A special kind of film that was a mainstay in cinemas from the 1910s to the 1950s.

The basic structure is a film that is presented in consecutive installments in a theatre, with the expectation that the audience would come each week to see the whole story through. As such, it was famous for its {{fight scene}}s and its [[{{Cliffhanger}} cliffhangers]].

The genre first started with such serials as the silent film ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline''. Although some big studios like Universal played the field with the ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|Serial}}'' serials, the most famous and renowned producer of serials was Republic Pictures, especially with the director team of Whitney and English, who produced classics like ''Daredevils of the Red Circle'' and ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainMarvel'' (the first SuperHero film).

Eventually, the genre petered out against the competition of television. Furthermore, a common criticism during the genre's waning years was that the focus had shifted from plot and character development to action and stunts, highlighting the importance of the Cliffhanger as a gimmick tool (and also underscoring said gimmick's [[CliffhangerCopout flaws]] to boot). But the spirit of the Film Serial lives on whenever a TV show episode [[CommercialBreakCliffhanger cuts to commercial with a cliffhanger]] -- and even more so in the modern era of arc-based plots, or whenever a last-second twist at the end of an episode entices viewers to keep watching. Of those, the first incarnation of ''Series/DoctorWho'' (1963-89) is the early example of this programming format with the stories' serial format.

The influence of these serials also led to film series such as ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', and deliberately campy TV series like ''Series/Batman1966''.

See CompilationMovie for the practice of editing a serial down into a single feature film.

See also TwoFistedTales, for the print counterpart of the film serial.
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!!Tropes common to this format include:
* AsYouKnow: Characters would routinely remind one another about the overarching plot in order to keep audiences up to speed, in case they missed a previous instalment or just needed a refresher.
* BMovie: Many serials were genre stories such as [[TheWestern Westerns]], SpaceOpera, MadScientist etc., or were based upon pulp/genre characters (ComicStrip/FlashGordon, [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] etc.).
* {{Camp}}: You can't take these things too seriously.
* CarChase: see also FightScene.
* {{Cliffhanger}}: Putting the protagonist, or someone close to him, in immediate, deadly danger.
** CliffhangerCopout: It's common for many cliffhangers to show a protagonist failing or outright ''dying'' at the conclusion of one chapter, only for the next chapter to begin with the protagonist doing something that they [[OnceMoreWithClarity weren't shown to be doing before]], which changes their fate.
* FedoraOfAsskicking: Many of the adventure serial heroes wore one, which is why Franchise/IndianaJones does.
** Aside from being standard fashion of the time, the use of hats had a practical purpose -- it hid the transition from the actors to the stuntmen in the fights. Notice how the hats rarely come off during fights. In fact, some of them were secured with chinstraps during action scene shooting.
* FightScene: Expect at least one of these in '''every''' episode, whether it be a fist fight, gun/sword/exotic weapon fight, or even a CarChase. Such scenes nearly always led into the {{Cliffhanger}}.
* FindOutNextTime: Depending on the studio. Universal and Republic serials averted this trope, going straight from the cliffhanger to the {{To Be Continued}} screen. Columbia serials, however, used this extensively.
* NeutralFemale: Due to the era in which they were made, women rarely occupy a proactive role.
* LostEpisode: A lot of these serials are lost completely.
* PreviouslyOn: By necessity, though each studio's approach to this differed.
* ProtoSuperhero: Several well-known examples were adapted to film in this format.
* RecapEpisode: Commonly, one episode (usually close to the end of the story) would be spent summarizing the story up to that point, using StockFootage. Some serials had 2-3 recap chapters to keep the show on budget.
* SharpDressedMan: Also a product of the genre's era, a time when men generally wore suits, ties and hats as a matter of course (at least, for works that were contemporary in setting). TheHero, in particular, never seems to get his suit smudged no matter what he goes through -- which gets particularly notable when the Hero wears [[LimitedWardrobe the exact same outfit]] throughout the story, in order to facilitate StockFootage.
* StandAloneEpisode: Surprisingly, early serials tended to fall into this trope - silent serials from the 1910s/1920s tended to have unrelated episodes with a common storyline thread running through the series.
* StockFootage lifted from previous episodes helped stretch the budgets. Exaggerated when serials started lifting footage from '''other''' serials.
** Exaggerated further by the 1950s where entire serials were written and cast around the use of stock footage. New footage in these serials tended to be used to segue to massive amounts of stock footage.
* ToBeContinued: Arguably, the {{Trope Maker}}; each episode (except for the last one, of course) encouraged the viewers to return to the theatre next week to view the next chapter in the story.
* YouCantThwartStageOne: These things had to go on for twelve or so episodes, you know.
** NearVillainVictory: The Hero usually triumphs at ''juuuust'' [[JustInTime the last moment]].
* {{Zeerust}}: Naturally for any such set in the future, like ComicStrip/BuckRogers, or in space, like Film/{{Flash Gordon|Serial}}.

