Unca Cheeks the Toy Wonder's Silver Age Comics Web Site!
...
or: "How Samuel Goldwyn Saved the Comics Industry During the WWII
Years."
(an alternate history)
Let's play "Let's Pretend," shall we...? 
We'll start out with what really happened, first... and then move onwards, from there.
Don't worry; Unca Cheeks will make certain to let you all know when the make-believe
starts.
1935:
February 23: Mascot Pictures releases the first chapter of THE PHANTOM EMPIRE: a science fiction/western serial, in which cowboy actor Gene Autry has his first starring cinematic role.
Said serial proves to be a resounding fiscal success.
Other (larger) film studios take notice of that fact.
May 9: "Slowly... hair grew on the palms of his hands!" blare the newspaper advertisements for WEREWOLF OF LONDON; the first ever werewolf picture (starring Henry Hull and Warner Oland).
Filmed on a shoestring budget, the film -- thanks, in part, to a shrewd (if lurid) marketing campaign -- sets box-office records at theatres such as New York City's Rialto.
May 10: One day after that: Universal Films releases director James Whale's black-and-white horror masterpiece, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (starring Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff); premiering said film at the prestigious Roxy Theatre.
Film critics
of the day hail BRIDE as a minor masterpiece; with wildly enthusiastic
audiences seconding said sentiment with their attendence (not to mention
their wallets).
..
With the successive release (and phenomenal commercial success) of the three entries, aforementioned: it has become manifestly self-evident to any but the most mulish or obdurate of studio heads that cheaply-produced adventure; science fiction; or horror films (whether feature length or serialized) are -- basically -- licenses to print money.
The status-rich (but fiscally struggling) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios, in particular -- having already shelled out a substantial amount of money, this year alone, in order to secure the exclusivity of such rising stars as James Stewart and Judy Garland (among numerous others) -- have made note of this; and (quietlyy) enters into a distribution deal with experienced serial film producers, Republic Pictures.
August 31:On a more ominous note, however: the front page of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER trumpets "Communism In Studios" as its headline; the opening salvo from the politically right-leaning periodical which will (in just a few short years) lead the campaign to root out and expose moviemaking "subversives."
1936:
March 18: Universal Films releases the initial installment of their latest science fiction serial: FLASH GORDON (starring Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers).
Said serial proves popular enough to merit two sequels, in rapid succession: FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS and FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE.
April 14:M-G-M, in the meantime, is still spending money hand over fist; shrewdly stockpiling the exclusive cinematic services of such stars- on-the-cusp as Olivia de Havilland and Greer Garson.
July 2: Less than one year after the launching of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's politically motivated anti-studio jihad, Pope Pius XI issues a papal encyclical aimed primarily at the United States (in general)... and said nation's film industry, in particular; calling for the banning of "indecent films," and urging America's bishops to support a film classification system based upon "moral content."
Some of the studio heads are getting a little... nervous, over all of this unwanted attention.
September 30: M-G-M reaps the first fiscal benefits of its distribution deal with Republic Pictures, as the latter's science fiction serial UNDERSEA KINGDOM packs 'em into the theatres, nationwide.
1937:
January 1: Process (a.k.a. "special effects," or SFX) shots have improved markedly in both cost-effectiveness and sophistication over the past few years; so much so, in fact, that they are beginning to crop up with increasing frequency even in the low-budget "serials" of the day. (See: DICK TRACY; ZORRO RIDES AGAIN; SECRET AGENT X-9; etcetera.)
December 21: The Hollywood premiere of Walt Disney Studios' SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS -- the first feature length animated film ever -- is the Hollywood event of the year; with celebrities such as Charlie Chaplin; Groucho Marx; Marlene Dietrich; and Shirley Temple (among others) in well-publicized attendance.
More importantly, however: the film nets Disney a freaking fortune; raking in millions of dollars during an era in which such an occurrence was anything but the fiscal standard, for all but a scant handful of releases.
1938:
March 3: RKO Radio Pictures' hugely expensive BRINGING UP BABY (starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn) is a resounding fiscal flop; performing so poorly, in fact, that the studio quickly yanks it out of theatres weeks early, nationwide; replacing it with the Bette Davis/ Henry Fonda Civil War melodrama, JEZEBEL.
While BABY will achieve its (justly merited) status as a bona fide classic, in the decades to come: it is (at the time) a disappointing outing for the normally bankable Grant, whose previous three efforts (TOPPER; THE TOAST OF NEW YORK; and THE AWFUL TRUTH) had all garnered enormous profits.
