Those Sexy Serial Queens

From the dawn of the sound era through the mid-1950s, action-loving moviegoers patronized their local picture palaces every week to see the latest thrill-packed episode of their favorite chapter plays. And while they were primarily drawn to the intrepid heroes who battled dastardly villains in pursuit of lost treasures or secret formulas, they also paid close attention to the distressed damsels in constant need of rescue. Of course, not every woman in serials required saving; a few were pro-active partners in peril, willing and eager to mix it up with brutish heavies whenever the occasion demanded. But all of them were sweetly sexy, even if they rarely got the chance to show off their charms. In this book serial historian Ed Hulse has gathered more than a hundred rare photos showing the serial queens at their sexiest and most provocative. Some are clad in swimsuits, others in negligées, still others in their skivvies. You’ll see the most familiar—Kay Aldridge, Frances Gifford, Noel Neill, Jean Rogers, Linda Stirling—as well as the obscure actresses who appeared in only a single chapter play. Hulse provides informative captions summarizing the careers of these cliffhanging cuties of yesteryear.