The Phantom Creeps (1939)
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Horror Movies & Sci-Fi Movies Database
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09.05.09
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"The Phantom Creeps" was Universal's 44th sound-era serial (between "The Oregon Trail" and "The Green Hornet") and was re-issued to theaters in 1949 by Commonwealth Pictures Corporation, a distribution set-up handling primarily Universal re-issues. Commonwealth had no hand at all in the production of this serial (as incorrectly shown on site) as they were a distribution company only. Some sources mistakenly identify them as the serial producer because all of the 1949 re-issue prints (and the 16mm prints sold to television circa 1952) show "Commonwealth Pictures Corp. Presents" above the title.There is a whole lot of difference between "presenting" and "producing", a fact that some sources appear to not know or don't care. The serial is of interest to some collectors as it re-unites Bela Lugosi and Edwin Stanley from 1931's "Dracula", and the crater-discovery of the meteorite fragment by Zorka in the serial is stock footage from Universal's 1936 "The Invisible Ray." The stock footage of an explosion and avalanche used in Chapter 11 comes from Universal's 1934 serial, "The Vanishing Shadow." Plot finds eccentric scientist Dr. Alex Zorka carrying on various experiments in his secret laboratory with the aid of his assistant Monk. Zorka has invented many strange weapons of warfare, including a devisualizer belt which renders him invisible; a terrifying, eight-foot tall robot (played by stuntman Edwin "Bud" Wolfe and not circus giant Bud Wolff), and he also has a deadly meteorite fragment (which he found in a 1936 movie with Boris Karloff) from which he extracts an element which can induce suspended animation in an entire army. Foreign spies, operating under the guise of a foreign language school (great cover), are trying to buy or (mostly) steal the meteorite element, while his former partner, Dr. Fred Mallory, miffed that Zorka will not turn his inventions over to the U.S. Government, blows the whistle on him to Captain Bob West of the Military Intelligence Department. Tired of answering the door and saying no to the spies and the government, Zorka moves his lab and when his beloved wife is killed, Zorka, puttering around for his own amusement up to this point, gets hacked off as only Lugosi can, swears eternal vengeance against society, and decides to use his inventions to make himself world dictator. And would have if not for his assistant Monk, an escaped convict virtually enslaved by Zorka, who is cowardly, treacherous and totally incompetent, and whose accidental or deliberate interference with Zorka's efforts repeatedly frustrates his master's grand schemes.
Movie Tagline:
12 SPINE-SHIVERING ACTION THUNDERBOLTS! Sinister scientists...foreign spies...federal agents...and a pretty girl...crashing through amazing adventures!
Title: Phantom Creeps, The
Release Date: January 07, 1939
Runtime: 265 mins
Genre: Sci-Fi
All Genres: Sci-Fi
Languages: English
Country: USA
Colors: Black and White
Sound: Mono
IMDB Rating: 4.4
Brimstone Pit Rating: 5.4 - (Rate This Horror Movie)
Category: Horror Movies Starting With P
MPAA Rating: Approved
Director(s):
Ford Beebe
Saul A. Goodkind
Cast:
Bela Lugosi ...Dr. Alex Zorka
Robert Kent ...Capt. Bob West
Dorothy Arnold ...Jean Drew
Edwin Stanley ...Dr. Fred Mallory
Regis Toomey ...Lt. Jim Daley
Jack C. Smith ...Monk
Edward Van Sloan ...Jarvis (spy chief)
Dora Clement ...Ann Zorka [Chs. 1-2] (as Dora Clemant)
Anthony Averill ...Rankin (henchman)
Hugh Huntley ...Perkins (Mallory's lab assistant)
Monte Vandergrift ...Henchman
Frank Mayo ...AMI chief [Ch. 12]
Jim Farley ...Harbornaster [Ch. 7] (as James Farley)
Eddie Acuff ...Mac (AMI agent)
Reed Howes ...Airplane mechanic [Ch. 9, 12]
Ed Wolff ...The Iron Man (as Edward Wolff)
Hooper Atchley ...Experimental lab tech [Ch. 8]
Roy Barcroft ...Parker (AMI agent)
Robert Blair ...Smith (thug)
Al Bridge ...White Rose sailor [Ch. 7]
Don Brodie ...Thug [Ch. 10]
Lane Chandler ...Henchman with Rankin [Ch. 3]
Edmund Cobb ...Army sergeant [Ch. 12]
Lee J. Cobb ...Road crew foreman [Ch. 11] (edited from The Vanishing...
Eddie Dunn ...Policeman
Jerry Frank ...Henchman with Rankin [Chs. 3-5]
Karl Hackett ...Brown (henchman-secretary)
Charles King ...Policeman [Ch. 4]
George Magrill ...Thug-Pilot [Chs. 4-5] / Schooner Crewman [Ch....
Monte Montague ...Signal tower operator [Ch. 10-11]
» [more cast members]
Producer(s):
Henry MacRae
Writer(s):
Wyllis Cooper
George H. Plympton
Basil Dickey
Mildred Barish
Composer(s):
Charles Previn
More Movie Taglines:
- 12 SPINE-SHIVERING ACTION THUNDERBOLTS! Sinister scientists...foreign spies...federal agents...and a pretty girl...crashing through amazing adventures!
- A BLAZE OF DYNAMITE ACTION! Crashing...smashing...dashing through 12 spine-shivering chapters!
- CRASHING...SMASHING...DASHING DYNAMITE! 12 spine-shivering chapters of thunderbolt action and amazing adventure!
Movie Quote(s):
- [after surviving a car crash, Zorka notices the hitch hiker they picked up, who looks like him, is dead.] Dr. Alex Zorka: How fortunate, this will simplify everything!
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Movie Trivia:
- When Dr. Zorka drops the bomb on the dirigible, the stock footage is of the actual news footage of the explosion and crash of the Hindenburg.
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Chapter Titles: - 1. The Menacing Power - 2. Death Stalks the Highways - 3. Crashing Towers - 4. Invisible Terror - 5. Thundering Rails - 6. The Iron Monster - 7. The Menacing Mist - 8. Trapped in the Flames - 9. Speeding Doom - 10. Phantom Footprints - 11. The Blast - 12. To Destroy the World
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The explosion and avalanche footage from Universal's 1934 serial 'The Vanishing Shadow' (1934) is used in Chapter 11 of this serial as stock footage.
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A robot similar to the one in this film was later used by Rob Zombie in his "Hellbilly Delux" album cover art.
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Captain Bob West drives a 1939 Nash Ambassador convertible, while reporter Jean Drew drives a 1939 Nash Ambassador sedan.
IMDB Links:
» User Comments at imdb.com
» More information at imdb.com
Keywords:
Serial, Meteorite, Spy, Explosion, Robot ...[more]
Keywords All:
Reporter, Male Female Relationship, Fire, Invisibility, Female Reporter, Cliffhanger, Bomb, MST3K, Train, Gadget, Car Chase, Plane Crash, Giant Robot, Mad Scientist
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Rating: 5.4 out of 10.0 - 57 votes cast total
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