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The Black Widow

 
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The Black Widow

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The Black Widow
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Plot

The Black Widow is a low-budget, surprisingly entertaining adventure, science-fiction serial produced by Republic Pictures. Steve Colt (Bruce Edwards) and Joyce Winters (Virginia Lindley) battle to save the world from the evil powers of Sombra (Carol Forman), a wicked woman who intends to rule using her psychic powers. This 13-episode series was directed by Fred C. Brannon and Spencer Gordon Bennett. These episodes, released on video, were produced and shown weekly in movie theatres prior to the main features. While not of the same quality as Flash Gordon, The Black Widow is entertaining and amusing and worth viewing for lovers of the genre. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Review

The women took over in this 13-chapter serial from genre specialist Republic Pictures. Yes, the hero (Bruce Edwards) was still male, a criminologist hired by the Daily Clarion to look into a series of poison killings known as the Black Widow murders. But not since the silent era had a serial hero met such a formidable villainess as Carol Forman's Sombra, the Spider Woman (which, incidentally, was the title of a feature version of the chapterplay). A fashionably gowned Forman with a spider's web in the background remains one of the best remembered camp set pieces in serial history. Directors Spencer G. Bennet and Fred C. Brannon obviously did what they could with the rather pallid Mr. Edwards -- who had been cast strictly because of his slight resemblance to the studio's ace stuntman Tom Steele -- but the chapterplay belongs squarely to the women: the fiendish Miss Forman, peppy cub reporter Virginia Lindley, and pert secretary Ramsay Ames. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cast

Ernie S. Adams - Blinkey; Ramsay Ames; Bruce Edwards - Steve Colt; Carol Forman - Sombra; Anthony Warde; Fred C. Brannon; Virginia Lindley - Joyce Winters

Credit

Spencer Gordon Bennet - Director, Fred C. Brannon - Director
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Wikipedia: The Black Widow (serial)
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The Black Widow
Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet
Fred C. Brannon
Produced by M. J. Frankovich
Written by Franklin Adreon
Basil Dickey
Jesse Duffy
Sol Shor
Starring Bruce Edwards
Virginia Lindley
Carol Forman
Anthony Warde
Ramsay Ames
I. Stanford Jolley
Theodore Gottlieb
Cinematography John MacBurnie
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release date(s) United States 1 November 1947 (serial)[1]
United StatesEarly 1950s (TV)[1]
United States1966 (TV film)[1]
Running time 13 chapters / 180 minutes (serial)[1]
6 26½-minute episodes (TV)[1]
100 minutes (TV film)[1]
Language English
Budget $168,995 (negative cost: $186,314)[1]

The Black Widow (1947) is a Republic Movie serial. Thirteen episodes were made.

Contents

Plot

The Editor of the Daily Clarion newspaper hires amateur criminologist Steve Colt to solve a series of murders, all involving poisonous spider bites.

Meanwhile, King Hitomu has sent his daughter Sombra to the United States to fulfill his plan for global domination. There she poses as a fortune teller and, with a gang of henchmen, attempt to steal a prototype Atomic Rocket Engine.

Cast

Production

The Black Widow was budgeted at $168,995 although the final negative cost was $186,314 (a $17,319, or 10.2%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1947.[1]

It was filmed between 11 April and 8 May 1947.[1] The serial's production number was 1697.[1]

This was one of only four 13-chapter serials to be released by Republic. Three of the four were released in 1947, the only original serials released in that year. The fourth serial of the year was a re-release of the 15-chapter, 1941 serial Jungle Girl. This marked the first time Republic had re-released a serial to add to their first run serial releases.[1]

Stunts

Special Effects

Created by the Lydecker brothers

Release

Theatrical

The Black Widow's official release date is 1 November 1947, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1]

Television

In the early 1950s, The Black Widow was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.[1]

The Black Widow was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to Sombra, the Spider Woman. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.[1]

Chapter titles

  1. Deadly Prophecy (20 min)
  2. The Stolen Formula (13min 20s)
  3. Hidden Death (13min 20s)
  4. Peril in the Sky (13min 20s)
  5. The Spider's Lair (13min 20s)
  6. Glass Guillotine (13min 20s)
  7. Wheels of Death (13min 20s)
  8. False Information (13min 20s)
  9. The Spider's Venom (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter
  10. The Stolen Corpse (13min 20s)
  11. Death Dials a Number (13min 20s)
  12. The Talking Mirror (13min 20s)
  13. A Life for a Life (13min 20s)

Source:[2][1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Mathis, Jack. Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 100–101. ISBN 0-9632878-1-8. 
  2. ^ Cline, William C.. "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. pp. 245–246. ISBN 078640471X. 

External links

Preceded by
Jesse James Rides Again (1947)		 Republic Serial
The Black Widow (1947)		 Succeeded by
G-Men Never Forget (1948)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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