VALLEY OF FIRE

Gene Autry

VALLEY OF FIRE (1951). Director: John English. Colorized.  

Although Tod Rawlings (Harry Lauter of The Crooked Web) and hard-boiled gal pal Bee Laverne (Christine Larson of Valley of Headhunters) try to fix the election, Gene Autry (Gene Autry of The Phantom Empire) manages to become mayor, appointing buddy Breezie (Pat Buttram of Twilight of Honor) as sheriff. Gene decides to send for a wagon train full of women who want husbands, and one of the gals is the gold-digging Laurie (Gail Davis). Rawlings does his best to shanghai the ladies to the new town where he's taken up residence, while Laurie falls for Steve Guilford (Russell Hayden), who actually shot the driver of a stagecoach and stole the gold on board. Gene and Breezie have their hands full dealing with Rawlings and also trying to prove that Guilford is both a crook and a murderer. 

Autrey with Larson and Lauter

Gene Autry once said of himself: "I'm not a good actor, a good rider or a particularly good singer, but they seem to like what I do, so I'll keep on doing it as long as they want." Autry was also not particularly attractive and was a bit paunchy as well. In spite of all that, he was hugely popular and is still considered by many to be the greatest cowboy star of them all. Valley of Fire has a couple of pleasant and forgettable song numbers, and is, like the star, completely amiable. The film is well-produced when it comes to cinematography and scoring and there is an enthusiastic supporting cast. Teddy Infuhr is amusing as young Virgil, a bratty kid who keeps bedeviling Breezie; he amassed 104 credits! 

Verdict: Minor western comedy-musical-drama is easy enough to take and to forget. **1/4. 

MURDER IN THE MUSIC HALL

William Marshall and Vera (Hruba) Ralston

MURDER IN THE MUSIC HALL (1946). Director: John English.

Lila Leighton (Vera Ralston) is a figure skater who appears in an ice show on the stage of a music hall. She is contacted by Carl Lang (Edward Norris), who spent five years in the penitentiary for killing a man named Douglas. Now Carl tells Lila that he was only covering for her, that he knows she killed Douglas out of jealousy. Lila is still digesting this absurd accusation when Carl himself is murdered, literally stabbed in the back in his penthouse. With the aid of her boyfriend, handsome conductor Don Jordan (William Marshall), Lila tries to ferret out who killed Carl before she herself is accused of the crime by Inspector Wilson (William Gargan). The suspects include Lila's fellow performers -- Millicent (Helen Walker of Nightmare Alley), Diane (Julie Bishop of Why Men Leave Home), and Gracie (Ann Rutherford) -- as well as Rita Morgan (Nancy Kelley of The Bad Seed), the wife of gossip columnist George Morgan (Jerome Cowan). 

Suspects: Helen Walker, Ann Rutherford, Julie Bishop

Murder in the Music Hall is a well-turned-out mystery from Republic studios starring the wife, Ralston, of the studio head. The plot has interesting aspects, especially concerning a certain blind stranger, although the true identity of this person is obvious from the first. The identity of the murderer, however, is by no means certain but won't come as that much of a surprise, either. Never a particularly great actress, Ralston generally manages to be appealing, as she is in this. Marshall, Norris, Gargan and the ladies are all adept. There are some skillful real-life figure skaters who put on brief acts as well. James Craven, Jack La Rue and Anne Nagle are also in the cast in small roles. Director John English also helmed a number of serials.

Verdict: Acceptable Republic murder mystery with an interesting cast. **1/2. 

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY (1944). Director: John English. 

At his ranch in the San Fernando Valley, crusty old Cyclone (Andrew Tombes of Meet the Boyfriend) finds his cowboys goofing off again to hang out and sing with his grand-daughter, Betty Lou (Jean Porter of Cry Danger). Disgusted, Betty Lou's older sister, Dale (Dale Evans), fires them all and replaces them with women, figuring Betty Lou will no longer hang around and distract the ranch hands. Dale nearly runs Roy Rogers (Roy Rogers) over with her car -- this take place in "modern" times -- and he tries to get a date to no avail. However, when Betty Lou, a mere child, gets a crush on Roy, Dale decides to have Roy romance her so that she will get over it. Naturally, the two fall in love. 

