THE SPIDER'S WEB

The Spider goes into action!

THE SPIDER'S WEB (15-chapter Columbia serial/1938). Directors: James W. Horne; Ray Taylor. Colorized. 

Criminologist Richard Wentworth (Warren Hull of A Bride for Henry) leads a dual life as the Spider, a take-no-prisoners crime-fighter. His colleagues are girlfriend, Nita (Iris Meredith), Jackson (Richard Fiske of Flying G-Men), and Ram Singh (Kenne Duncan of The Crimson Ghost). He has two main opponents: the masked Octopus, who is out to take over all of the power companies for his own illicit gain and who may be a member of the board of the Bureau of Power and Light; and Commissioner Kirk (Forbes Murray), who is a friend of Wentworth's but is always out to unmask him as the vigilante Spider. 

Ram Singh and Nita in a deadly water trap!

The Spider's Web is based on a whole slew of pulp novels featuring the character, and does not make many changes to the hero in the transition from page to screen. Hull makes a convincing hero, and is particularly good when he is in disguise as low-level criminal Blinky McQuaid. The other performers play with enthusiasm, especially Marc Lawrence as the hired gun, Steve Harmon. At one point the devilish Octopus uses a deadly ray gun to knock airplanes out of the sky. Cliffhangers include a deadly water trap, a plunging elevator, a trap with hot steam, and a bit when some dangling wires are cut, almost dooming our hero. 

The Octopus!

Although Wentworth is solicitous to a paper boy who is run over by escaping gunsels, it's odd that a young man named Charlie (Dick Durrell) and who helps the Spider, is pretty much forgotten after he is murdered by a confederate of the Octopus. The Spider's Web is an exciting and fast-paced serial with lots of action, its only deficits being a kind of hokey musical score, and a disappointing climax that is much too brief. As well, it perhaps doesn't create enough suspense over the identity of the Octopus as it could have. Ann Doran, Byron Foulger, Gloria Blondell, Nestor Paiva, and Tom Steele, have smaller roles. 

Verdict: As much fun and excitement as the famous pulp novels! ***. 

THE IRON CLAW

The Iron Claw looms in

THE IRON CLAW (15-chapter Columbia serial/1941). Director: James W. Horne. 

Old reprobate Anton Benson (Forrest Taylor) pretends to be ill in his sprawling mansion and jealousy guards knowledge of a cache of gold that everyone both within and outside of his family wants to get their hands on. Anton is assisted by the butler, Gyves (John Beck), who knows much more about what's going on than he reveals. Other greedy characters include Anton's jailbird brother, Roy (Norman Willis), Anton's daughter, Millie (Edyth Elliott), her husband Simon Leach (Allen Doone), Dr. James Benson (Alex Callam), and others. Anton's brother, Culver (James Metcalfe), is murdered in the first chapter. Gangster Silk Langdon (Charles King) and his cohorts are also after the treasure, as is a mysterious figure known only as the Iron Claw, who sneaks about the mansion's corridors and many secret passages. 

Joyce Bryant and Charles Quigley

Into this merry gathering come Anton's niece, Patricia (Joyce Bryant), reporter Bob Lane (Charles Quigley of Daredevils of the Red Circle), and his photographer, Jack "Flash" Strong (Walter Sande), with the hapless Captain Casey (James C. Morton) along for the ride. Much of the action shifts down to Mexico, where Anton -- and virtually everyone else -- go to find the treasure deep in a mine. The treasure winds up being tossed back and forth between participants while the final chapters take place both around and inside Anton's mansion. During all this the Iron Claw, who never really seems especially scary, seems to become a guest-star in his own serial, as there are far too many players to keep track of. Cliffhangers include explosions, cave-ins, a pit filled with spikes, a room with hot jets of burning steam, and so on, all recorded at a breathless pace. 

Sinister shadow of the Iron Claw

There are times when The Iron Claw resembles nothing so much as a screwball comedy, and there's too much alleged comedy relief. The fight scenes, which occur frequently, can best be described as riotous, with each melee a free-for-all in which lots of furniture is gleefully smashed along with heads and faces. These almost approach the level of the fisticuffs in later serials from Republic. Super-fast-paced and generally entertaining, it's a shame that there is no great copy of The Iron Claw in existence, to my knowledge. A copy in four parts on youtube is better than a copy I have on DVD -- at least you can see what's happening in the night-time sequences -- but there are still gaps, sound distortions, a murky visual quality and so on. The cast is certainly enthusiastic. 

Verdict: Fun, but you might want to wait until this is digitally remastered. **3/4. 

THE SHADOW (1940)

The Shadow on the prowl!

THE SHADOW (15 chapter Columbia serial/1940). Director: James W. Horne. COLORIZED.

