ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP

Linda Stirling and George J. Lewis

ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (12 chapter Republic serial/1944). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Wallace Grissell.

Newspaper editor and publisher Randy Meredith (Jay Kirby of Rockin' in the Rockies) not only rails against the lawlessness of 1889 Idaho in his paper, but dresses up as the Black Whip to fight the bad guys. When he is murdered, his sister Barbara (Linda Stirling) takes over the role, and she proves to be mighty handy with a whip. The evil banker Hammond (Francis McDonald) is secretly leading a group of criminals who desperately want to prevent Idaho from becoming a state, which would interfere with their plans to enrich their own coffers. Barbara is helped by a secret government agent, Vic Gordon (George J. Lewis), who disguises himself as the Black Whip at one point to fool the crumb bums when they have almost figured out Barbara's secret identity. The one thing that's missing in this exciting serial is the character of Zorro, whose name is used for marquee value but who does not appear, although one could argue that the Black Whip is a variation on that character (along with many others, of course). Cliffhanger highlights include a wagon rolling over the edge of a cliff; Barbara being locked in a bank vault with a bomb that's about to go off; the bad guys ordering Barbara to "take off that mask!" or else they'll shoot Gordon; and especially the sequence when a whole mountain seems to come down on the cabin they're in, as well as a terrific bit when Barbara and Gordon are trapped in a mine with burning oil flooding towards them. Stirling was never a great actress, but she's more than competent for this type of material; Lewis has a certain degree of charm and ability; McDonald [Burn 'Em Up Barnes] makes an effective and oily two-faced villain, and Hal Taliaferro (who looks a bit and sounds a lot like Ben Johnson) is also good as his bad right hand, Baxter. Lucien Littlefield [Reducing] makes his mark as "Ten Point," the nervous little guy who works in the newspaper office. John Hamilton is one of the townspeople dedicated to ridding the town of the criminal element; Marshall Reed and Ken Terrell also have smaller roles. Zorro's Black Whip has a great climax with the gang attacking the town in an attempt to alter the election results, and loathsome Hammond is given a satisfying death scene. Zorro's Black Whip may not be a top-notch Republic serial -- and is quite short as serials go -- but it is exciting and entertaining. George J. Lewis played a villain in Federal Operator 99, and Taliaferro was his henchman. Stirling appeared in The Purple Monster Strikes and many other serials.

Verdict: This gal wields a mean whip! ***. 

MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE

Mr. Moto meets Lee Chan, Charlie Chan's son

MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE (1938). Director: James Tinling.

Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) is teaching a course in criminology and his students include the punch-drunk "Knock-Out" Wellington (Maxie Rosenbloom of Mr. Universe) and Charlie Chan's son, Lee (Keye Luke) -- temporarily moving from one mystery series to another -- who wants to follow in his father's footsteps. These last two serve as comedy relief -- Rosenbloom instead of Mantan Moreland -- in a tiresome tale of a boxer, Frankie Stanton (Russ Clark), who is murdered in the ring during a battle. The surviving boxer, Bill Steele (Dick Baldwin), has two women fighting over him: the plucky sports reporter Penny (Lynn Bari of City in Darkness); and spoiled society gal, Linda Benton (Jayne Regan), who is sort of a groupie for boxers, dumping them whenever they lose. Suspects include not only those already mentioned, but also Clipper McCoy (Bernard Nedell); Nick Crowder (Douglas Fowley); Connors (George E. Stone, on vacation from playing the Runt in the Boston Blackie movies); nasty boxer Biff Moran (Ward Bond of Blowing Wild); and Linda's father (John Hamilton), whose racket is the fight game. Lon Chaney Jr. has a small role; Pierre Watkin plays another of his seemingly endless bland authority figures; Harold Huber is Lt. Riggs; and Irving Bacon almost runs off with the movie in his funny portrayal of Sheriff Tuttle. The comedy relief in this is quite stupid for the most part, and the script is mediocre, but at least it has a fast pace and a slightly surprising ending. With this third entry the Mr. Moto series took a real dip in quality, adding Lee Chan and the moronic Rosenbloom to make it more resemble the Chan series, but even the weakest Chan entry had a more interesting screenplay. Lorre is as terrific as ever. Mr. Moto apparently knows Charlie Chan, at least by reputation, but the two characters, I believe, never appeared together -- too bad.

Verdict: A vehicle unworthy of both Peter Lorre and Mr. Moto. *1/2.

THE GIRL WHO DARED

Peter Cookson

THE GIRL WHO DARED (1944). Director: Howard Bretherton.

Ann Carroll (Lorna Gray) and her brother Josh (Kirk Alyn of Superman) are given a lift by the mysterious Rufus Blair (Peter Cookson) to a sort of haunted house party on an island that lies past a causeway. However, the owners of the house, Beau and Chattie Richmond (John Hamilton and Vivien Oakland), never sent out any invitations. While the group is pondering who might have invited people to a non-party, one of a pair of twins (Veda Ann Borg) is found murdered. The phone lines are cut and the causeway is cut off due to a storm. Everything seems to be tied into a theft of radium which someone is killing for. The suspense is quite bearable in this otherwise entertaining if distinctly minor Monogram mystery. The cast is game enough, with Willie Best [My Little Margie] making the best impression (despite the old-fashioned nature of his acting) as the funny and likable manservant Woodrow, along with Peter Cookson [Shadow of Suspicion], who proves once again that he was a criminally underutilized leading man. Roy Barcroft and Grant Withers are also in the cast. Howard Bretherton directed a number of serials, Charlie Chan movies, and Frankie Darro features.

Verdict: The girl who dared what? **1/2 out of 4.

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.

MR. WONG, DETECTIVE

Boris Karloff and Grant Withers

MR. WONG, DETECTIVE (1938). Director: Hugh Wiley.

Mr. Wong is the third Oriental sleuth introduced after Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto. James Lee Wong originally appeared in stories that appeared in Collier's and was the subject of several pictures for cheapie studio Monogram (where Charlie Chan eventually wound up). In this first Mr. Wong movie, Wong (a well-cast Boris Karloff) receives a plea for help from the frightened Dayton (John Hamilton), who runs a chemical company and who is convinced that someone is out to get him. As usual in these pictures, the client winds up dead, and there are more murders to follow. The murder method is poison gas but the killer is especially clever in figuring out how to get the gas to the victim. Suspects and other characters include Captain Street (Grant Withers of Radio Patrol) who's investigating the case; his gal, Myra (Maxine Jennings); the bitter inventor Roemer (John St. Polis); the mysterious Olga Petrov (Evelyn Brent of Daughter of Shanghai); and Dayton's partners, Meisle (William Gould) and Wilk (Hooper Atchley). The performances are fine and the picture moves fairly quickly, although a musical score certainly would have helped. Withers and Brent also appeared together in the serial Jungle Jim. 

Verdict: Not bad intro to the Mr. Wong series. ***.