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!!Notable Film Serials include:

* ''DerivativeWorks/{{Fantomas}}'' (1913, Gaumont): There was another one made in the United States in 1920, which is now lost.
* ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline'' (1914, General Film Co): notable for '''not''' featuring chapter-ending {{Cliffhanger}}s. That aspect of serials came later.
* ''Film/LesVampires'' (1915, Gaumont)
* ''Judex'' (1916, Gaumont)
* ''Film/TheNewAdventuresOfTarzan'' (1935, Burroughs-Tarzan Enterprises): A Franchise/{{Tarzan}} serial. An independent production financed by Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs himself, meant to compete against the MGM Tarzan features and film serials being produced at the same time.
* ''Film/ThePhantomEmpire'' (Mascot, 1935): GenreBusting effort combining [[TheWestern Western]], [[TheMusical Musical]] and SpeculativeFiction elements. Also notable as the first theatrical starring role for Music/GeneAutry, the Singing Cowboy.
* ''(The Amazing Exploits Of) The Clutching Hand'' (Weiss Productions, 1936): Noteworthy as the last theatrical adaptation of pulp character Craig Kennedy, Science Detective (or Super Detective, as he's referred to herein), and based upon the final novel featuring same.
* ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|Serial}}'' (1936, Universal): starring Buster Crabbe (who also played ComicStrip/BuckRogers).
* ''Film/UnderseaKingdom'' (1936, Republic): starring Ray "Crash" Corrigan. A few episodes appeared on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''.
* ''Film/WildWestDays'' (1937, Universal): Johnny Mack Brown is a heroic cowboy trying to save his DeterminedHomesteader buddy's ranch from a gang of criminals.
* ''[[Film/TheLoneRangerSerials The Lone Ranger]]'' (1938, Republic): The first of Republic's serials that year.
* ''The Fighting Devil Dogs'' (1938, Republic): notable for including the very first costumed villain, The Lightning, who's said to be the main inspiration behind [[Franchise/StarTrek Darth Vader]].
* ''Film/BuckRogers'' (1939, Universal): Buster Crabbe plays another serial hero.
* ''Daredevils of the Red Circle'' (1939, Republic)
* ''Film/ThePhantomCreeps'' (1939, Universal): starring Creator/BelaLugosi as a MadScientist. Also appeared on [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]].
* ''[[Film/TheGreenHornetSerials The Green Hornet]]'' (1940, Universal)
** ''The Green Hornet Strikes Again!'' (1940, Universal -- but at the very end of the year, so most episodes aired in 1941)
* ''Film/TerryAndThePirates'' (1940, Columbia): Based on [[ComicStrip/TerryAndThePirates the famous comic strip]].
* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainMarvel'' (1941, Republic)
* ''Film/{{The Batman|Serial}} '' (1943, Columbia): the Caped Crusader's first foray into live action. Also credited with creating [[CanonImmigrant the Batcave]].
** ''Film/{{Batman and Robin|Serial}}'' (1949, Columbia): not to be confused with ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''.
* ''Film/{{The Phantom|1943}}'' (1943, Columbia)
* ''Film/{{Captain America|1944}}'' (1944, Republic): Notable for several changes made to the character, such as having him fight gangsters rather than Nazis, and giving him a gun and a secret identity as a detective.
* ''Film/JungleQueen'' (1945, Universal) -- Creator/RuthRoman, who played the eponymous jungle queen, later became an A-list movie star.
* ''The Purple Monster Strikes'' (1945, Republic) -- mostly notable for being the last Republic serial to exceed 13 chapters.
* ''Film/TheCrimsonGhost'' (1946, Republic) -- 12 part serial telling the story of the eponymous SuperVillain and his attempts to steal - and later, recreate - the "Cyclotrode X", a primitive EMP device that will aid in his plans for World Domination. Notable for featuring Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger himself, as the Crimson Ghost's [[TheDragon Dragon]]. The image of the Crimson Ghost's distinct skull mask was eventually adopted by Music/TheMisfits as part of their iconography.
* ''Film/LostCityOfTheJungle'' (1946, Universal)
* ''Film/TheMysteriousMrM'' (1946, Universal) -- 137th and last Universal film serial
* ''Film/KingOfTheRocketmen'' (1949, Republic): kicked off the [[JetPack Commando Cody]] franchise, even though "Cody" himself does not appear in this film.
* ''Flying Disc Man From Mars'' (1950, Republic): A semi-sequel to ''The Purple Monster Strikes'' (although about the only thing they have in common is the StockFootage); generally considered one of the weakest examples of the genre.
* ''Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere'' (1951, Columbia): Based upon the [[Series/CaptainVideo television series]].
* ''Film/RadarMenFromTheMoon'' (1952, Republic) -- another one featured on [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]], this is the second JetPack serial and uses lots of StockFootage from ''King Of The Rocketmen''.
* ''Film/ZombiesOfTheStratosphere'' (1952, Republic): [[BillingDisplacement "starring"]] [[Franchise/StarTrek Leonard Nimoy]]! Though technically part of the Commando Cody franchise, note again the absence of the actual character Cody.
* ''Film/CommandoCodySkyMarshalOfTheUniverse'' (Republic, 1953): Aired on [[UsefulNotes/{{Syndication}} syndicated]] television and starred Judd Holdren, who was also the lead in ''Zombies Of The Stratosphere'' and ''Captain Video''.
* ''King Of The Carnival'' (Republic, 1955): The last serial produced by Republic; general consensus is that this one drove the final nail into the format's coffin, due to over-reliance on StockFootage (primarily from ''Daredevils Of The Red Circle''). Despite the similar title, has no connection to the aforementioned ''King Of The Rocketmen''; Republic just liked using heroes named "King" for the sake of {{Epunymous Title}}s (''King Of The Mounties'', ''King Of The Texas Rangers'', etc.).
* [[AffectionateParody Spoofed and homaged]] in the comedy film ''Film/JMenForever'' (1979, Pan Canadian Film Dist.), which uses re-dubbed Republic serials (including Commando Cody, Spy Smasher, [[Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainMarvel Captain Marvel]] and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica) to show various superheroes fighting a plot to conquer the Earth with SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll.
* Another AffectionateParody was ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton'', a holodeck ShowWithinTheShow in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' riffing on ''Franchise/FlashGordon'' and Commando Cody.
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