Something that I've found very gratifying over the last couple of years is that fans of the band The Misfits now know who the Crimson Ghost is. Remember years ago you would see someone wearing a Misfits T-shirt and you would mention the Republic movie serial villain and they would have no idea what you were talking about ? Well now they do.
THE CRIMSON GHOST (1946) was one of the best of Republic's movie serials. Directed by Fred C. Bannon and William Witney the screenplay was credited to Albert De Mond , Basil Dickey , Jesse Duffy and Sol Shor.
The 12 chapter serial has the Crimson Ghost , a mysterious , masked criminal mastermind out to steal the cyclotrode ,a device that can short-circuit electric currents. With this device he plans to conquer the world.
The cast is great. You have a pre-Lone Ranger Clayton Moore as Louis Ashe , the villain's chief henchman. In his fedora and pinstriped suit he looks like a gangster from a Batman comic book of the era. Charles Quigley a veteran Republic hero plays stalwart hero Duncan Richards. Lovely Linda Sterling , Republic's B-movie and serial queen portrays heroine Diana Farnsworth. I always thought Republic should have purchased the rights for the Golden Age comic book heroine the Black Cat as a vehicle for Miss Sterling.
And of course there was the Crimson Ghost himself. One of the best serial villains ever ,the Crimson Ghost was visually striking. At first glance you're looking at what appears to be an adult Halloween costume. But it's truly frightening. I can see the character starring in a villain-driven pulp or comic book.
Linda Sterling as the Golden Age Black Cat.A natural.
ReplyDeleteClick some pics in Dave's Goode Stuff blog. I hid some goodies in it :)
ReplyDelete