The quiet, cerebral actor broods for long months over this unexpected cinematic rejection; resolving (at length) to branch out from light comedy into more (seemingly) substantial dramatic roles.
March 4: Republic releases the first installment of its latest serial, THE LONE RANGER (based upon the popular radio program of the same name).
The picture proves so immensely profitable, in fact, that it occasions (in turn) the creation of the long-running King Features newspaper strip.
June 6: National Periodical Publications (later known as DC Comics) releases ACTION COMICS #1; featuring the four-color debut of Jerry Siegel's and Joe Shuster's SUPERMAN.
Said comic is a near-instantaneous sell-out, from coast to coast; single-handedly giving birth to an entirely new adventure sub-genre: that of the costumed super-hero.
August 5: The Regina Theatre, in Los Angeles -- on the brink of fiscal insolvency -- tries a triple feature on this day: DRACULA; FRANKENSTEIN and THE SON OF KONG.
Lines stretch for two blocks, and Bela Lugosi will later be brought in for a personal appearance.
Universal responds by re-releasing FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA as a double feature, nationwide; to similarly resounding success, throughout.
August 22: James B. Matthews -- a self-professed "former Communist" -- testifies to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) that Clark Gable; James Cagney; Bette Davis; Miriam Hopkins; and Shirley Temple (!!) all "serve the cause of Communism, wittingly or otherwise."
In light of this "revelation," HUAC empowers itself to further investiate "the very real possibility of massive Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film community."
Okay. So... up until this point: everything's been for real and for true.
From here on in -- slowly, at first; then, with increasing rapidity -- we'll be folding a few (eminently plausible) "What If -- ?" type extrapolations and occurrences into the body of our historical cake batter, overall.
Anything which didn't actually happen, we'll be prefacing with a trio of bracketed asteriks... like so: (***).
Otherwise: still Truth City.
1939:
(***) February 2: The perpetually cash-strapped M-G-M, finally realizing that -- hey! -- there's not much point in continuing to settle for a mere portion of the profits, re: the distribution of Republic's massively popular serials, when (for the only moderately greater cost of actually filming 'em, themselves), they can noisily gobble up the entire fiscal pie -- releases the initial installment of its very first adventure serial.
THE PHANTOM (based upon the Lee Falk-created newspaper adventure strip of the same name) stars a little-known British leading man, only recently arrived in America: John Justin.
(In "real" life, the estimable Mister Justin wouldn't receive his big cinematic "break" until a year later; when he enchanted American movie audiences while portraying the blind King Ahmad, in the classic THE THIEF OF BAGDAD.) [See still reproduction, above]
Bringing a level of thespianic ability (to say nothing of a simple level of dignity) to a shoestring entreprise (i.e., the '30s movie serial) which -- for all its enormous profitability and audience popularity -- had never exactly enjoyed an overabundance of either, Justin's portrayal of the immortal "Ghost-Who-Walks" sounds a responsive chord within said audience, overall; occasioning a series of equally well-received follow-up entries (THE PHANTOM IN NEW YORK; RETURN TO SKULL ISLAND; etcetera), in turn.
(In "real" life: the first PHANTOM movie serial -- released by Columbia Pictures, and starring journeyman American "B"-movie cowboy actor Tom Tyler -- wasn't released until 1943.) [See pooster reproduction, below]
April 30: National Periodical Publications (later known as DC Comics) releases NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR [no issue number]; a special twenty-five cent "commemorative comic" published in conjunction with the opening of the New York World's Fair, and featuring the four-color debut of The Sandman.
May 16: National Periodical Publications (later known as DC Comics) releases DETECTIVE COMICS #27; featuring the four-color debut of Bob Kane's (and Bill Finger's) BATMAN.
Like ACTION COMICS #1, one year earlier: a certified sales smash.
(***) October 12: Emboldened and encouraged by the wildly enthusiastic response to its initial PHANTOM offering, M-G-M rushes a second costumed adventurer serial through production and into the nation's theatres: the still-skyrocketing, sales-wise, SUPERMAN.
As they had, previously, in the instance of their new PHANTOM franchise, M-G-M places a (then-)little known actor in the leading role; a talented (but still untried, insofar as the film industry was concerned) stage actor by the name of Gregory Peck. [See still reproduction, below]
(In "real" life, the durable and likeable Peck wouldn't make his big screen debut until 1943, in the sincere [but plodding] WWII drama, DAYS OF GLORY.)
