“The Spider’s Web” is a fifteen chapter serial from 1938, the first serial taken from a pulp. It is rated ninth best of the 266 sound serials by the Serial Squadron and was the largest grossing serial of its year. IMDb gave it a 7.2/10 rating, which is good. Norvell Page is not credited as a writer of it in IMDb, but is cited as a writer for the “stories.” I could not find reference for Norvell’s specific part in the serial if any. “The Spider’s Return” is a sequel serial released in 1941. Apparently Spider pulp violence was too much for Hollywood. So, it was toned down, but that still left a lot of room for action. The plot is therefore more modest than in the pulps as the Octopus, the bad guy, is trying to steal property by intimidation and murder. While there are some civilian casualties, they are very small compared to the usual Spider novel. However, the pace of the serial is very rapid. For instance, there are usually two or three gun battles in each of the fifteen chapters, generally between the Spider and the Octopus’ minions, leaving behind a trail of dead bad guys. In the pulps, the Octopus does not fight the Spider. The Octopus is a Norvell Page creation, though, a villain. He appeared in his own magazine for apparently one issue in 1939 (although the issue was numbered as the fourth) called “The City Condemned to Hell.” So, especially given Page’s potential involvement in the serial, it is not clear if the serial Octopus is based on the pulp Octopus, or vice versa. Obviously, there is some relationship. The pulp Octopus, though, differs in many ways from the serial one. There have been several reprints of the pulp Octopus, the most recent being one of three stories in “The Spider: Robot Titans of Gotham,” along with two excellent Spider novels, all by Norvell Page. (NOTE: The serial was released on October 10, 1938, and the Octopus pulp on 2/1939.) The cast in the movie do an excellent, likeable, and enthusiastic job, with Warren Hull playing the dual roles of Wentworth and Spider, plus Blinky McQuade. Iris Meredith is a beautiful Nita, although she is much bigger woman. The other parts are played equally as well with the potential exception of the Kirkpatrick character (called “Kirk” in the serial). The characters are generally consistent with their pulp equivalents and pose no leap of continuity for the pulp reader. The Spider’s clothing appears differently over the run of the print Spider magazines with sometimes additional differences on the cover. The serial Spider has different clothing again. He wears a short lightweight cape with Spider markings on it and the face mask. No fangs are used or other Tito makeup. A good story even at 5 hours in length. There is a frantic pace to the serial throughout, reminisced of a Page Spider novel. It is in B&W and clearly below the standards of current moviemaking. Despite this, is easy to give strong recommendation for this serial, truly the Spider coming to life from the pulps.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 14:20:21 +0000
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