Horne of a Dilemma
This is something that has bothered me for years. If you are a real serial fan, do you have to like all serials? Now I’m not talking about one serial being better that another in a fan’s opinion. I’m talking about actually liking every single serial ever made. Bill Cline always amazed me in that he never had a bad thing to say about any serial. To him they were all good, he had his favorites like everyone else, but he always contended that every serial had it’s merits. I have tried to be like that and buy every serial that came on the market, but with money getting tight these days, that is a luxury I can’t afford and it has caused me to start looking at my collecting with a more critical eye as I convert from VHS to DVD. The two biggest problems I have are James Horne and Mascot Studios. I have several Horne serials in my collection; The Shadow, The Green Archer, Captain Midnight, White Eagle, The Spider Returns and Terry and the Pirates. But there isn’t one that I really enjoy. I’ve watched each one several times but I just can’t seem to get into the spirit of them. I’m irritated with the over the top acting and goof ball slapstick that runs throughout his serials, saying it is all just one big joke. And I have trouble with Mascot’s confusing jumble of overly complex plotting mixed with almost non-stop action, Mascots are the hardest serials to follow, I always feel exhausted after watching one. And yet I keep watching them; Last of the Mohicans, The Shadow of the Eagle, The Hurricane Express, The Three Musketeers, Mystery Mountain, Phantom Empire, and The Miracle Rider. I feel like I have to like all of them, and I want to like them. But I don’t, except for Phantom Empire, it’s hard not to like something that crazy played totally straight . So what it comes down to is can you be a real serial fan if you don’t like all serials? Is it okay not to like any made before Flash Gordon? What if you don’t like any made after King of the Rocketmen? Or say you only like Republic serials? What if you only like Science Fiction or Western serials? Can you call yourself a serial fan if you don’t like Johnny Mack Brown or Buck Jones? Is it okay to just like what you like and not like what you don’t like and yet still be considered a fan of the genre?
