Gang Busters

Gang Busters (1942)

Radio's Greatest Action-Show Exploding on the Screen!

Police detectives battle the League of Murdered Men, a gang of resurrected dead criminals.

Date of release
1942-03-31
TMDB
6.0 / 10 (6)
Runtime
4h 11m
Genres
Crime
Director
Noel M. Smith, Ray Taylor

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Gang Busters

Gang Busters is a 1942 Universal movie serial based on the radio series Gang Busters.

Production

Gang Busters is one of Universal's most elaborate serials, with many chase and thrill scenes expertly staged in outdoor locations. The directors were Ray Taylor, veteran director responsible for many hit serials, and Noel M. Smith, former silent-screen director who specialized in fast action (Smith directed many of Larry Semon's stunt-filled comedies of the 1920s).

Universal had been making adventure serials since the 1910s, and achieved major success with its Flash Gordon serials of the late 1930s. By the early 1940s, serials were usually shown to juvenile audiences at weekend matinees. Universal intended Gang Busters for adult audiences and possible weeknight showings, and staged the action as a straight crime drama.

As a publicity gimmick, Universal hired its "serial queen" of the 1910s, former action star Grace Cunard, to work in Gang Busters. She appears only in the first chapter, as the landlady of a boarding house, but she received prominent billing in the promotional posters and advertising.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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