Today's Senior Matinee at 1:30 p.m. at the Dryden is Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates (Louis Mcmahon, U.S. 1969, 56 min., 16mm).

An affectionate pastiche of the cinema serial, complete with masked heroes and villains, plentiful chases, fisticuffs, and three full blown cliffhangers. When the lost negative of the uncut version of Greed is found, the Association of Film Distributors donates it to the Film Museum in Rochester. En route, it is intercepted and copied by the Master Duper—a sinister master criminal whose aim is to have a dupe negative of every motion picture classic and "make a fortune selling prints to film societies and private collectors all over the world." The next time the Master Duper's gang attempt an interception, they are thwarted by Captain Celluloid but manage to escape. The Master Duper offers a print of Greed to D.W. Hart, the head of the Classic Film Society. Captain Celluloid interrupts the transaction at a secret film store on an old barge, and in the ensuing fight, a gunshot sets off a nitrate fire from which the Captain barely escapes. Eventually Captain Celluloid follows the Master Duper to his lair for a final showdown.

[source: Dryden website, 2015-Apr-27]