GANG BUSTERS

Kent Taylor, Irene Hervey, Robert Armstrong

GANG BUSTERS (13 chapter Universal serial/1942). Directors: Noel M. Smith; Ray Taylor. Colorized.

The city is under siege by "The League of Murdered Men," a sinister group of supposedly dead criminals run by Professor Mortis (Ralph Morgan of Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc.). Mortis keeps his underlings in line by telling them -- once he has revived their "corpses" after plastic surgery -- that they must take a daily pill he has concocted or they will succumb to death for real. Mortis is less interested in financial gain than he is in revenge on all city authorities, especially the chief of police (Joseph Crehan) and the dyspeptic mayor (George Watts). Fighting against Mortis and his dead men are Detective Bill Bannister (Kent Taylor of The Crimson Key), his junior partner Tom Nolan (Robert Armstrong of Exposed), reporter Vicki Logan (Irene Hervey) and shutterbug Happy Haskins (Richards Davies), one of whom is secretly working for Professor Mortis.

Ralph Morgan as "Professor Mortis"

Gang Busters, not to be confused with the later TV series of the same name, is a top-notch Universal serial that is swiftly-paced and consistently exciting. Especially good sequences include a fight on a plane in chapter one, and a thrilling battle atop a speeding train. The leads are quite adept, and there is notable work from some actors cast as gang members, including William Haade as dimwitted Mike Taboni, George J. Lewis, and John Gallaudet as Wilkinson. Morgan is excellent as the sinister and hateful "Professor Mortis." An interesting if zany touch has it that the only entrance to the professor's underground lair is through a trap door in the middle of the subway tracks. Wild!

Verdict: Fun, fast-paced serial action now in color! ***.