The Crimson Ghost

The Crimson Ghost (1946) is a Republic film serial.

Plot

This section requires expansion.

Like many Republic serials, this mystery employed yet another inscrutable invention, a counter atomic device known as Cyclotrode X, sought after by yet another cloaked villain, the eponymous Crimson Ghost.

Cast

• Charles Quigley as Duncan Richards
• Linda Stirling as Diana Farnsworth
• Clayton Moore as Ashe
• I. Stanford Jolley as Doctor Blackton & Voice of the Crimson Ghost
• Kenne Duncan as Professor Chambers
• Forrest Taylor as Professor Van Wyck
• Emmett Vogan as Anderson
• Sam Flint as Maxwell
• Joseph Forte as Professor Parker
• Stanley Price as Count Fator

Production

The Crimson Ghost was budgeted at $137,912, although the final negative cost was $161,174 (a $23,262, or 16.9%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1946^[1]

It was filmed between 28 March and 24 April 1946 under the working title The Scarlet Shadow.^[1] The serial's production number was 1597.^[1]

Like the characters on screen, the viewer would have had a tough job spotting the person hiding behind the hideous disguise. The studio had taken no chances with this and cast stunt-man Bud Geary to embody the villain while several actors supplied the voice, including I. Stanford Jolley, whose role was minor but who received fourth-billing and was therefore highly suspect. When The Crimson Ghost was unmasked in the 12th and final chapter, he proved to be yet another actor (Joseph Forte) who had enacted a character seemingly above suspicion. Of interest to more recent viewers, television's Lone Ranger, Clayton Moore, played one of the villain's henchmen, a cold-hearted gangster.

This was director William Witney's last serial. His first was The Painted Stallion in 1937 and a gap due to serving in World War II had existed prior to this production.

Stunts

• Dale Van Sickel as Duncan Richards (doubling Charles Quigley)
• Polly Burson as Diana Farnsworth (doubling Linda Stirling)
• Tom Steele as Ashe (doubling Clayton Moore & I. Stanford Jolley)
• Joe Yrigoyen as Duncan Richards & Count Fator (doubling Charles Quigley & Stanley Price)

Special effects

The special effects were produced by Republic's Lydecker brothers.

Release

Theatrical

The Crimson Ghost's official release date is 26 October 1946, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.^[1]

Television

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

The Crimson Ghost was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to Cyclotrode "X". This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.^[1]

The Crimson Ghost was one of two Republic serials to be colorised in the 1990s.^[1]

Critical reception

Cline believes that the Crimson Ghost is the most striking and visually fascinating villain in any film serial.^[2]

Chapter titles

1. Atomic Peril (20 min)
2. Thunderbolt (13min 20s)
3. The Fatal Sacrifice (13min 20s)
4. The Laughing Skull (13min 20s)
5. Flaming Death (13min 20s)
6. Mystery of the Mountain (13min 20s)
7. Electrocution (13min 20s)
8. The Slave Collar (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter
9. Blazing Fury (13min 20s)
10. The Trap that Failed (13min 20s)
11. Double Murder (13min 20s)
12. The Invisible Trail (13min 20s)

_Source:^[1][3]

Influence

The poster for the Max's Kansas City show on 28 March 1979 featured the first use of the Crimson Ghost [1] by the band Misfits. It has since become their logo. Iron Maiden have also used the Crimson Ghost in their "The Number of the Beast" music video. In Halloween (2007 film) a little boy (Skyler Gisondo playing Tommy Doyle) is wearing a Crimson Ghost costume.

See also

• List of film serials by year
• List of film serials by studio
• Misfits (band)

References

External links

• The Crimson Ghost at the Internet Movie Database