THE MONSTER AND THE APE

The robot "monster"

THE MONSTER AND THE APE (15 chapter Columbia serial/1945. Director: Howard Bretherton. Colorized.

Professor Arnold (Ralph Morgan) has invented a robot which he calls the Metalogen Man after a material used in its construction. A colleague, Professor Ernst (George Macready of Steve Canyon), covets the robot for himself and uses his trained gorilla, Thor (Ray Corrigan), to get it, and thus begins a battle of wills and counter-strategies between opposing factions to get the robot back,  keep it out of Ernst's hands, and stay away from the paws of the mighty Thor and Ernst's nasty henchmen. Working on the side of justice along with Prof. Arnold are Ken Morgan (Robert Lowery of Sensation Hunters), Arnold's daughter, Babs (Carole Mathews of Assignment Redhead), and the lovably bumbling assistant Flash (Willie Best).  

George Macready consults with gunsels 

The Monster and the Ape is a fair-to-middling Columbia serial with a few interesting elements, such as the fact that the bad guys have an extra entrance to Ernst's HQ via a tunnel in the back of Thor's cage in the Municipal Zoo (yes, when he's not out killing people Thor stays in the zoo!). There are some more than decent cliffhangers, such as the bit with a conveyer belt that leads into an incinerator, and an even better sequence with walls closing in on our hero. Although he's as professional in this claptrap as he is in almost everything, Macready is an odd choice for this material, certainly not a career highpoint such as Paths of Glory. It's amusing that when Ernest disguises himself he doesn't disguise his voice -- surely even ten-year-olds would have wondered about that! Willie Best is forced to play the cowardly fool, as usual, but he is quite adept as Flash. 

Verdict: If you can't get enough apes and robots! **1/4. 

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! ***. 

DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC.

Ralph Byrd and Ralph Morgan

DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC. (15 chapter Republic serial/1941). Directed by William Witney and John English.

"New York must be evacuated at once. Proceed in an orderly manner."

Some years before the story begins, a special "secret council" was able to get the goods on a crook named "Rackets" Reagan, who received the death penalty. It develops that one of the members of the council (who was apparently unable to stop the others from convicting Reagan) is, unbeknownst to them, Rackets' brother, and now he's out for revenge. In his masked identity of the Ghost, he sets out to kill off the other members of the council, as well as to begin a wave of robbery and terror as the head of Crime Inc. His first dastardly deed is to try to destroy New York City with a deluge.

The Ghost prepares to give orders

The Ghost has two main underlings: a nasty gunsel named Corey (Anthony Warde); and a scientist named Lucifer (John Davidson), who has developed a machine that the Ghost can use to turn invisible. Sometimes the machine kicks out at inopportune moments, meaning that the Ghost has almost as many close calls as Dick Tracy has. Tracy is assisted by his associate, Billy Carr (Michael Owen), and his secretary, June Chandler (a colorless Jan Wiley), who just happens to be an "expert in sound research," which comes in handy when they need to trace the sound generated by the invisibility machine and even negate its effects. The council members are played by Ralph Morgan, John Dilson and Hooper Atchley, among others.

Tracy and Billy rush into action

Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc is one of the very best Republic serials, with a pace that never flags, furious fisticuffs, cliffhangers both within each chapter as well as at the end of each, excellent photography (Reggie Lanning), slick editing, and an exciting musical score by Cy Feuer. In addition to the suspense worked up over the true identity of the Ghost, there are lots of memorable moments: Tracy and Billy racing across a field as a plane lobs bombs at them below; Tracy falling unconscious on a conveyor belt that rushes him toward an inferno where he'll be cremated; Billy chained to the roof of a train with explosives aboard; June and Tracy trapped in a raging conflagration. In one great scene Tracy gets out of a boat speeding towards destruction by grabbing the rung of Billy's low-flying plane and soaring off to safety! The fight scenes in this are numerous and beautifully-handled: Tracy battling a supposed butler in a manor house; a rooftop battle between Tracy and the Ghost in which the latter manages to throw Tracy to his apparent doom. Unlike most Republic serials, this one doesn't have a "catch-up" chapter where previous scenes are replayed.

Verdict: Tremendous fun and flair in this lightning-fast classic cliffhanger. ***1/2.