Meanwhile poor Oliver (Charles Smith) hopes to have Betty Lou fall in love with him, and the equally crusty Hattie (Dot Farley), sort of a den mother to the cowgirls, just might develop a yen for Cyclone. Roy and Dale, along with Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, sing a few numbers, including the catchy title tune and "You're Too Good to be True." Oh yes, there's a plot of sorts when fired cowboy Matt (LeRoy Mason) and a buddy "borrow" some of Cyclone's valuable horses supposedly to get their jobs back but actually to get a lot of cash. Speaking of cash Roy's friend Keno (Edward Gargan of Behind the Mask) also wants to recover some money that was stolen from him, also by Matt. 

San Fernando Valley is amiable enough. It's more of a musical comedy than a western, although it does have some horse chases and gunplay and a couple of fistfights. It's funny that Roy and his horse Trigger are billed above the title but Dale Evans isn't. That would change in the future. As for Roy, his natural charm always helped carry his movies be they fair or foul. 

Verdict: Modestly entertaining Roy Rogers Movie. **3/4. 

DICK TRACY RETURNS

Charles Middleton as Pa Stark 

DICK TRACY RETURNS (15 chapter Republic serial/1938). Directors: John English; William Witney.

This follow-up to Dick Tracy has our hero (Ralph Byrd), an FBI agent instead of a cop, battling the vile villainy of Pa Stark (Charles Middleton of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe) and his five evil sons, each of whom has a criminal specialty. Over the course of fifteen chapters, Stark and his gang pull off a bank job (in which new agent, Ron Merton -- played by David Sharpe -- is murdered on his first case); try to grab an important lens from an observatory; steal special government planes; get their hands on a dangerous torpedo boat; and work with a foreign agent named Boris Zarkov (Walter Mills). Tracy is joined by agent Steve Lockwood (Michael Kent), and gets help and sometimes interference from comedy relief Mike McGurk (Lee Ford) and young Junior (Jerry Tucker); Lynne Roberts is cast as Tracy's efficient secretary, Gwen. The highlights of this exciting serial include an unconscious Tracy being put in a car that's sent hurtling down the levels of a parking garage; Tracy being thrown out of a plane with a sabotaged parachute; a huge tower falling on a rooftop where Tracy and an enemy are in heated combat; and especially the thrilling sequence when two trains rush towards each other on the same track even as Lockwood is handcuffed to the top of one of the cars. Byrd is perfection as Tracy and Middleton is great as Stark. His "boys" don't get much of a chance to make an impression, with the exception of Ned Glass, who plays the trigger-happy "Kid Stark." Followed by Dick Tracy's G-Men and the superior Dick Tracy vs. Crime Inc.

Verdict: Byrd vs Middleton is a winning combination. ***. 

DRUMS OF FU MANCHU

Henry Brandon as the Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu

DRUMS OF FU MANCHU (15 chapter Republic serial/1940). Directors: William Witney; John English.

Taking its cue from the feature-length film starring Boris Karloff, The Mask of Fu Manchu, this serial is also loosely based not on Sax Rohmer's "Drums of Fu Manchu" but rather his "Mask of Fu Manchu." In both film and serial Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon) is out to get certain artifacts from the tomb of Genghis Kahn that will give him the power to conquer all Asia -- in the serial's case it is a sacred scepter. To that end there is a lot of back and forth dallying over not only the scepter, but the "kardac segment," a piece of a tile that will lead to the location of the tomb. Fu's chief adversary, as in the books, is Sir Dennis Nayland Smith (William Royle), with assistance from Dr. Petrie (Olaf Hytten of Detective Kitty O'Day) and young Allan Parker (Robert Kellard of Escort Girl), whose father was murdered by Fu. Other characters include Professor Randolph (Tom Chatterton); his daughter Mary (Luana Walters); Fu Manchu's loyal assistant, Loki (John Merton of Radar Patrol vs Spy King), who actually has fangs; and Fu's daughter, Fah Lo Suee (Gloria Franklin). One carry over from the novel "Drums of Fu Manchu" is the way one hears the nerve-wracking sound of beating, steadily louder drums whenever someone's doom is approaching. Fu, who is more sadistic than in the novels, employs gelatinous darts; a cage with rats inside of it (known as "the gates to paradise"); a fire-branch trap that threatens to snap Allan in two; and a deadly gas in Kahn's tomb. Especially memorable cliffhangers include two trains about to collide in chapter one; the attack of a kind of octo-squid in a watery chamber below Fu's HQ in chapter two; a pendulum that nearly cleaves Allan in twain in chapter four; a jeep that sails over a cliff during a fight with Arabs in chapter eight; a deadly heat device from the sun's rays that nearly frizzles Mary in chapter nine; and a whole ceiling of stalactites that comes crashing down on the good guys in chapter ten. There's a little too much running about the desert in the final chapters, and the score is mediocre. This is not necessarily top-drawer Fu or a top-drawer serial, but it is good and entertaining. Once you get used to the odd voice Henry Brandon affects for Fu, he is quite effective.

