| The Clutching Hand | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Albert Herman |
| Written by | Arthur B. Reeve (novel) George M. Merrick (adaptation) Eddie Granemann (adaptation) |
| Screenplay by | Leon D'Usseau Dallas M. Fitzgerald |
| Produced by | Louis Weiss |
| Cinematography | James Diamond |
| Edited by | Earl Turner |
| Music by | Bernard B. Brown Lee Zahler |
Production company | Weiss Productions |
Running time | 305 minutes (15 episodes) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Clutching Hand (in full, The Amazing Exploits of the Clutching Hand) is a 15-episode serial produced by the Weiss Brothers in 1936, based on the final 1934 Craig Kennedy novel of the same name by Arthur B. Reeve. [1] A 70-minute feature film using a condensed version of the serial was also released in the same year. [2]
In it, the famous detective (portrayed by Jack Mulhall, who had portrayed the Black Ace in the serial The Mystery Squadron three years before) is assigned to solve the disappearance of Dr. Paul Gironda (Robert Frazer), a scientist who has developed a formula for synthesizing gold but vanishes before he has a chance to reveal it to his board of directors. [3]
The Clutching Hand was the last Craig Kennedy serial and the only one to be filmed as a talkie. One of the criminals, Hobart, is played by Charles Locher, who is better known nowadays as Jon Hall, [4] and it appears that Gironda is being held prisoner by Craig Kennedy's old foe, the Clutching Hand (a faceless presence apparently played by Bud Geary, an actor who was frequently cast in such roles, and voiced by Robert Frazer).
The serial was based very loosely on Arthur Reeve's final novel and in it, the Clutching Hand has a new secret identity: Dr. Paul Gironda, the very man whom Kennedy is looking for. Having almost exhausted the estate of his young ward Vera, he has come up with the idea of using a fake synthetic gold formula to recoup his losses on the stock market, but just before he disappears, one of his assistants steals the notebook containing the formula. Unable to find it, he fakes his disappearance and goes into hiding, assuming the identity of Craig Kennedy's foe, the Clutching Hand, who was seemingly disposed of in The Exploits of Elaine years before. (The Clutching Hand had a totally different identity in that serial.) Supposedly holding Gironda captive in an induced coma, the Hand demands the missing pages of the gold formula from his wife and "daughter." At the same time as Gironda vanishes, Mitchell -–Vera's real father and Mrs. Gironda's first husband – is released from prison after serving a full sentence on a blackmail charge, forcing the Hand to try to dispose of Mitchell before Vera can learn of her true identity.
This is a partial list of chapters:
Chapter Thirteen is titled "The Mystic Menace," and yet nothing mystical happens – it is a pretty standard serial chapter. However, the serial makers – the Weiss Brothers, in this case – could not alter the chapter titles for some reason.[ citation needed ] This was apparently the brothers' final serial and their last Craig Kennedy adaptation, although in 1952 the Weiss Brothers produced a television show called Craig Kennedy, Criminologist.
The Exploits of Elaine is a 1914 American film serial in the damsel in distress genre of The Perils of Pauline (1914).
Arthur Benjamin Reeve was an American mystery writer. He is known best for creating the series character Professor Craig Kennedy, sometimes called "The American Sherlock Holmes", and Kennedy's Dr. Watson-like sidekick Walter Jameson, a newspaper reporter, for 18 detective novels. Reeve is famous mostly for the 82 Craig Kennedy stories, published in Cosmopolitan magazine between 1910 and 1918. These were collected in book form; with the third collection, the short stories were published grouped together as episodic novels. The 12-volume publication Craig Kennedy Stories was released during 1918; it reissued Reeve's books-to-date as a matched set.
The Pretender is an American action drama television series created by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle, that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to May 13, 2000.
Professor Craig Kennedy is a character created by Arthur B. Reeve.
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William Farnum was an American actor. He was a star of American silent cinema, and he became one of the highest-paid actors during this time.
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The Mystery Squadron is a 1933 American pre-Code 12-chapter Mascot film serial, directed by Colbert Clark and David Howard. The film was produced by Nat Levine, and stars Western star Bob Steele, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Lucile Browne, Purnell Pratt and Jack Mulhall. The Mystery Squadron made an impressive use of a great deal of aerial footage to enliven the action.
Gang Busters is a 1942 Universal movie serial based on the radio series Gang Busters.
The Secret of Treasure Island is a 1938 Columbia movie serial based on the serialized Argosy Magazine story Murder at Pirate Castle (1936). The magazine story was written by L. Ron Hubbard, at the time a writer of pulp fiction who went on to found the Scientology religion.
The Woman in the Web is a 1918 American drama film serial directed by Paul Hurst and David Smith. It was the 9th of 17 serials released by The Vitagraph Company of America. This World War I period serial about a Russian princess and the overthrow of the Tsar introduced the concept of the Red Menace to serials. The serial is now considered to be a lost film.
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The Adventures of Tarzan (1921) is a 15 chapter movie serial which features the third and final appearance of Elmo Lincoln as Tarzan. The serial was produced by Louis Weiss, written by Robert F. Hill and Lillian Valentine, and directed by Robert F. Hill and Scott Sidney. The first chapter was released on December 1, 1921.
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A serial film,film 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, generally advancing weekly, until the series is completed. Usually, each serial involves a single set of characters, protagonistic and antagonistic, involved in a single story, which has been edited into chapters after the fashion of serial fiction and the episodes cannot be shown out of order or as a single or a random collection of short subjects.