Here are the early beginnings of "El Santo". In 1952 Jose G. Cruz, artist and editor, started a "Santo" comic book, turning Santo into the first and foremost character in Mexican popular literature, his popularity only rivalled in the 1960's by the legendary "Kaliman" character. The Santo comic book series (Four Different Volumes) ran continuosly for 35 years, ending in 1987. And it was in 1952, a superhero motion picture serial was made entitled "The Man in The Silver Mask", which was supposed to star Santo, but he declined to appear in it, because he thought it would fail commercially. The film was made instead with well-known luchador ("El Medico Asessino") "The Medical or Doctor Assassin" in the lead role, wearing a white mask very similar to Santo's Silver One. A villian named "The Silver-Masked Man" was introduced into the plot at the last minute, thus the title of this film strangely became a reference to the villian, not the hero. This film is a definite must-have and highly recommended as it is indeed a very early serial-like film of the "Santo" legend with chapters telling the story and is now a cult-classic very rarely seen. Uncut Spanish Version With English Subtitles. 1952 B/W 123 Minutes on DVD-R.