Verdict: Great fun to watch Fu Manchu carry out his diabolical manipulations -- always with class. ***.

KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS

Slingin' Sammy Baugh

KING OF THE TEXAS RANGERS (12 chapter Republic serial/1941). Directors: William Witney and John English.

Texas ranger Tom King Jr. (Slingin' Sammy Baugh) learns that his father (Monte Blue) has been murdered by fifth columnists who are out to sabotage certain oil fields. Since these fields  are out of his jurisdiction, King decides to fight against the saboteurs as a private agent. Working with King are Pedro (Duncan Renaldo of Zorro Rides Again) of the Mexican Rurales; intrepid reporter Sally Crane (Pauline Moore of Arkansas Judge); and Wichita Bates (Kermit Maynard). Working against King, although King is unaware of it, is John Barton (Neil Hamilton), who secretly reports to "His Excellency" (Rudolph Anders of She Demons) from his dirigible. Sammy Baugh was a football star who had a very brief career as an actor, and is perfectly adequate in this serial. Cast in the Lyle Talbot role of smooth bad guy, Neil Hamilton is slightly more interesting than Talbot, but hardly riveting. Duncan Renaldo probably makes the best impression as the likable Pedro, and others in the cast, generally Barton's henchmen, include Roy Barcroft and Jack Ingram. Chapter one has a great cliffhanger in which oil fields are set ablaze and a flaming derrick falls on top of a cabin with King and Sally inside. Even better is the explosion at the end of chapter two, which blows up both ends of a tunnel containing a train. There's a tense business involving a hood holding a grenade in order to force a man to obey his orders. In chapter seven a truck smashes into a shed with King inside. Cy Feuer's music helps keep things moving at a rapid pace. The serial's suspense is minimized, however, because we're clued into the ultimate bad guy's identity from the very beginning.

Verdict: Republic serial is not bad and not great. **1/2.

THE PHANTOM SPEAKS

Richard Arlen and Pierre Watkin

THE PHANTOM SPEAKS (1945). Director: John English.

A nutty doctor named Paul Rudwick (Stanley Ridges) thinks he can bring back the spirits of the dead, and tests his theory on a convicted murderer, Bogardus (Tom Powers of I Love Trouble), after he has just been executed. It never occurs to this fool that the soul of this extremely dangerous murderer can take over the doctor's mind, which is what happens, with the result that Rudwick starts tracking down and murdering all of Bogardus's enemies. Reporter Matt Fraser (Richard Arlen of Island of Lost Souls) is engaged to Joan (Lynne Roberts of Because of You) the doctor's daughter, while Pierre Watkins plays Fraser's boss, Davis. This is a cheap Republic production that somehow manages to hold the viewer's attention despite the fact that it's pretty much by the numbers, unoriginal, and predictable; if only the basic story had been developed more. Ridges is effective as the decidedly dumb doctor who pays a terrible price for his stupidity and irresponsibility. This is practically a remake of Black Friday, the Lugosi-Karloff film in which Ridges also played a decent man taken over by a hoodlum's consciousness.

Verdict: Republic cheapie creepy has its moments. **1/2.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (1944)

The Scarab (Lionel Atwill) vs Captain America (Dick Purcell)

 CAPTAIN AMERICA (15 chapter Republic serial/1944). Directors: Elmer Clifton; John English.

"A shocking exhibition of barbarism!" -- Cyrus Maldor.

