The Crimson Ghost (1946)

I was lucky to have seen this in theaters when it was new. It made such an impression on me that I have bought three different copies of the dvd, and have spent years trying to find or replicate the costume of the Ghost. His entrance during a thunderstorm still gives me chills decades later! Terrific classic 40's serial making. This was the most expensive serial the studio made. Never tire of watching it. A 100% best in class thriller!

I watched the abridged (ninety minutes) version of this serialisation and though I did like the eponymous baddie, I think it would have been better left as a twelve-parter with a week between each episode to anticipate the next instalment - and possibly forget the last. It's all about a devious scientists who is bent on stealing a device that can short circuit just about everything electrical on Earth - extremely useful at neutralising atom bombs, in case you were wondering what anyone would build such a device in the first place. Anyway, before the American military can get hold of the device from it's inventor, he sends his henchmen to pinch it. They hadn't bargained on the heroic efforts of "Duncan" (Chares Quigley) though and soon the tables, chair and windows are all smashed and there are headaches all around. Luckily, the feisty "Diana" (Linda Stirling) is there to help out and despite the death inducing electrical collars you just know that good will win out. That's maybe the problem for me, here. The episodes are quite exciting at the start - ray guns and loads of threat, but quickly the repetitious fisticuffs and frenetic pace of the score starts to overwhelm the fun scientific elements of this. Some of the use of shadow works quite well to sustain a sense of peril, but the acting is really nothing special and after a while even the masked terror lost his menace. "Nothing stands in the way of the Crimson Ghost"! Well, maybe a dentist might have been in order. If you can see the three hours of original programming, then I'd go for that. Shortened, it's all a bit predictable and not that great.