A gang headed by the mysterious Black Tiger is causing havoc in the city as well as conniption fits in some of the most prominent civic leaders, members of the Committee. The Black Tiger is using a special ray to bring down plane after plane as well as targeting railroad trains and other industries. Police Commissioner Weston (Frank LaRue) brings in criminologist Lamont Cranston (Victor Jory) for help -- along with his assistant Harry Vincent (Roger Moore) and secretary Margo Lane (Veda Ann Borg of Accomplice) --  but doesn't realize that Cranston's alter ego, the masked and cloaked crimefighter the Shadow, is also on the case. But Weston comes to believe that the Shadow and the Black Tiger are one and the same, which means Cranston has to fight off cops as well as gunsels!

Victor Jory

The Shadow, one of the best of Columbia's chapterplays, has its flaws -- there aren't that many decent cliffhangers and way too many explosions which the Shadow simply gets up and walks away from -- but in general it's fast-paced and vastly entertaining. Shadow purists have already complained that the Shadow doesn't use his ability to cloud men's minds or seemingly turn invisible -- not to mention that "Lamont Cranston" was also a fake identity -- but he does dress in his cloak and takes on the bad guys with aplomb. While the fight scenes may not achieve the level of operatic -- or acrobatic -- intensity of the Republic serials, they are still quite lively and well-done. The more memorable cliffhangers include Margo being caught below a descending freight elevator, the Shadow falling onto tracks with a train rapidly approaching, and Margo and two others held captive as a sizzling laser beam inexorably pivots in their direction.

Veda Ann Borg as Margo Lane

Then there's Victor Jory, who is perfect casting as Cranston/ the Shadow, a fine actor who adds that touch of class to the proceedings. He also gets the Shadow's taunting, sinister laugh down pat. Jory also scores as the Oriental Ling Chan, another of Cranston's disguises, which he uses to infiltrate the mob. Borg, Moore, LaRue are all on target, and there is notable work from Philip Ahn as Wu Yung, who also assists Cranston, and especially Jack Ingram as Flint Williams, the Black Tiger's main henchman. Richard Cramer does the amusing, terminally grumpy voice of the Black Tiger, who can seemingly become invisible and talks through the replica of a tiger's head. 

Cranston faces the Committee: who is the Black Tiger?

I found this colorized version of The Shadow on youtube and quickly pounced. Although some sections of the serial are not as clear as I might like (I'd rather watch a clear black and white print than a murky colorized one), the color does add to the enjoyment, although some might suggest that a character like the Shadow belongs in black and white. This version is also edited, which means you get the entire serial (not an 80-minute "feature" version like they used to show on television) with the credits, aside from the first chapter, excised. Some might miss those dramatic and fun cliffhanger closings, but this way you get all of the thrills and don't have to sit through the credits over a dozen times. This is not the first or last serial to utilize a grouping or committee of civic leaders, one of whom is intimated to be the master criminal, but The Shadow certainly keeps you guessing as to which one, as the members of the committee are rather numerous. James W. Horne also co-directed Flying G-Men. 

Verdict: Suspenseful and thrilling Columbia serial is a lot of fun! ***1/2. 

FLYING G-MEN

James Craig, Robert Paige and Richard Fiske

FLYING G-MEN (15 Chapter Columbia serial/1939). Directed by James W. Horne and Ray Taylor. 

Five years ago four pilots known as the Skyhawks became famous when they flew around the world. Now saboteurs are operating in America and one of them decides to take on the identity of the Black Falcon to fight them. One of the four -- Ed McKay (William Lally), who was planning to test a new bombing device -- is killed almost immediately, leaving behind a beloved sister, Babs (Lorna Gray of Exposed) and little son, Billy (Sammy McKim). The three other men are Hal (Robert Paige), Bart (Richard Fiske) and John (James Craig), who are assisted at times by Babs and little Billy. 

James Craig as one of the G-Men

Flying G-Men is an entertaining Columbia chapterplay with no great cliffhangers as such but plenty of fast-paced action both on the ground and in the air. Not too much suspense is generated over the identity of the mastermind behind the sabotage, whose unveiling happens relatively early on. The notion of keeping the hero's identity secret was used earlier in The Lone Ranger and later on in The Masked Marvel, but there isn't much suspense worked up over that, either. No matter, the serial is still fun. Lorna Gray has little to do in the serial but would get more attention when she played the villainess in The Perils of Nyoka. Although the theme music is pretty snappy, the score in general is overdone, like something out of a silent movie with a piano playing along. Our heroes fly about in certain chapters in a "pick-a-back" plane which has one aircraft attached to the top of another. 

Verdict: Entertaining Columbia serial thriller. ***.