the police and works on various cases where her unique talents can help to solve crimes. Each episode is complete in itself.

Go Get 'Em Hutch

Movie serial directed by George B. Seitz.

Elmo the Fearless

Elmo finds himself in 18 different hair raising and dangerous adventures always escaping in the nick of time!

Elmo, the Mighty

Mr. Lincoln's tremendous physique fits him especially for serial work, where strength and daring are all important! An 18-episode adventure movie serial where Elmo saves the day through derring-do.

King of the Circus

Eddie King goes up against a villainous circus owner in this action adventure which was directed by genre specialist J.P. McGowan and released in 18 chapters.

Perils of Nyoka

Professor Campbell's expedition into the hills of Libya obtains a papyrus which might reveal the hiding place of the Golden Tablets of Hippocrates, containing lost medical secrets. Also in the region is intrepid Nyoka Gordon, still seeking her father, lost on a previous expedition. She alone can translate the papyrus, which directs our heroes through deadly perils (including the Tunnel of Bubbling Death) into the land of the Tuaregs. Opposing them are Vultura, Queen of the Desert, and her Arab ally Cassib, both greedy for the treasure...

The Lightning Raider

A beautiful young woman is a daring master thief. She meets the young millionaire Thomas Babbington Norton, while fleeing from the scene of her latest theft.

Perils of the Wilderness

In the 56th (and next-to-last serial) made by Columbia Pictures, Montana Deputy Dan Lawson, posing as an outlaw called Laramie, goes to the Canadian northwest on the trail of Bart Randall who is wanted for murder and bank robbery in the states. In Canada, Randall is a little more upscale and uses a hydra-plane and a fake totem to over-awe the Indians. Laramie is aided in his search by RCMP Sergeant Gray and by Donna Blane, who is suspected at first of giving information to Randall, but who is actually a Canadian secret agent investigating Randall's gun-trading with the Indians.

The Black Secret

Adventures of an American Secret Service-girl in search of an important German secret during the war. Chapters: [1] “The Great Secret,”; [2] “Marked for Death,”; [3] “The Gas Chamber,”; [4] “Below the Waterline,”; [5] “The Acid Bath,”; [6] “The Unknown,”; [7] “The Betrayal,”; [8] “A Crippled Hand,”; [9] “Woes of Deceit,”; [10] “The Inn of Dread,”; [11] “The Death Studio,”; [12] “The Chance Trail,"; [13] “Wings of Mystery,”; [14] “The Hidden Way,”; [15] “The Secret Host"

The Red Glove

On the American frontier in the last decades of the 19th century, Billie is a female cowboy who fights a series of bad men in this film serial.

Scouts to the Rescue

Filmed in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Sonora, California, this Universal serial is Universal's 40th sound-era serial. Eagle Scout Bruce Scott, leader of Martinsville Troop Number One, and his pack sets off in search of lost treasure and finds adventure