Captain America 1944 serial

 

From Wiki- The serial sees Captain America, really District Attorney Grant Gardner, trying to thwart the plans of the Scarab, really museum curator Dr. Cyrus Maldor—especially regarding his attempts to acquire the "Dynamic Vibrator" and "Electronic Firebolt", devices that could be used as super-weapons.^[2]  In a rare plot element for Republic, the secret identity of the villain is known to the audience from the beginning, if not to the characters in the serial. The studio's usual approach was the use of a mystery villain who was unmasked as one of the other supporting characters only in the final chapter. Back to me:

I watched this fun serial again last week (and am even getting an upgrade soon).  Sure, it is not the "real" Cap, but as Marvel established in the comic, there were reasons.  It is closer to the MCU Cap, since he uses a gun, and barely has a secret ID.  Lots of action, and Dick Purcell did not have to take his mask off every five seconds to make sure the audience knows who he is.