With his deep basso rumblings; imposing physical stature; and typically focused performance, overall: the sturdy Peck suits the audience's perceptions of what a "Superman" should be to the proverbial "T."
Over the course of the following several years, the SUPERMAN serial franchise will churn out such breezy, well-crafted entertainments as SUPERMAN AND THE POWERSTONE; SUPERMAN MEETS MXYZPTLK (with Billy Barty in the co-starring role); and THIRTY SECONDS OVER METROPOLIS.
(In "real" life: the first SUPERMAN movie serial -- released by Columbia Pictures, and starring likable American serial veteran Kirk Alyn -- wasn't released until 1948.)
Film producer Samuel Goldwyn -- currently enjoying a mutually satisfactory (and profitable) working relationship with the M-G-M studios; with a sterling reputation for "star-making," and a decided preference for bankrolling "family-oriented" films -- quietly engineers a "first-look" deal with the publishers of National Periodical Publications, re: any future comics characters published by them.
The canny Goldwyn seems particularly taken by the penciled and inked (but not yet published) pages for a trio of characters slated for upcoming four-color debuts: Johnny Thunder; Hawkman; and The Flash.
1940:
January 15: National Periodical Publications (later known as DC Comics) releases FLASH COMICS #1; featuring the four-color debuts of The Flash; Johnny Thunder; Hawkman; and The Whip. Another solid sales success for the increasingly confident comics publisher.
(***) February 12: Utilizing his not-inconsiderable "pull" with the studio heads at M-G-M, the foresighted Samuel Goldwyn convinces the men in question to allow him to cast a rising "A"-list actor in the next comics-related feature slated for production; this time, as a more expensive, feature-length film, rather than a mere serial.
(In "real" life, American actor James Stewart's remarkable cinematic career was still in its earliest stage, at this point; and yet, even then, included such noteworthy [and attention-getting] performances as those in MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON; DESTRY RIDES AGAIN; and THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER [with an Oscar-winning turn yet to come, later that year, in THE PHILADELPHIA STORY].)
Appealingly cast as the quiet, bookish and resolved Wesley Dodds in M-G-M's landmark costumed adventurer feature film, THE SANDMAN; the intelligent and resourceful Stewart brings a wholly essential critical cachet to the role (and, thus, to the movie, overall); garnering some of the most enthusiastic critical hossanahs and hullabalooings of his career, to that date.
Said paeans of praise -- yoked in commercial tandem with THE SANDMAN's solid financial success -- aid a sly and persuasive Goldwyn's efforts immeasurably in convincing yet a second top-flight Hollywood actor and leading man to sign up for a similarly structured production...
... but: we'll be getting to that, soon enough.
February 19: One week after that, the increasingly productive National Periodical Publications releases MORE FUN COMICS #52, featuring the latest four-color adventure offering from the fertile genius of Superman creator Jerry Siegel: the ghostly Spectre.
(***) Still stacking up the profits accruing from their profitable Superman film franchise, M-G-M is easily convinced by a honey-tongued Goldwyn to take out an option on this latest character, for possible feature film development and/or distribution.
Sales of super-hero comics, nationwide, begin to experience an appreciable "upswing," as greater and greater numbers of newly intrigued readers pick up occasional (and not-so-occasional) issues of titles featuring the same characters whose fantastic screen exploits they've been flocking to, en masse.
February 26: Fawcett Publications releases the first issue of WHIZ COMICS (no issue number on the cover; mistakenly referenced as "issue #2" on the inside indica). featuring the four-color debut of C. C. Beck's immortal Captain Marvel.
(***) Goldwyn -- far too busy with other matters, at this juncture, to notice -- fails to pursue (or even investigate) the possibility of optioning said character for possible cinematic utilization.
March 30: National Periodical Publications releases ADVENTURE COMICS #48, featuring the four-color debut of Bernard Bailey's super-
powered The Hourman.
(***) Optioned by Goldwyn, on behalf of M-G-M.
May 23: National Periodical Publications releases MORE FUN COMICS #55, featuring yet a second charismatic costumed character of a supernatural bent: Doctor Fate.
(***) Quickly optioned by Goldwyn.
June 2: Will Eisner's quirky, tongue-in-cheek adventurer, The Spirit, makes his debut in the color comics sections of newspapers, nationwide.