District Attorney Grant Gardner (Dick Purcell) is secretly -- actually, not so secretly -- the famous costumed hero Captain America. His adversary, as we know from the first, is the Scarab, who is -- very secretly, except to the audience -- Cyrus Maldor (Lionel Atwill). Maldor first kills off members of an expedition who know too much via a poison known as the Purple Death. He has his men steal a destructive device that brings down a building; uses a scientist's secret of perpetual life to bring one of his henchmen back from the dead; and employs a "Singari blow-gun" to kill off another of his enemies. Later he tries to get a portion of a map that will lead him to a secret city and its treasures. Highlights of this exciting serial include the aforementioned building collapse in chapter one; a bit with a guillotine in chapter five; and a sequence when our hero is nearly crushed by a mine car hurtling down a shaft in chapter six, Another interesting scene has the Scarab brutally whipping John Hamilton, the "chief" from Adventures of Superman. Purcell [Brides are Like That] is quite suitable as Captain America/Grant Gardner; pretty Lorna Gray makes less impression in this than she did in The Perils of Nyoka; and Atwill [The Devil is a Woman], in his classy, elegant and utterly evil performance as Maldor, positively walks off with the picture; his underplaying makes him that much more effective. Jay Novello also registers in his brief turn as a thug. The fight scenes in this are furious and frenetic and very well-done. In the comic books Captain America was a soldier named Steve Rogers, not a D.A. I find this serial a lot more entertaining than the recent movies about this character such as Captain America The First Avenger.

Verdict: Delightful Republic cliffhanger. ***1/2.

MYSTERIOUS DR. SATAN

Both in disguise, Copperhead (Wilcox) faces Dr. Satan (Ciannelli)

MYSTERIOUS DR. SATAN (15 chapter Republic serial/1940). Directors: John English; William Witney.

Just before the older man's death, Bob Wayne (Robert Wilcox) is told by Governor Bronson (Charles Trowbridge), the man who raised him, that his real father was once known as the original Copperhead, who fought for justice but was wrongly labeled a crook. Bob decides to don a mask and become the new Copperhead, so that he can fight the minions of the mysterious Dr. Satan (Eduardo Ciannelli). "Mysterious" is right, because we never learn why he calls himself Dr. Satan nor what his true identity is. (Similarly, the Copperhead disguise seems fairly unnecessary.) Satan is after a remote control device invented by Professor Scott (C. Montague Shaw), whose daughter, Lois (Ella Neal), is trapped in a diving bell with Bob when it springs a leak thanks to the diabolical manipulations of Dr. Satan. The nefarious Satan forces his men and others to wear explosive chest devices that keep them from getting out of line or escaping, and on several occasions employs a large killer robot to do his dirty work. Ciannelli [Johnny Staccato; Monster from Green Hell] is quite good as Dr. Satan, sneering his contempt without ever overacting or chewing the scenery. Wilcox, who was Diana Barrymore's third husband and companion-in-nightmare, was certainly good-looking and was not a bad actor, but he's not a good choice for a serial action hero as his performance lacks dynamism and is rather listless [even if one gives him the benefit of the doubt and imagines that he was trying to differentiate between Wayne and the Copperhead]. Ella Neal is adept and attractive, but the other woman in the cast, Dorothy Herbert, has little opportunity to do more than look interested or perky as reporter Alice Brent. Jack Mulhall [The She-Creature] and Ken Terrell [Indestructible Man] are also in the cast. One of the best cliffhangers has to do with a cell whose far wall begins closing in on our hero as Dr. Satan chuckles. This was originally conceived as a Superman serial, but the rights for that character went to Columbia studios instead; that studio took eight years to finally come out with a serial about the Man of Steel.

Verdict: Entertaining, but not in the class of the best Republic serials. **1/2.

THE FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS

THE FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS 12 chapter Republic serial/1938. Directed by John English and William Witney.

When virtually all the men under his command are killed in a bizarre electronic assault, Lt. Tom Grayson (Lee Powell) becomes subject of a hearing. But it isn't long before he, his buddy Lt. Corby (Herman Brix/Bruce Bennett), and the entire United States Marine Corps learn that the true culprit is a masked fiend who calls himself the Lightning. He uses an "electrical Thunderbolt" to wipe out hundreds on ships so he can loot them, and carries a portable version of the device to obliterate his personal enemies. The cliffhangers in this otherwise exciting serial are fairly routine -- cars over cliffs, conflagrations, falling beams and even sharks -- and one or two are borrowed from earlier serials. There's a minimum of suspense over the true identity of the Lightning, which comes as somewhat of a surprise. Lee Powell did mostly westerns and died only six years after this serial was released at age thirty-six. He had an appealing sensitivity, although he could do the action stuff with reasonable aplomb as well. 

