Gang Busters (serial)

{{Infobox film

| name = Gang Busters

| image =

| caption =

| director = Noel M. Smith
Ray Taylor
Jacques Jaccard (asst.)

| producer = Ford Beebe

| writer = Morgan Cox
Phillips Lord
Al Martin
Victor McLeod
George H. Plympton

| narrator =

| starring = Kent Taylor
Irene Hervey
Ralph Morgan
Robert Armstrong

| music =

| cinematography = John W. Boyle
William A. Sickner

| editing = Irving Birnbaum
Paul Landres
Charles Maynard

| distributor = Universal Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1942}}

| runtime = 13 chapters (251 minutes)

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

}}

Gang Busters is a 1942 Universal movie serial based on the radio series Gang Busters.

Plot

The city is terrorized by a crime wave masterminded by the elusive, soft-spoken Professor Mortis (Ralph Morgan) from his base in a forgotten cavern beneath the rails of the city's subway line. He declares over the radio that The League of Murdered Men will exact revenge upon the city unless all the city officials, especially the mayor and Chief of Police, are turned out of office. Mortis's gang members were officially pronounced dead in prison after having supposedly committed suicide (in reality taking a drug that suspended animation) but later revived by medical genius Mortis,{{cite book | last = Harmon | first = Jim |author2=Donald F. Glut |author2-link=Donald F. Glut | author-link = Jim Harmon | title = The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury | year = 1973 | publisher = Routledge | isbn = 978-0-7130-0097-9 | pages = 194 | chapter = 8. The Detectives "Gangbusters!" }} who recruited them to do his bidding.

Police detective Bill Bannister (Kent Taylor), in charge of investigating the crime wave, is visited by his brother, a reformed criminal who will inform on Mortis. Mortis's men kill Bannister's brother before he talks, and Bannister vows to get Mortis. Together with his partner Tim Nolan (Robert Armstrong) and police chief Martin O'Brien (Joseph Crehan), Bannister uses the latest police methods to track down Mortis. Following the story are newspaper reporter Vicki Logan (Irene Hervey) and her photographer Happy Haskins (Richard Davies).

Cast

Starring:

Kent Taylor as Det. Lt. Bill Bannister
Irene Hervey as Vicki Logan, reporter
Ralph Morgan as Professor Mortis
Robert Armstrong as Det. Tim Nolan

Featuring:

Richard Davies as Happy Haskins, news photographer
Joseph Crehan as Police Chief Martin O'Brien
George Watts as Mayor Hansen
Ralf Harolde as Chief Henchman Halliger
William Haade as Henchman Mike Taboni
John Gallaudet as Henchman Wilkerson
George J. Lewis as Henchman Mason
Victor Zimmerman as Henchman Bernard
Johnnie Berkes as Newsboy–Henchman Grubb
Edward Emerson as "Frenchy" Ludoc

With:

Pat O'Malley as the Police Scientist
Beatrice Roberts as the Chief's Secretary
Riley Hill as Jim Bannister (Ch. 1)
Grace Cunard as landlady (Ch. 1)
Eddie Dean as Blair, ballistics expert (Chs. 1, 6)
Eddie Foster as Henchman Jerry Rogan (Chs. 3–4)
Stanley Price as Henchman Corky Watts (Chs. 4–5)
Ethan Laidlaw as Ludoc's bartender (Chs. 5, 7–8)
Mickey Simpson as Bruiser, Ludoc's bouncer (Ch. 7)
Karl Hackett as Henry, crooked watchman (Chs. 7–8)
Phil Warren as Henchman McKay (Chs. 8–9)
Jack Mulhall as Chemist Richards (Chs. 9, 11)
Jerry Jerome as Henchman Soupy Collins (Chs. 10–11)
Paul McVey as Attorney J.B. "Harry" Malloy (Ch. 12)
Dick Hogan as announcer during opening titles

Production

Gang Busters is one of Universal's most elaborate serials, with many chase and thrill scenes expertly staged in outdoor locations. The directors were Ray Taylor, veteran director responsible for many hit serials, and Noel M. Smith, former silent-screen director who specialized in fast action (Smith directed many of Larry Semon's stunt-filled comedies of the 1920s). Some of the footage in Gang Busters was so good that Universal often reused it in its later cliffhangers.

Universal had been making adventure serials since the 1910s, and achieved major success with its Flash Gordon serials of the late 1930s. By the early 1940s, serials were usually shown to juvenile audiences at weekend matinees. Universal intended Gang Busters for adult audiences and possible weeknight showings, and staged the action as a straight crime drama. The studio introduced a new "Streamlined Serials" format to distinguish it from its previous chapter plays. Instead of beginning each chapter with a printed synopsis of the storyline, the new format had the action in each chapter starting immediately. The story characters were shown discussing the latest developments and recapping the story themselves.

As a publicity gimmick, Universal hired its "serial queen" of the 1910s, former action star Grace Cunard, to work in Gang Busters. She appears only in the first chapter, as the landlady of a boarding house, but she received prominent billing in the promotional posters and advertising.

Critical reception

Gang Busters was very successful in its original release, and was re-released in 1949 by Film Classics, Inc.

Authors Jim Harmon and Donald F. Glut described Gang Busters as a "well made and interesting serial.", and William C. Cline considered the serial one of Universal's best{{cite book | last = Cline | first = William C. | title = In the Nick of Time | url = https://archive.org/details/innickoftimemot00clin | url-access = registration | year = 1984 | publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc. | isbn = 0-7864-0471-X | pages = [https://archive.org/details/innickoftimemot00clin/page/89 89] | chapter = 5. A Cheer for the Champions (The Heroes and Heroines) }} and that Professor Mortis is one of the best characters ever created for a serial.{{cite book | last = Cline | first = William C. | title = In the Nick of Time | url = https://archive.org/details/innickoftimemot00clin | url-access = registration | year = 1984 | publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc. | isbn = 0-7864-0471-X | pages = [https://archive.org/details/innickoftimemot00clin/page/108 108] | chapter = 7. Masters of Menace (The Villains) }}

Chapter titles

The League of Murdered Men
The Death Plunge
Murder Blockade
Hangman's Noose
Man Undercover
Under Crumbling Walls
The Water Trap
Murder by Proxy
Gang Bait
Mob Vengeance
Wanted at Headquarters
The Long Chance
Law and Order

_Source:{{cite book | last = Cline | first = William C. | title = In the Nick of Time | url = https://archive.org/details/innickoftimemot00clin | url-access = registration | year = 1984 | publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc. | isbn = 0-7864-0471-X | pages = [https://archive.org/details/innickoftimemot00clin/page/232 232] | chapter = Filmography }}