(***) Goldwyn and M-G-M -- already having settled into a comfortable working relationship with National Periodical Publications -- opt not to involve themselves with said character (whose odd, idiosyncratic appeal hinges as much upon wry, observational humor as it does outright adventure; and who doesn't even sport an easily recognizable costume, for goodness sakes); a decision which they will come to regret, in the months to come.
July 18: With three years left on his contract, noted character actor (and occasional leading man) Paul Muni parts company with the Warner Brothers film studio; due (in equal measure) to both increasingly acrominious conflicts over the actor's choice of roles and his desire to change scripted stort material while "on set"; especially during the initial filming of HIGH SIERRA, which the frustrated studio eventually re-
assigns to an up-and-coming Humphrey Bogart.
July 25: National Periodical Publications releases ALL-AMERICAN COMICS #16, featuring the debut of Sheldon Moldoff's energetic and enjoyable Green Lantern strip.
(***) Optioned by Goldwyn.
August 14: Germany bans all M-G-M films, claiming they are "anti-
German" (meaning, in this instance, "anti-Nazi"); and -- later on in the same week -- also bans all movies from 20th Century Fox, in territory it controls.
(***) An incensed Samuel Goldwyn -- affronted on every conceivable level (personally and professionally) by what the mad Austrian, Adolf Hitler, is doing in and to his native Europe (Goldwyn was born in Poland) -- privately resolves to "stick it" to the despotic dictator, cinematically speaking, at the earliest available opportunity.
(***) August 21: Six months after the screen debut of the Goldwyn-ized THE SANDMAN, M-G-M releases the second of its (comparatively) big-budget, feature length costumed adventurer films; starring the other (previously referenced) "A"-list actor of said producer's personal preference.
Having finally established his dramatic bona fides in the well-received GUNGA DIN, the previous year: the smart and sophisticated Cary Grant is uniquely situated to "break out" in a handsomely-mounted, intelligently-crafted follow-up drama.
Perfectly cast as the sardonic and brooding wastrel playboy, Bruce Wayne, in M-G-M's Goldwyn-produced THE BATMAN, the muscular Grant is nothing less than a thoroughgoing box-office sensation. [See still reproduction, above]
(In "real" life: the first BATMAN movie serial -- released by Columbia Pictures, and starring minor American "B"-movie actor Lewis Wilson -- wasn't released until 1943.) [See poster reproduction, below]
A grateful M-G-M -- now "cash rich" for the first time in years, due to the not-inconsiderable box office success of such money-making features as SUPERMAN; THE PHANTOM; THE SANDMAN; and (now) THE BATMAN -- officially accords the mega-successful Goldwyn nigh-
automatic "green light" status for any future "mystery men"-type features he cares to produce.
The BATMAN film also introduces a second variable into the movie-
making "mix," at this juncture: that of the fortuitous casting of the right actor in the role of the feature's appointed villain.
Playing shamelessly upon his close, personal friendship with well-
respected British stage actor (who -- like himself -- was also of PPolish descent) Robert Donat, Goldwyn inveigles the previous year's Academy Award winner (for GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS) to don purple gaberdine and clownish make-up for the role of The Joker. [See still reproduction, below]
With his inimitably melodious voice and painstakingly meticulous appproach to interpretation of his assigned roles (he used to draw actual graphs of the rising and falling emotional "pitch" of each character he played), the eerily charismatic Donat almost -- not quite, but almost -- manages to steal the screen from the immensely popular Grant; the actual hero of the piece (!!).
None of this escapes the attention, naturally, of the keenly observant and intuitive Goldwyn; who files it away for future reference.
(***) August 28: Universal Films -- cannily reading the dollar signs on the wall, in the wake of the first week's grosses on M-G-M's THE BATMAN -- options the rights to Fawcett Publications' Captain Marvel.
October 21: National Periodical Publications releases ALL-AMERICAN COMICS #19, featuring the debut of the crude (if appealingly vigorous, nonetheless) strip, The Atom.
(***) Optioned by Goldwyn.
November 10: Studio head (and profoundly disturbed personality) Walt Disney agrees to spy (and report) upon "Hollywood subversives," on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
All in all, then: quite the busy little year, Our 1940.
Continue reading on Page Two, if you will, of THE M-G-M/JSA FILES: "How the Comics and Film Industries Saved One Another During the WWII Years (an alternate history)."
See how it didn't happen...
... but: very easily could have.
The M-G-M/JSA
Files (PAGE TWO)
The M-G-M/JSA
Files (PAGE THREE)
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