Verdict: Entertaining if unspectacular cliffhanger. **1/2.

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (1940). 12-chapter Republic serial. Directors: John English and William Witney. 

"I didn't expect a tea party when I joined the mounties." 

Sergeant Dave King (Allan Lane) of the Royal Canadian Mounties speeds into action when both his father (Herbert Rawlinson) and his girlfriend's father, Tom Merrritt, are murdered by bad guys. Merritt (Stanley Andrews) had hoped to use the new compound X to help cure infantile paralysis, but some foreign spies have more sinister purposes in mind. Lita Conway and Robert Kellard are Merritt's daughter and son, respectively, the latter of whom is a colleague of Dave King's. Richard Travis of The Man Who Came to Dinner and Missile to the Moon is another Mountie. Although the serial is at times quite rousing with plenty of fisticuffs, a major deficit is the lack of a great, intriguing villain. Memorable cliffhangers include an elaborate forest fire in chapter one; the lumber camp buzz saw in chapter three; and the train wreck in chapter five; among others. 

Verdict: Not special, but entertaining in spite of it. **1/2.

JUNGLE GIRL

JUNGLE GIRL 15-chapter Republic serial (1941). Directors: William Witney; John English. 

Nyoka (Frances Gifford), who lives in the jungles of Cairobi with her father Dr. Meredith, doesn't realize that he has been replaced by his evil twin brother Bradley (Trevor Bardette). Nyoka not only has to deal with the sinister machinations of the medicine man, Shamba (Frank Lackteen), but with the deadly wiles of Bradley's confederate, Slick Latimer (Gerald Mohr). At least the brave Nyoka has three allies: the pilot Jack Stanton (Tom Neal of Detour fame), his buddy and co-pilot Curly (Eddie Acuff), and the little native boy Kimbu (Tommy Cook). 

Jungle Girl, loosely based on a novel by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, is packed with action and deadly situations that occur within each chapter and not just at the end of each. Nyoka is suspended over a fire and tied to logs by straps, shrinking due to the heat, which are about to snap her into the flames; or is nearly drawn and quartered by the sadistic Shamba. Kimbu falls off a rope bridge and is nearly eaten by a crocodile. Jack gets trapped in a pit with a hungry lion in one chapter and dangles overhead in a trap as another tries to claw him from the ground in another. Nyoka herself battles a lion to the death at one point. And these aren't even the cliffhangers! 

The actual cliffhangers present a flood of water that nearly washes the good guys out of a cavern and off of a cliff; a thatch of fiery oil on the river that nearly roasts them alive; a slipping log that traverses a high chasm; and a trap that consists of a room with a floor that moves to reveal what appears to be a bottomless pit! One of the best cliffhangers and action scenes has to do with Jack trapped on a conveyor belt that draws him ever nearer to a huge block of stone that repeatedly mashes downward as his head gets closer and closer. The suspense over this sequence continues into the following chapter where Jack continues to be in danger as Nyoka and the others battle all around him. There is a superb fight to the death between Jack and Slick on an airplane for the memorable and highly satisfying climax. 

Curly isn't just comedy relief, although he does figure in the funniest scene, when he throws his voice to make little Kimbu think that his adorable monkey can talk! Later on, when Curly is unjustly accused of murdering the native chief, he realizes that they will kill everyone else just to get to him and is willing to sacrifice his life to save the others -- until the truth comes out. The actors are fine, with Mohr, in one of his best roles, taking top honors as the slimy Slick. Neal makes a more than adequate two-fisted hero, and Gifford is lively and athletic. Bardette is fine as both the sympathetic doctor and his very unsympathetic brother. Tommy Cook is a charmer as Kimbu, as is his little monkey. There's even a very hammy gorilla in chapter eight. Al Kikume, who played Lothar in Mandrake the Magician, is herein cast as Chief Lutembi. Ken Terrell, who played Mrs. Archer's butler Jess in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, is cast as another native. Gifford also appeared in Henry Aldrich Gets Glamor. The theme music sounds like something you'd hear for a "safari" act in a nightclub. 

NOTE: The Perils of Nyoka, made by Republic the following year, was probably not an "official" sequel. In this Nyoka's dead father [killed in the first chapter of Jungle Girl] somehow turns up alive. 

