Serial film

A movie serial, film serial or chapter play, was a short subject originally shown in movie theaters in conjunction with a feature film, and derived from pulp magazine serialized fiction. Also known as "chapter plays," they were extended motion pictures broken into a number of segments or parts.

Each chapter was screened at a movie theater for one week, and ended with a cliffhanger, in which characters found themselves in perilous situations with little apparent chance of escape. Viewers had to return each week to see the cliffhangers resolved and to follow the continuing story. Movie serials were especially popular with children, and for many youths in the first half of the 20th century a typical Saturday at the movies included at least one chapter of a serial, along with animated cartoons, newsreels, and two feature films.

Popularity and decline

Many serials were Westerns, since those were the least expensive to film. Besides Westerns, though, there were films covering many genres, including crime fiction, espionage, comic book or comic strip characters, science fiction, and jungle adventures. Although most serials were filmed economically, some were made at significant expense. The Flash Gordon serial and its sequels, for instance, were major productions in their times.