The Black Widow (serial)

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The Black Widow
The Black Widow FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet
Fred C. Brannon
Written by Franklin Adreon
Basil Dickey
Jesse Duffy
Sol Shor
Produced by M. J. Frankovich
Starring Bruce Edwards
Virginia Lindley
Carol Forman
Anthony Warde
Ramsay Ames
I. Stanford Jolley
Theodore Gottlieb
Cinematography John MacBurnie
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release dates
  • November 1, 1947 (1947-11-01)(U.S. serial) [1]
  • 1966 (1966)(U.S. TV film) [1]
Running time
13 chapters / 180 minutes (serial) [1]
6 26½-minute episodes (TV) [1]
100 minutes (TV film) [1]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$168,995 (negative cost: $186,314) [1]

The Black Widow (1947) is a thirteen-chapter Republic serial film.

Contents

Plot

The Editor of the Daily Clarion newspaper hires writer and amateur criminologist Steve Colt to solve a series of murders, all involving venomous spider bites, with the aid of his best reporter Joyce Chambers.

Meanwhile, the evil King Hitomu has sent his daughter Sombra to the United States to fulfill his plan for global domination by stealing a prototype "Atomic Rocket Engine". Posing as a fortune teller, and assisted by her two loyal henchmen, Sombra sets about stealing the prototype and its secrets by utilizing her cunning nature, array of lethal gadgets, and ability to impersonate any woman she chooses with the aid of masks and wigs.

Cast

Production

The Black Widow was budgeted at $168,995 although the final negative cost was $186,314 (a $17,319, or 10.2%, overspend). It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1947. [1]

It was filmed between 11 April and 8 May 1947. [1] The serial's production number was 1697. [1]

It was one of only four 13-chapter serials to be released by Republic. Three of the four were released in 1947, the only original serials released in that year. The fourth serial of the year was a re-release of the 15-chapter, 1941 serial Jungle Girl . This marked the first time Republic had re-released a serial to add to their first run serial releases. [1]

Stunts

Special Effects

Created by the Lydecker brothers.

Release

Theatrical

The Black Widow's official release date is 1 November 1947, although this was the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. [1]

Television

In the early 1950s, The Black Widow was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes. [1]

The Black Widow was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to Sombra, the Spider Woman. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length. [1]

Chapter titles

  1. Deadly Prophecy (20 min)
  2. The Stolen Formula (13min 20s)
  3. Hidden Death (13min 20s)
  4. Peril in the Sky (13min 20s)
  5. The Spider's Lair (13min 20s)
  6. Glass Guillotine (13min 20s)
  7. Wheels of Death (13min 20s)
  8. False Information (13min 20s)
  9. The Spider's Venom (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter
  10. The Stolen Corpse (13min 20s)
  11. Death Dials a Number (13min 20s)
  12. The Talking Mirror (13min 20s)
  13. A Life for a Life (13min 20s)

Source: [1] [2]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Mathis, Jack (1995). Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement. Jack Mathis Advertising. pp. 3, 10, 100–101. ISBN   0-9632878-1-8.
  2. Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 245–246. ISBN   0-7864-0471-X.