SEA RAIDERS

SEA RAIDERS (12 chapter Universal serial/1941). Directors: Ford Beebe; John Rawlins.

The Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys join forces in this serial to take on a group called the Sea Raiders, who destroy Allied ships. Billy Adams (Billy Halop) and his buddies, including Toby (Huntz Hall) and Bilge (Gabriel Dell), are shanghaied by crooks, encounter the Raiders, and are eventually taken to their island headquarters. Billy has an older brother, square-jawed Tom (John McGuire), who's invented a new kind of torpedo, the plans for which are coveted by Tonjes (Reed Hadley), the leader of the Raiders. There are two women running around, the pretty Leah (Marcia Ralston, who resembles Merle Oberon), and the homely Aggie (Mary Field). One decent cliffhanger has one of the boys caught on a rope that is attached to a whale that's about to dive deep into the ocean, although another sequence features an octopus that doesn't appear to be in the same movie. [The same stock footage of a fight between a shark and an octopus later turned up in The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.] The serial is hampered by the unfunny and irritating antics of the "kids," and the classical music on the soundtrack, such as The Barber of Seville, is always inappropriate. John McGuire had the lead in Stranger on the Third Floor.

Verdict: One of your lesser cliffhanger serials. **.

JUNIOR G-MEN

JUNIOR G-MEN (1940). 12 chapter Universal serial. Directed by Ford Beebe and John Rawlins.

In this serial a few members of the Dead End Kids and Little Tough Guys basically play variations of their usual personas. Billy Barton's (Billy Halop) father, a colonel and an “inventive genius,” has come up with a formula that is coveted by enemy agents. With this formula, vibrations from explosions can set off other explosions within a range of 100 miles! Colonel Barton is kidnapped, and the enemy agents keep trying to kidnap Billy so that they can threaten him with harm to make his father comply. Billy and his buddies, including “Gyp” (Huntz Hall) and Terry (Gabriel Dell), not only get involved with real FBI men [headed by Jim Bradford, played by Joan Crawford's ex Phillip Terry], but also commingle with Junior G-Men led by Bradford's nephew Terry (Kenneth Howell). The enemy group is called the Flaming Torch and Billy and Gyp refer to the members of the outfit as “torchies.” The lead torchie is the same chubby guy who played head villain Monroe in The Green Hornet, Cy Kendall. The serial takes a while to get going but before long there are exciting cliffhangers involving a collapsing fire escape and a descending elevator cage. The theme music is good and there is absolutely no sign of Leo Gorcey.

Verdict: Not top-notch by any means but slightly better than the typical Universal entry. **1/2.

SKY RAIDERS

SKY RAIDERS (1941). 12 chapter Universal serial. Directed by Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor. 

 A fairly standard but reasonably entertaining serial with bad guys trying to get the secrets of a new plane away from the bad guys. The characterizations are a little more interesting than usual, and there's even a love triangle between hero Captain Dayton (Donald Woods from the Mexican Spitfire series) ) and buddy Ed Carey (Robert Armstrong from King Kong.) who both are hot for pretty secretary Mary Blake (Kathryn Adams). Armstrong even gives Miss Blake a hot lingering kiss at one point, a rare occasion in serials! Billy Halop (Eastside Kids) is along for the ride as a young wannabe pilot, Timothy Bryant. Eduardo Cianelli is the villain of the piece, the wonderfully named Felix Lynx. The bad guys employ an exact lookalike of Dayton for a couple of episodes, and there's a sinister countess (Jean Fenwick) who doesn't hang around very long. No really spectacular cliffhangers in this, unfortunately. 

 Verdict: Not so great. **.