My introduction to movie serials took place when I was a kid, sometime in the early ‘70s, when Al Radka (a local celebrity and spokesman back in Fresno) who ran late night movies on Saturdays started to run these classic cliffhangers as a lead in to whichever horror/sf film he would be showing that night. The first of these serials he showed was The Crimson Ghost. For the next several years I would tune in on Saturday night at 11:30 PM to catch the next chapter in the various movie serials Radka would show, rarely missing an episode. Nowadays, many of these serials are available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and some are even on various streaming services and youtube.
The Crimson Ghost from IMDB
The Crimson Ghost is categorized as a science fiction serial as the main driving element revolves around a device called a “cyclotrode”, which was designed to stop atomic missiles, but could also be used as a weapon to terrorize cities or destroy whole armies. Interesting point on the first part, a device to stop nuclear attacks sounds like it was an early concept of the Reagan era Strategic Defense System (popularized as “Star Wars Program”). The Crimson Ghost manages to steal the device, and plans on building a much bigger cyclotrode that he could then use to blackmail cities and governments for bales of money, or sell to a hostile nation for bigger bales of cash.
The villain, The Crimson Ghost is a costumed character with a skull mask, and using a microphone to disguise his voice (voiced by I. Stanford Jolley), and is in reality one of the university professors where the cyclotrode was developed (sorry, not going to reveal which one of the professors he was).
The Ghost’s principal henchman, Ashe, is played by Clayton Moore, who would go on to play The Lone Ranger on TV in the ‘50s. Clayton is probably the best known cast member thanks to The Lone Ranger and his many public appearances as the Ranger. There is also a lot of interesting trivia on IMDB and wikipedia about Moore’s association with The Mask. Worth reading when you have the time.
The lead in the serial is Duncan Richards, played by Charles Quigly, a two-fisted, crime-fighting professor at the same university and aided in the development of the cyclotrode. As the hero, the end of most of the chapters ended with a cliffhanger hinting at his untimely demise, and, as was the style of movie serials, meant you had to wait until the next chapter to see how he managed to survive.
And what would a serial be without a heroine to share in the dangers? Linda Stirling plays Diana, the tough as nails secretary who assists Richards throughout the serial in tracking down the villains and saving the day. And Diana was no simple secretary; she was an accomplished pilot and did not fear the bad guys, and tussled with them as the need arose to do so. Stirling appeared in many movie serials during the era, including a couple of other serials I remember seeing as a kid back in the ‘70s.
The Crimson Ghost was produced at Republic Pictures and released in 1946, a serial in 12 chapters. Movie serials have a long history in cinema going all the way back to the beginning of the film industry, and only died out in the 1950s due to the advent of television. Many serials, including The Crimson Ghost (as Cyclotrode X)were re-edited into standard movie format and shown on television.
I hope you enjoyed this bit of nostalgia, and I look forward to writing more about movie serials in the future. Thanks also to the CineTV team for providing a great platform to discuss movies. There are a lot of great writers here sharing their favorite films here, with many great insights and from many different countries and cultures. And also a shout-out to the Rising Star Game as their introduction of a CineTV NFT to their game led me to this great community.
Thanks for stopping by.