French writer/director Louis Feuillade found his niche creating movie serials when he successfully brought to the screen two very popular movie series, 1913 "Fantomas" and 1915 "Les Vampires." Some do-gooder critics, though, howled at his two productions, complaining his so-called heroes were in fact criminals committing evil acts.
Feuillade took their harsh critiques personally, and set out towards a different path in his next serial. The release of the 12-part series "Judex," beginning in December 1916, set the tone for a new hero in movies, one partly based on the main character in Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel "The Count of Monte Cristo."
Judex (latin for "Judge") is a son of a wealthy family whose father was financially ruined by a ruthless, corrupt banker, who sucked the wealth out of many other unsuspecting people. Judex exacts revenge by faking the banker's death and kidnapping him into his elaborate cave lair. The banker's beautiful daughter, previously oblivious to her father's shenanigans, renounces his fortune when she finds out the unethical practices he committed. Judex has romantic eyes for the daughter, but the banker's governess/mistress, played by actress Musidora (Irma Vep in "Les Vampires"), had her own devious plans of getting his fortune, only to be foiled by the events engineered by Judex. She suspects the banker is alive and gets her criminal gang in motion to find out where he is.
Through the mostly 30-minute episodes where intrigue, romance, and the righteous over evil battle take place, "Judex" was a big hit in war-torn European theaters during World War One. After the war, Feuillade directed a sequel serial, "Judex's New Mission" in 1918.
The 1930 radio show character "The Shadow" and the 1939 introduction of "Batman" in the comics have direct linkages to Judex, making the French serial the first movie to have a superhero as its main character. In fact, the French comic book "Hurrah!" published a series beginning in 1940 on Judex, which simply was a French translation of the American comic strip, The Shadow.
Feuillade took their harsh critiques personally, and set out towards a different path in his next serial. The release of the 12-part series "Judex," beginning in December 1916, set the tone for a new hero in movies, one partly based on the main character in Alexandre Dumas' 1844 novel "The Count of Monte Cristo."
Judex (latin for "Judge") is a son of a wealthy family whose father was financially ruined by a ruthless, corrupt banker, who sucked the wealth out of many other unsuspecting people. Judex exacts revenge by faking the banker's death and kidnapping him into his elaborate cave lair. The banker's beautiful daughter, previously oblivious to her father's shenanigans, renounces his fortune when she finds out the unethical practices he committed. Judex has romantic eyes for the daughter, but the banker's governess/mistress, played by actress Musidora (Irma Vep in "Les Vampires"), had her own devious plans of getting his fortune, only to be foiled by the events engineered by Judex. She suspects the banker is alive and gets her criminal gang in motion to find out where he is.
Through the mostly 30-minute episodes where intrigue, romance, and the righteous over evil battle take place, "Judex" was a big hit in war-torn European theaters during World War One. After the war, Feuillade directed a sequel serial, "Judex's New Mission" in 1918.
The 1930 radio show character "The Shadow" and the 1939 introduction of "Batman" in the comics have direct linkages to Judex, making the French serial the first movie to have a superhero as its main character. In fact, the French comic book "Hurrah!" published a series beginning in 1940 on Judex, which simply was a French translation of the American comic strip, The Shadow.