''Mandrake the Magician'' (1939) is the seventh serial released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. It was based upon the

King Features King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial c ...

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

of the same name.

Plot

Mandrake and his assistant Lothar are working the cruise lines and make the acquaintance of Professor Houston who has developed a radium energy machine, which is much coveted by a masked crime lord known as "The Wasp". The Wasp unleashes his army of accomplices in waves to steal the invention by any means necessary. Mandrake and his allies finally catch up to "The Wasp" and discover the crime lord is actually scientist Dr. Andre Bennett, posing as a close friend of Houston.

Cast

Warren Hull John Warren Hull (January 17, 1903 – September 14, 1974), known professionally as Warren Hull, was an American actor, singer and television personality active from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was one of the most popular serial actors in t ...

Mandrake the Magician ''Mandrake the Magician'' is a syndicated newspaper comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloon ...

* Doris Weston as Betty Houston *

Al Kikume Al Kikume (9 October 1894 – 27 March 1972), born Elmer Kikume Gozier, was an American actor and stuntman of Hawaiian descent. He was born in Topeka, Kansas and died in Los Angeles. Beginning with his first credited role, in the indepen ...

as Lothar, Mandrake's Assistant *

Rex Downing Rex Haddon Downing (April 21, 1925 – November 18, 2020) was an American actor as a child and youth. Early years Downing attended Hollywood High School. Career Rex Downing started his film career in several Our Gang comedies, but his roles t ...

as Tommy Houston *

Edward Earle Edward Earle (16 July 1882 – 15 December 1972) was a Canadian-American stage, film and television actor. In a career which lasted from the 1910s to 1966, he appeared in almost 400 films between 1914 and 1956. He was born in Toronto and died ...

as Dr. Andre Bennett/The Wasp * Forbes Murray as Professor Houston * Kenneth MacDonald as James Webster *

Don Beddoe Donald Theophilus Beddoe (July 1, 1903 – January 19, 1991) was an American character actor. Early years Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Beddoe was the son of Dan Beddoe, a Welsh classical singer, and his wife Mary. He graduated from the ...

as Frank Raymond *

Dick Curtis Richard Dye (May 11, 1902January 3, 1952), known professionally as Dick Curtis, was an American actor who made over 230 film and television appearances during his career. Early years Curtis was born in Newport, Kentucky, the son of Frank Dye ...

as Dorgan, a henchman * John Tyrrell as Dirk, the "spearpoint heavy" (chief henchman) *

Lester Dorr Lester Dorr (born Harry Lester Dorr; May 8, 1893 – August 25, 1980) was an American actor who between 1917 and 1975 appeared in well over 500 productions on stage, in feature films and shorts, and in televised plays and weekly series. Even a ...

as Gray

Chapter titles

# Shadow on the Wall # Trap of the Wasp # A City of Terror # The Secret Passage # The Devil's Playmate # The Fatal Crash # Gamble for Life # Across the Deadline # Terror Rides the Rails # The Unseen Monster # At the Stroke of Eight # The Reward of Treachery _Source:

References

External links

* *
Cinefania.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandrake The Magician (Serial) 1939 films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films 1939 fantasy films 1939 crime films Columbia Pictures film serials Films about magic and magicians Films based on comic strips Films directed by Sam Nelson American fantasy films American crime films Films with screenplays by Joseph F. Poland 1930s American films

Plot

Cast

Chapter titles

See also

References

External links