paul panzer

The Spider Returns was directed by old Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy director James Horne, who used it to send up the serial genre. It's the villains who come in for the most ridicule.

The henchmen are inept, sometimes spectacularly so. At one point they are wear paper party hats and blow noisemakers, girls on their laps, and the Gargoyle enters and has a tantrum: "These wild parties must cease!" he says -- well, emotes would be a better word.

Horne made another humorous serial, Terry and the Pirates, in which it's the hero who gets the razz. The Green Archer also has comedy elements, with the head villain having fit after fit as his henchmen botch every assignment. Hey, somebody had to point out these genre flaws, and Horne was just the guy to do it. These serials are a good change of pace for fans of the form, and, since Horne started his career doing serials, he was up to doing the action sequences effectively as well.

When I give this a 10, I mean 10 for a serial. I don't imagine that it's CITIZEN KANE, but it is easily one of the best serials, and the only one with significant horror elements. Universal's product is usually better-scripted and less formulaic than Republic's, and this is the best-scripted of them all, with the possible exception of the second version of SECRET AGENT X-9.

One element that lifts GANGBUSTERS above average is the presence of a henchman who complains about being sent on dangerous assignments. I've always wondered what kind of fool would take up something as dangerous and unrewarding as hench-work, and here at last a scriptwriter addresses the problem. There are other dashes of humor as well, but the story itself stands out for its morbidity, unusual in a film intended for children. It's easy to imagine the mothers of 1942 having to cope with the vivid nightmares of young viewers.

Ralph Morgan, the Wizard of Oz's real-life brother, is remarkably intense as the wicked Professor Mortis, who assembles his gang from executed criminals -- you heard me -- and conducts his nefarious business from a hideout under the subway (Who built it? Didn't anybody notice?). His goal isn't to rule the world or to do anything at all lucrative, just to have revenge on those who treated him unjustly. In other words, this time the Count of Monte Cristo is a bad guy.

The cliffhangers are exciting, and are resolved without TOO much cheating. The hero is bland, as serial heroes often are, but in this story something happens to the hero that is most unexpected. In fact the plot takes several quite remarkable turns, and the climax is unique. Great fun!

Indeed this movie is a great deal like a Republic serial. For those who like their meat raw, that's a good thing, and fun can be had here. Granted, there is more than enough silliness to go around -- Lorre's disguise as an Asian sage is, to be blunt, not *entirely* successful, but he plays the impersonation tongue in cheek, and the end result is nothing if not amusing.

I cannot imagine what is offensive except possibly the dreaded racial stereotypes, which surely are endemic to the whole series. The idea that a B picture would be "held back for a few months" because of a matter of taste doesn't seem likely. Zanuck didn't expect Bs to be any good, and rarely screened them. There's no reason to single this film out as any sillier than many Bs of the period. There's more than enough to enjoy, and the running time is mercifully short. I'd rather watch this than any of the interminable Charlie Chan films.