The Crimson Ghost (1946)

Better Late Then Never

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

In this edition, with all the episodes condensed onto one tape, it's pretty obvious that many of the cliff-hangers are resolved the same way. If the car crashes, or explodes, or goes off a cliff, the next episode starts with the same event, but this time we see a scene where the hero hops out the door just in time. Pretty cheap. Well the Crimson Ghost is a very bad man and I guess wants to take over the world or something. More people will know him as The Misfits logo than this villain and I think they might enjoy him in action. I enjoyed almost the whole serial, but found the end all too sudden, at least in the "movie version" I bought.

I got this for Christmas (today), and it's great. The plot doesn't make much sense, the acting is barely acceptable, and the production values are "budget", but my kids and I think that it's a hoot. The story is something about a villain in a skull mask and a ray that will disable electrical equipment, but who cares? It's really about the square-jawed scientist and his beautiful and plucky assistant dashing about risking death to bring the master criminal to justice, with constant fight scenes (filmed at a slower rate so that people move with astonishing speed onscreen) and cliffhanging endings.There are plenty of unintentionally funny moments, too, as when the gang leader's right-hand-thug (played by Clayton Moore, eventually to be the TV version of The Lone Ranger) returns with a piece of equipment and the leader hisses that it's a "cheap decoy" (as if it looks any cheaper than anything else on the set). If you think that you might like it, you will, and if you think that you'll hate it, you're probably right about that, too.

very good serial. a lot of suspense and (for the time, hey, even now they will hold up) fast paced fight scenes, and a fast paced story. Buy this serial (but try to find your copy in black and white) and have fun with this classic.

The Crimson Ghost is a criminal mind whose identity is unknown to anyone. He attempts to acquire a 'death-ray' device known as the 'cyclotrode'. C.G. orders henchmen to take the machine, or components of it. He communicates by radio; his minions wear a 'death-collar'. The collar compels obedience or death; C.G. may send a radio signal to activate the collar killing the wearer. Death also occurs if the collar is removed; it is booby-trapped. Duncan and Diana thwart C.G's. plans in every chapter (every 20 minutes in the long version); C.G. knows every move made with the development of the cyclotrode. It all balances out. Listen carefully to the dialogue--can you detect the voice of the 'Lone Ranger'?