''Chick Carter, Detective'' is a 1946
Columbia film serial
A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...
. Columbia could not afford the rights to produce a
Nick Carter serial so they made ''Chick Carter, Detective'' about his son instead. This was based on the radio series ''
Chick Carter, Boy Detective''.
A Nick Carter series was being made by MGM.
In a "rather strange precedent" for a serial, the title character is rarely involved in the cliffhangers. For example, the first cliffhanger revolves around the reporter Rusty rather than Carter.
The film starred
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Florenz Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on ...
as Chick Carter,
Douglas Fowley as Rusty Farrell,
Julie Gibson
Julie Gibson (born Gladys Camille Soray; September 6, 1913 – October 2, 2019) was an American singer and radio, television and film actress who had a career in movies during the 1940s. Gibson, who retired from the industry in 1984, was known ...
as Sherry Marvin,
Pamela Blake
Pamela Blake (August 6, 1915 – October 6, 2009) was an American film actress who acted in almost 50 films. She is known primarily for her roles in western films and serials.
Early years
Blake was born in Oakland, California as Adele Pea ...
as Ellen Dale,
Eddie Acuff
Edward DeKalb Acuff (June 3, 1903 – December 17, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. He frequently was cast as a droll comic relief, in the support of the star. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in ...
as Spud Warner, and
Robert Elliott as Dan Rankin.
Plot
Detective Chick Carter (Lyle Talbot) finds himself in a complex case when Sherry Martin (Julie Gibson), a singer at the Century Club, reports the robbery of the famous Blue Diamond, owned by Joe Carney (Charles King), the owner of the nightclub. Joe planned the theft in order to pay a debt to Nick Pollo (George Meeker) with the $100,000 insurance money he would collect. Sherry double-crossed Joe by wearing an imitation one, while she threw the real one, hidden in a cotton snowball, to Nick during the floor show. But Spud Warner (Eddie Acuff), a newspaper photographer, there with newspaper reporter Rusty Farrell (Douglas Fowley), takes a snowball from her basket and Nick receives an empty one. The Blue Diamond disappears. Aided by a private investigator, Ellen Dale (Pamela Blake), Chick finds himself pitted against the criminals searching for the missing Blue Diamond...
Main cast
*
Lyle Talbot
Lyle Florenz Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on ...
as Chick Carter
*
Douglas Fowley as Rusty Farrell
*
Julie Gibson
Julie Gibson (born Gladys Camille Soray; September 6, 1913 – October 2, 2019) was an American singer and radio, television and film actress who had a career in movies during the 1940s. Gibson, who retired from the industry in 1984, was known ...
as Sherry Marvin
*
Pamela Blake
Pamela Blake (August 6, 1915 – October 6, 2009) was an American film actress who acted in almost 50 films. She is known primarily for her roles in western films and serials.
Early years
Blake was born in Oakland, California as Adele Pea ...
as Ellen Dale
*
Eddie Acuff
Edward DeKalb Acuff (June 3, 1903 – December 17, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. He frequently was cast as a droll comic relief, in the support of the star. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in ...
as Spud Warner
*
Robert Elliot as Dan Rankin
*
George Meeker
George Meeker (March 5, 1904 – August 19, 1984) was an American character film and Broadway actor.
A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Meeker made several films such as ''Crime, Inc.'' (1945) and ''A Thief in the Dark'' (1 ...
as Nick Pollo
*
Leonard Penn
Leonard Penn (13 November 1907 – 20 May 1975) was an American film, television and theatre actor.
Early life and education
Penn was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, to parents Marcus Penn and Eva Monson. He majored in drama at Columbia U ...
as Vasky
*
Charles King as Joe Carney
*
Jack Ingram
Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Although ...
as Mack
*
Joel Friedkin Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" and may refer to:
* Joel (given name), origin of the name including a list of people with the first name.
* Joel (surname), a surname
* Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazili ...
as Jules Hoyt
*
Eddie Parker as Frank Sharp
Chapter titles
# Chick Carter Takes Over
# Jump to Eternity
# Grinding Wheels
# Chick Carter Trapped
# Out of Control
# Chick Carter's Quest
# Chick Carter's Frame-up
# Chick Carter Gives Chase
# Shadows in the Night
# Run to Earth
# Hurled Into Space
# Chick Carter Faces Death
# Rendezvous with Murder
# Chick Carter Sets a Trap
# Chick Carter Wins Out
Source:
See also
*
List of film serials
A list of film serials by year of release.
1910s
1920s
1930s
Films still exist from this point on unless noted otherwise:
1940s
1950s
See also
* Serial (film)
* List of film serials by studio
References
{{reflist
External linksSerial ...
by year
*
List of film serials by studio
This is a list of film serials by studio, separated into those released by each of the five major studios, and the remaining minor studios.
The five major studios produced the greater number of serials. Of these the main studios are consider ...
References
External links
*
*
{{Sam Katzman
1946 films
1940s English-language films
American black-and-white films
Columbia Pictures film serials
1940s crime films
Nick Carter (literary character)
American crime films
Films with screenplays by Harry L. Fraser
Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton
Films directed by Derwin Abrahams
1940s American films