Re: The History of Long Beatdowns in Fiction
What about the old British outfit Pathe? They used to make films that have the look of old newsreels. They seemed to be fascinated by the idea of fighting women. They showed women beating men in the guise of self-defense demonstrations. There's an old film -- I think it's Pathe -- of a woman boxing a man. Stuff like that. Pretty long in some cases. But I've never been able to date them. I'm thinking the '40s and '50s mainly, with some earlier. I think they were actually in business before talkies. Lots of their stuff seems to be on YouTube. Gets posted here sometimes.
The Flintstones were actually the early '60s.
Speaking of '50s and television, though, there was Honey West, a babe of a private eye, played by Anne Francis. It was a half hour series. Only ran two years. But she'd get in at least one mixed fight per episode, and sometimes two. Definitely predates the Avengers. Late '50s. It was based on a series of books by G.G. Flicking, if I've got the name right.
Earlier than that, wasn't there a television version of Sheena? I think so, but I also think it was generally disappointing for fans of mixed.
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