Spy Smasher (1942)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

William Witney

Writers:

Ronald Davidson (original screenplay)
Norman S. Hall (original screenplay)

Release Date:

4 April 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

Alan Armstrong, aka Spy Smasher, battles a Nazi villain known as The Mask, who heads a gang of saboteurs determined to spread destruction across America. |

Plot Keywords:

Spy | DC Comics | Dungeon | Buoy | Superhero

Cast

Kane Richmond	...	Alan Armstrong (Spy Smasher) / Jack Armstrong
Marguerite Chapman	...	Eve Corby
Sam Flint	...	Adm. Corby
Hans Schumm	...	The Mask
Tristram Coffin	...	Drake (as Tris Coffin)
Franco Corsaro	...	Capt. Pierre Durand [Chs. 1-4]
Hans von Morhart	...	Capt. Gerhardt [Chs. 1, 8, 12]
Georges Renavent	...	Gov. LeComte [Ch. 3]
Rudolph Anders	...	Dungeon Col. Von Kohr [Ch. 1] (as Robert O. Davis)
Henry Zynda	...	Lazar [Ch. 1]
Paul Bryar	...	Lawlor
Tom London	...	Crane
Richard Bond	...	Henchman Hayes
Crane Whitley	...	Hauser
John James	...	Henchman Steve

Runtime:

215 min (12 chapters)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures

Trivia:

The Mask was one of the few comic book/strip foes to appear in a serial. Except for Ming the Merciless, Luthor in Superman vs. Atom Man, and Laska/Leska from Blackhawk#31 in Blackhawk, very few serial adaptations featured foes from the original strips.

Quotes:

[Spy Smasher has rescued Jack Armstrong from a Nazi spy]
Jack Armstrong: I'm mighty grateful.
Spy Smasher: That's all right. Jack.
Jack Armstrong: You know who I am?
Spy Smasher: I should. I'm your twin brother.
[Spy Smasher shows Jack his ring, which matches the wing Jack is wearing, and Jack suddenly recognizes Spy Smasher's identity]
Jack Armstrong: Alan! But I thought you were killed in that plane crash in France last year.
Spy Smasher: So did everyone, including the news agency I reported for. That's why I became Spy Smasher, to fight the Nazis on their own ground. Now it's time to fight them here, in the United States.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Spy Smasher Returns (1966) (TV)

V for VICTORY!

The score for Spy Smasher, a variation on Beethoven's fifth symphony, is a fabulous reminder of the era in which this classic serial was made.

While Spy Smasher is certainly one of the top 5 adventure serials ever made at Republic, it also is a rousing WW2 propaganda film. Check out the title sequence -- three dots and a dash appear on the screen, coinciding with the first four notes of Beethoven's fifth. Three dots and a dash are Morse code for the letter "V," made famous by Churchill's hand sign as a determination to defeat the Nazis and their cronies. Twin searchlights in the title sequence freeze into another V. The coded messages abound in Spy Smasher--even on Spy Smasher's belt buckle.

The action here is top notch, the cast capable, the stunt work great (as always at Republic) and the special effects likewise. If you like Republic serials (Zorro's Fighting Legion, Adventures of Captain Marvel, etc.) you MUST take a look at this one. It is one of the very best. Kane Richmond later went on to play the Shadow in a couple of films, one of which featured a killer who pulled his victims to their deaths off of balconies using a bullwhip, a stunt which was first seen in Spy Smasher. One thing I love about this chapterplay is the acknowledgment that we would not win the war without suffering losses. Great pacing, great action, great serial!