CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT

Dave O'Brien as Captain Midnight

CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT (15 chapter Columbia serial/1942). Director: James W. Horne.

Captain Albright (Dave O'Brien) also uses the costumed and masked identity of Captain Midnight, although everyone seems to know the two are the same. He is aided by his buddies, Ichabod or "Icky" (Guy Wilkerson) and the spunky Chuck (Sam Edwards). A scientist named John Edwards (Bryant Washburn) has invented a special range-finder weapon that he hopes to sell to Washington, but the nefarious Ivan Shark (James Craven) and his gang want to get their hands on it first. Captain Midnight and his own gang, including Major Steele (Joseph W. Girard) and Edwards' daughter, Joyce (Dorothy Short), have their hands full trying to stay alive, outwit Shark and either keep the invention out of Shark's hands or get it back once he's stolen it. Shark also has a daughter named Fury (Luana Walters of Shadow of Chinatown), who helps her father and bosses around his henchmen.

There are some terrific cliffhangers in this serial. In chapter three Midnight finds himself trapped on a plane without a parachute and a cockpit rapidly filling with deadly gas. Midnight is nearly cut in half by a buzz saw in chapter four, and most of the supporting players are nearly crushed by moving walls with electrical charges in chapter fifteen. There is an excellent business with a water tank death trap in a cage inside Shark's HQ in chapter six, and even wilder is a fire pit in chapter ten in which Midnight is trapped on a revolving platform above the flames even as a huge block descends from above. Fury and Joyce have a brief tussle in chapter five. O'Brien is fine in the lead and the others are okay, but James Craven [The Purple Monster Strikes] really steals the show with his portrayal of the nasty and determined Ivan Shark, who is also a master of disguise, causing lots of problems because of it throughout the serial. Lee Zahler's music is right on target. O'Brien and Short appeared together in Spooks Run Wild.

Captain Midnight was adapted from a popular radio show (it became a TV series in the fifties). When this serial became equally successful, it was decided to turn it into a comic book -- in which the character can fly without a plane, unlike the serial -- which was published by Fawcett and lasted nearly seventy issues.

Verdict: Humor, frenetic action, and a fast pace add up to one very entertaining serial. ***.

THE MONSTER AND THE APE

THE MONSTER AND THE APE (1945). 15-chapter Columbia serial. Director: Howard Bretherton. 

Professor Franklin Arnold (Ralph Morgan) has made a robot from the material of a meteor which he calls "metaligan." Unfortunately, the evil Ernst (George Macready), who pretends to be a good guy, wants the robot and the meteor and everything else he can get for himself. Fighting against the evil Ernst are Kent Morgan (Robert Lowery of Batman serial fame) and Arnold's decorative daughter, Baba (Carole Mathews). Ernst not only has a passel of gunsels to help him, but a big ape named Thor (played winningly by Roy Corrigan) as well. We learn very early on that Ernst is a bad guy and it's just as well, as Macready's very distinctive voice would have given it away anyway. Caught in the middle of everything is Arnold's lab assistant, Flash (Willie Best of My Little Margie). [While Best is forced by the script to play the stereotypical "nervous negro," at least his gifted comic acting shines through in spite of it.] There are some good cliffhangers, such as a pit with closing walls in chapter eight, and an electro-death in chapter ten. This is not a bad serial, but by no means one of the best. Lee Zahler's score certainly helps. Morgan also appeared in the serial Gangbusters. 

Verdict: Perfectly entertaining if unspectacular. **1/2.

THE SECRET CODE

THE SECRET CODE 15 chapter Columbia serial (1942). Director: Spencer Gordon Bennet. 

Cop Dan Barton (Paul Kelly) pretends to be a rogue so he can join a gang of Nazi saboteurs and destroy them from the inside. Unfortunately the only man who knew of his plan is killed early on, putting him at odds with Nazis and policemen alike. He dresses up in a uniform and mask and calls him The Black Commando, undermining the plans of the saboteurs after he's accepted (more or less) into the gang as Barton. He does have two allies, another detective named Pat (Clancy Cooper) and a newspaper woman named Jean (Anne Nagel). The serial greatly benefits by the casting of Kelly over some pretty-boy non-actor, and Nagel over some sexy bimbo, as they make their characters more believable than usual. Ludwig Donath, Trevor Bardette, and others in the supporting cast are also assets. Well directed by Bennet, the serial has cinematic and exciting fight scenes in every chapter (often with chairs and the like thrown directly at the camera). One chapter has the bad guys planting radio bombs all over the city -- each one alone can wipe out a city block! Then in chapter fourteen there are the light bulbs that fall, smash, and emit a deadly gas. Lee Zahler's "score" is just a bad bowdlerization of Beethoven's Fifth (which became a "V for Victory" theme during World War 2) but is effective enough. Too bad The Black Commando didn't return for a sequel. 

Verdict: More fun than The Dark Knight. ***.

THE IRON CLAW

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

Set mostly in a creepy house and an abandoned mine, this has to do with a mysterious figure with an iron claw who stalks the members of the Benson family. There is no love lost between Anton Benson (Forrest Taylor) and his other brothers, and Anton's daughter Millie (Edythe Elliott) can do without most of the rest of her relatives as well. Anton's niece Pat (Joyce Bryant) can't believe that either he nor chief suspect -- and petty crook -- Roy Benson (Norman Willis) can be up to any mischief, but there's also Gyves the butler (John Beck), and hood Silk Langdon (Charles King) to contend with. Bob Lane (Charles Quigley) is a reporter on the case and Jack Strong (Walter Sande) is his photographer; there's also casey the Cop (James C. Morton) on the side of the angels.

This is an extremely entertaining, very fast-paced, skillfully done serial with a lot of exciting sequences. The flavorful, constantly bickering characters and the old house with all its secret panels add to the fun. Joyce Bryant is a great screamer, which is probably why they had her haul off and screech so often during the movie, as frankly Pat seems too feisty a gal to be screaming all the time. Pat gets into a tussle with tough customer Annie, who works for Silk and tries to hold her captive, at one point. One of the best cliffhangers has the good guys trapped in a tunnel in the mine by explosions and fire. The acting is more than adequate, but Forrest Taylor is really quite good as Anton, who knows a lot more than he's saying. Lee Zahler's score, with its ominous theme for the Claw, creates atmosphere and suspense.

Verdict: Whirlwind serial is a delight! ***.