Captain America: Episodes 2 and 3

 Episode 2: Mechanical Executioner

"All the wealth and art treasures of the world will be mine!"

So, er, Cap jumps out of the collapsing building on to the next building. Ok...

Again, this is Captain America in name and costume (minus those silly wings) only- but so far it's solid, if stolid, movie serial. Lionel Atwill continues to be excellent as the greedy, arrogant Scarab, there's plenty of action, and it's all nice and simple.

It's already clear that this is going to be a succession of set pieces rather than a plot as such, but we knew this- it's a movie serial. Who cares if we start with a cliffhanger resolution cheat: this time Cap is in a barn and, er, about to be run over by a little tractor...

 

Episode 3: Scarlet Shroud

"He's a brave man, but I'd feel better of Captain America was with him."

This is still enormous fun. Like any movie serial it lives and dies by its set pieces, but they're good ones. It matters not that Dick Purcell isn't that great an actor- he isn't exactly called ipon to d much acting as such, but he's great as a stuntman, which is pretty much what he is.

The Scarab seems a pretty cultured baddie, only stealing Old Masters and priceless manuscripts. Gail is unexpectedly good with a gun. And it's always fun (as per The Adventures of Captain Marvel) to see a sequence where the hero's vehicle is booby trapped to explode once a certain gauge reaches a certain point.

It's all very straightforward, but it's a movie serial. And this is good, solid fun.