BRICK BRADFORD (1947 serial)

Dr. Tymak is in the midst of inventing a missile-intercepting ray which might be a step toward world peace; however, if it fell into the wrong hands, it could be used for sinister purposes. Handsome adventurer Brick Bradford (Kane Richmond) and his associates (scientist Dr. Salisbury, his daughter June, and all-around sidekick Sandy) are called on to protect Tymak and his men, whose experiments take place in an isolated house in the wilderness. But soon, the middle of nowhere is like Grand Central Station when Laydron and his crook buddies move into a cabin nearby with the intention of stealing the ray to sell it to the ubiquitous "foreign power" which is always an off-screen presence in these serials. Tymak uses a rare mineral which he has named lunarium—he obtained it from a meteorite and now needs more, but it only exists on the moon. By chance, Tymak has invented the Crystal Door, an "entrance to the fifth dimension," through which one can pass and wind up on the moon. Our heroes head there followed quickly by Laydron and his thugs, where they all wind up at the mercy of Queen Khana, ruler of Lunarland, who assumes they are members of a rebel group who have been sent into exile. But they manage to get some lunarium from a volcano and make it back to Earth. Next destination, through an invention called the Time Top (shaped like the toy): 200 years in the past, to find an important scientific document that was buried with some pirate treasure. Of course, the bad guys manage to follow there as well. Finally, back in the present day, Byrus, one of Tymak's trusted colleagues, betrays him to help Laydron get the missile interceptor.

This 15-chapter serial is known among fans for its distinct three-part structure: on the moon, in the past, and back in present. Three screenwriters are credited so it is often assumed that each one wrote primarily one section. The plus is that this structure does make Brick Bradford a little unusual. The minus is that after the novelty of the moon and the past, the last 5 or 6 chapters revert to the usual serial shenanigans and drag interminably. Kane Richmond is one of my favorite B-leads of the classic era and stars in two of my favorite serials, THE LOST CITY and SPY SMASHER; he’s a smidge older here but still in good hero shape. Busy character actor Rick Vallin (pictured above to the left of Richmond) plays Sandy and pulls off the rare feat of balancing comic relief with serious ass-kicking ability. The two have good chemistry and John Merton (as Tymak) is a better-than-usual egghead figure. The rest of the acting is lackluster. Linda Johnson as June is barely present. The villains are so bland, they almost don't seem villainous. Especially disappointing is Charles Quigley—he was fine as one of the heroes in DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE, but as Laydron, he blends in with his henchmen. 

The Crystal Door effect is primitive but it works, though the moon and past-time settings are not so effective—the typical California exteriors with cheap interiors. The last half consists of captures and escapes, though Byrus's switch to the dark side juices things up for a little while. The banter between Richmond and Vallin, though not exactly witty, is fun. The chapter-ending cliffhangers are so-so; they include potential death by cold, death by death ray, and death in a burning building. The chases and fisticuffs are about average; in a later chapter, one character even says, "Here we go again!" as he leaps at a bad guy. Oh, and for good measure, there’s an invisibility device that one around one’s neck. The bad guys are a dumpy lot, and the moon folk are dressed in capes and white t-shirts that do not flatter them. Despite the novelty of the first seven or eight chapters, I would only recommend this to people who are already fans of the serials. [YouTube; I opted to watch a colorized version of this despite my dislike of colorization because it looked slightly better than the various black & white prints floating around out there]