The Spider's Web (1938)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Directors:

James W. Horne
Ray Taylor

Writers:

Robert E. Kent (screenplay) &
George H. Plympton (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

22 October 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Action | Drama

Tagline:

The fearsome figure of "The Spider" magazine loom on the screen!...Gangdomshudders! Adventure fans cheer the mightiest of all Chapter Plays!

Plot:

A crime fighter known as The Spider battles a villain called The Octopus, who is out to sabotage America and install his own government. |

Plot Keywords:

Serial | Secret Identity | Superhero | Based On Pulp Magazine | Character Name In Title

Cast

Warren Hull	...	Richard Wentworth / The Spider / Blinky McQuade
Iris Meredith	...	Nita Van Sloan
Richard Fiske	...	Jackson
Kenne Duncan	...	Ram Singh (as Kenneth Duncan)
Forbes Murray	...	Police Commissioner Stanley Kirk
Donald Douglas	...	Jenkins (the butler)
Marc Lawrence	...	Steve Harmon
Charles C. Wilson	...	Chase (as Charles Wilson)
John Tyrrell	...	Henchman Grafton
Eugene Anderson Jr.	...	Johnnie Sands (as Gene Anderson, Jr.)
Ann Doran	...	Mason's secretary
Paul Whitney	...	Gray (banker)
Beatrice Curtis	...	Kate Sands
Gordon Hart	...	J. Mason
Byron Foulger	...	Allen Roberts

Also Known As:

The Spider: Master of Men

Runtime:

(15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Columbia released this film featuring the Spider, whom Stan Lee cited as an inspiration for Spider-Man (especially due to the web-pattern imprinted cloak that the Spider wears in this film). Decades later, Columbia released a Spider-Man film, and then a sequel to that film, where, yet again, a spider-themed protagonist fought an opponent named Octopus. (Also, in one of the Spider novels, he fought an opponent called the Iron Man, Stan Lee also created Iron Man.)

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Spider Returns (1941)

Typical serialized action hero stuff

This is an early serialized movie series. I only watched parts 1-5, but I feel sorry for a movie that, in all probability, no one has seen, much less commented on.

Apparently the best part of this movie is the getaway car, because my roommate would occasionally look up while I was watching this and next to, ÒAre you actually going to watch that all the way through?Ó her most common comment was, ÒWhat a cool car.Ó The car has an external step, so in getaways the crooks can jump on and keep shooting. They do this fairly often, and they also laugh maniacally, and leave loose ends in their evil plans for the Spider to pick up on. If the Spider needs a rope to swing from there is a rope there, as happens when he foils the bank heist. This is comic book style action for the twelve year old market of viewers, who now wonÕt be interested because the film is in black and white.

The other cool thing is that the Octopus has a fake arm to make people feel that they know what he is doing, while he keeps a gun trained on them. His evil minions dress like klansmen, not so much to make them look evil as because this was a cheap costume. The Spider wears a black over sized sock with holes cut in it, and a silver painted spider web on it.

If you do come across this my advice is not to bother watching it. Instead read a comic book. This should have a similar feel to the movie only portable.