Saturday Serials: “Embers of Evil” (Batman 1943, Chapter 12)
We’re so close! After this week, there are only three chapters left in the 1943 Batman serial film! Sadly, Daka’s henchmen still haven’t figured out that blowing up a building is a less than effective way to kill Batman and Robin. That’s lucky for us I suppose, since otherwise this series would’ve ended weeks ago.
One of the shortcomings of the serial format is fairly clear to me now. There really are only so many ways to end each segment with a cliffhanger putting the hero’s life in danger. This is at least the second or third time Batman’s been trapped in a burning building or wreck in this series. It does start to feel worn out at a certain point. I don’t know, maybe it felt fresher 70 years ago.
