''Radar Patrol vs. Spy King'' is a 1949 12-chapter

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

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 ...

produced and distributed by

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

from an original, commissioned

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

collaboratively written by Royal K. Cole,

William Lively William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the large ...

and Sol Shor.

Kirk Alyn Kirk Alyn (born John Feggo Jr.; October 8, 1910 – March 14, 1999) was an American actor, best known for being the first actor to play the DC Comics character Superman in live-action for the 1948 movie serial ''Superman'' and its 1950 sequel ''At ...

played the lead.

Plot

John Baroda, a neo-Nazi and his alter ego, ''The Spy King'' and his aide Nitra, are part of a sabotaging team for a vast defense system of radar stations along the US borders. Radar Defense Bureau operative Chris Calvert comes to the rescue of radar scientist, Joan Hughes, who has been kidnapped by Baroda's henchmen...

Cast

as Chris Calvert * Jean Dean as Joan Hughes *

John Merton John Merton (born Myrtland F. LaVarre; February 18, 1901 – September 19, 1959) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1927 and 1959, mostly as a villain. He was the brother of filmmaker André de la Varre an ...

as John Baroda/Spy King * George J. Lewis as Lt Manuel Agura * Eve Whitney as Nitra *

Anthony Warde Anthony Warde (born Benjamin Schwartz; January 1, 1909 – January 8, 1975) was a noted American actor who appeared in over 150 films between 1937 and 1964. Early years Born as Benjamin Schwartz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on New Year' ...

as Ricco * Stephen Gregory as Hugo * Tristram Coffin as Franklin Lord

Production

''Radar Patrol vs. Spy King'' was budgeted at $164,970 although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example ''The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural h ...

was $164,632 (a $338, or 0.2%, under spend). It was filmed between 20 September and 12 October 1949. The serial's production number was 1706.

Stunts

* Tom Steele as Chris Calvert & Ricco Morgan (doubling Kirk Alyn & Anthony Warde) *

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. ...

Chris Calvert, Ricco Morgan & Lt Manuel Agura (doubling Kirk Alyn, Anthony Warde and George J. Lewis) * David Sharpe as Lt Manuel Agura (doubling George J. Lewis)

Special effects

The special effects were created by the

Lydecker brothers Howard and Theodore Lydecker, always known—and billed—as such, were Howard "Babe" Lydecker (June 8, 1911 – September 26, 1969) and Theodore Lydecker (November 7, 1908 – May 25, 1990), a special effects team primarily working as contract s ...

Release

Theatrical

''Radar Patrol vs. Spy Kings official release date is November 23, 1949, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. This was followed by a re-release of ''

Undersea Kingdom ''Undersea Kingdom'' (1936) is a Republic Pictures 12 chapter film serial released in response to Universal's ''Flash Gordon''. It was the second of the sixty-six serials made by Republic. In 1966, the serial was edited into a 100-minute televi ...

'' instead of a new serial. The next new serial, ''

The Invisible Monster ''The Invisible Monster'' is a 1950 Republic film serial, starring Richard Webb and Aline Towne. Plot A would-be dictator and scientist, known only as ''The Phantom Ruler'', has developed a formula which, when sprayed on some solid object, rend ...

'', followed in spring of 1950.

Chapter titles

# The Fatal Fog (20min) # Perilous Trail (13min 20s) # Rolling Fury (13min 20s) # Flight of the Spy King (13min 20s) # Trapped Underground (13min 20s) # Wheels of Disaster (13min 20s) # Electrocution (13min 20s) # Death Rings the Phone (13min 20s) # Tomb of Terror (13min 20s) # Death Dive (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter # Desperate Mission (13min 20s) # Day of Reckoning (13min 20s) _Source:

References

External links

* *
Radar Patrol vs. Spy King
a
Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radar Patrol Vs. Spy King 1949 films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials American spy films Films directed by Fred C. Brannon 1940s spy films 1940s American films