Verdict: One of the best serials ever made! ***1/2.

THE LONE RANGER serial

THE LONE RANGER (1938) 15-Chapter Republic serial. 

Directed by John English and William Witney. 

"Hi Yo Silver -- Away!" 

A massacre of Texas Rangers has only one survivor, the "lone ranger" who's rescued by Tonto (Chief Thundercloud). Now the evil Captain Smith, posing as Colonel Jeffries (Stanley Andrews) is behind many nefarious acts in the district -- he hopes to become the "dictator of Texas" -- and is out to get his adversary, The Lone Ranger -- if he can figure out who he is. There are five rangers, any one of which could be the masked man. Let's not forget pretty Joan Blanchard (Lynn Roberts) and the little kid who hero-worships LR (and is not a bad actor to boot). Frankly, I didn't find The Lone Ranger to be quite the classic I was hoping for, although Lone Ranger and western fans might give this serial higher marks. There are some exciting moments, however, such as a thrilling chase after a stagecoach in chapter 12, culminating in a harrowing dive off a cliff. And yes, Giacomo Rossini's wonderful overture from his final opera William Tell makes exciting -- if bizarre -- background music. Stirring conclusion, too, as the true Lone Ranger is finally revealed. 

Verdict: Didn't every kid want to ride Silver? **1/2.

ZORRO RIDES AGAIN

ZORRO RIDES AGAIN (1937). Republic. Directed by William Witney and John English.

This is an acceptable but pretty standard cliffhanger that is by no means any great classic of the genre. John Carroll is fine as James Vega/Zorro, who comes to the aid of a brother-sister team of railroad owners beset by villains. Marsden (Noah Beery) wants the railroad for himself, and has "El Lobo" do his dirty work for him out in California while he sits behind a desk in Manhattan. El Lobo and Marsden are both colorless, unprepossessing antagonists. Helen Christian plays Joyce Andrews, one of the railroad owners. (Her reaction when she learns that a father and his young son have been killed by El Lobo is "underplayed," to say the least!) Duncan Renaldo is "Renaldo," who assists Zorro at times. Some good cliffhangers involve floods, explosions, and train tunnels, while chapter three features some good fisticuffs on the tracks as a train approaches, with Zorro’s foot getting caught in the rail (it never occurs to Zorro to simply remove his boot)! Zorro Rides Again is not terrible, but considering it comes from Republic studios, it is rather disappointing.

Verdict: Unspectacular. **1/2.

THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL

THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (1941). Directors: William Witney; John English.

Noticing and envying the success of Superman, in the 1940's Fawcett Comics came out with their own super-strong guy and named him Captain Marvel. This character's tremendous success made DC Comics (publisher of Superman, Batman etc.) nervous, so they initiated a law suit, which was initially dismissed. Eventually it was Fawcett's lack of faith in the continuing viability of super-hero comic books – and the enormous court costs -- that wiped the good captain and his “marvelous” associates off the newsstands. Fawcett settled out of court and discontinued its entire comic book line. But not before Republic pictures made a serial based on the comic book. [Ironically, decades later DC Comics acquired the rights to all the Fawcett Comics' characters, including Captain Marvel, and began publishing new adventures of the character, making it clear once and for all that they should never have won that law suit.] In the comic books the facial features of Captain Marvel were based on Fred MacMurray's, but MacMurray was too big a star at the time to appear in a Republic serial so “B” western player Tom Tyler got the job while Frank “Junior” Coghlan got the plum assignment of the captain's young alter ego Billy Batson.

Adventures of Captain Marvel, despite the usual assortment of dumb moments and lapses in logic, is a stupendously entertaining chapter play that moves quickly and features some outstanding sequences (the best of which has Captain Marvel about to be sizzled in a flash flood of molten lava at the end of the fifth chapter out of twelve). The identity of the villain, The Scorpion, isn't telegraphed, and some suspense is worked up over his unmasking. The stunts, fisticuffs, and other action scenes (courtesy of co-director William Witney) are all first-rate. Now available in a crisp DVD print, this is highly recommended for super-hero and action fans, and kids of all ages.

NOTE: If you love classic cliffhanger serials, go directly to the cliffhanger page of Quirk's Reviews Online by clicking here.

Verdict: One of the great classic cliffhangers! ***1/2.