Der gelbe Kreis

This is a serial that has it all! The leads,Herman Brix[Bruce Bennett],Charles Quigley,and David Sharpe are top notch.Carole Landis is fine as the herione,and Charles Middleton does his usual fne work as the master villian.Sharpe shows that he can act as well as perform those great stunts!Location filming adds to the scenic values,good story line,music score,and special effects from the Lydecker brothers. It all adds up to 12 chapters of non-stop action.One of my top ten serials from Republic.

I remember seeing this as an eight year old kid back at the Amo Theater in Detroit. I see it now every six months and it still thrills me to see the best of Republic at work. The principle actors are all most enjoyable. Charles Middleton is supurb once again as the nasty villan. The one episode that has really stuck with me all my 71 years is the outstanding tunnel scenes. Everytime I'm in San Francisco and take the BART under the Bay waters I think of that episode and get a little relived when I reach the other side. Al Guzman Las Vegas, NV

As a kid in the early TV era of the 1950s, I had the opportunity to view several serials from the late '30s and the 1940s. Apparently these were syndicated to TV stations to use as "fillers" since the network feeds weren't available (or the station didn't want to pay) during certain hours, including the after-school--i.e. late afternoon--time frame. In retrospect, it seems that our local station (WSBT in South Bend, Indiana) had a very astute--or very lucky--program director who chose the best serials out there. "Zorro's Fighting Legion," "The Mysterious Dr. Satan," "Fighting Devildogs," "The Black Widow"...they were all there. But the best of the best, in my opinion, was "Daredevils of the Red Circle." Drama, suspense, action, and a morality play (the best revenge is not to destroy one's opponent, as 39013 attempted to do, but to outdo him legally and ethically, as 39013 possibly could have done were his superior mind not warped and twisted)...these were the most memorable features of this 6-day, 15 minutes per episode odyssey that trumped sandlot baseball and other boyhood pursuits typical of the early baby boom generation. Some 45 years later, the opportunity to purchase this touchstone of my youth on VHS presented itself. Viewed with the more critical, possibly even jaded, eye of a middle-aged adult, the production does not disappoint. The plot, acting, special effects, and musical score may seem primitive by today's high-tech standards, but in the context of the times in which this serial was created, it "raised the bar," as we like to say today, for all that followed. So check it out. Imagine yourself in the late Art Deco era of engineering feats (the tunnel), sexy vehicles (the "Heritage Softtail" precursor motorcycle and '37 Buick Century straight 8 convertible, among others), and beautiful people (the impeccably coiffed and dressed "Blanche;" the trio of heroes in their flawlessly ironed suits, shirts, and ties; the elegant Granville; and even the villain 39013 as played so convincingly by Charles Middleton in first-class clothing that we seldom see today outside of a corporate boardroom), and enjoy. Maybe the subtitle of this serial should be: "the Lost World, Never to Return"...

In looking over previous comments of Daredevils of the Red Circle, many of you comment on the ending of Chapter One where Charles Quigley is trying to outrace a torrent of water riding on a motorcyle. I had the privilege of knowing Barry Shipman, the scriptwriter for "Daredevils." He would pen many of the famous Republic serials, including the Lone Ranger, before going over to Columbia to write the Durango Kid features. Bill Witney relays the story of how the chapter came to be written in his autobiography. First, they found a real tunnel in downtown Los Angeles. At that time, the L.A. traffic had not grown to the proportion it is today and Republic got permission from the city to block traffic while they shot footage inside the tunnel. A miniature replica of the tunnel was designed and a process screen was used to show the water seemingly coming from behind Quigley. It was Barry's suggestion that the hero narrowly escapes downing by getting to the end of the tunnel where he turns the wheel to close the watertight doors. This conclusion was known as the take-out or the solution to the cliffhanger.

Story of Three circus daredevils who take on the evil 39013 an escaped convict who seeks to destroy the possessions of Horace Granville the man responsible for sending him to jail.

Considered by man to be one of Republics Finest hours it certainly has a sterling cast that includes Charles Quigley, Herman Brix, Miles Mander and Charles Middleton in one of his best villain roles. Frankly the cast alone is reason enough to see this. The action in the serial is top notch and most if not all of the cliffhangers were reused several times by the studio in serials that followed this one. The action is balanced by a good story which doesn't really repeat itself again and again.

Actually the problem with the serial is not so much the plot being repeated but the locations. My lack of love for the serial (I'm not a lover of it, I like it) comes from the fact that the film is constantly using industrial locations for its cliffhangers. It seems to be that most of the locations seem to be warehouses or factories or something industry related. Its in keeping with the plot, but at the same time I'd have liked to see something else.

That said this is a really good action serial that should be seen if you want to see one thats near the top of the pile.