Gang Busters (1942)

Gang Busters is a 1942 Universal movie serial based on the radio series Gang Busters. Detective lieutenant Bill Bannister is assigned to run down an unknown gang of terrorists who have spread a net of crime over the city.

Directors – Noel M. Smith, Ray Taylor

Writers – Morgan Cox (original screenplay), Al Martin (original screenplay), Victor McLeod (original screenplay)

Cast –
Kent Taylor as Det. Lt. Bill Bannister
Irene Hervey as Vicki Logan, reporter
Ralph Morgan as Professor Mortis
Robert Armstrong as Det. Tim Nolan
Richard Davies as Happy Haskins, news photographer
Joseph Crehan as Police Chief Martin O’Brien
George Watts as Mayor Hansen
Ralf Harolde as Chief Henchman Halliger
William Haade as Henchman Mike Taboni
John Gallaudet as Henchman Wilkerson
George J. Lewis as Henchman Mason
Victor Zimmerman as Henchman Bernard
Johnnie Berkes as Newsboy–Henchman Grubb
Edward Emerson as “Frenchy” Ludoc

Chapter Guide:

1 – The League of Murdered Men
2 – The Death Plunge
3 – Murder Blockade
4 – Hangman’s Noose
5 – Man Undercover
6 – Under Crumbling Walls
7 – The Water Trap
8 – Murder by Proxy
9 – Gang Bait
10 – Mob Vengeance
11 – Wanted at Headquarters
12 – The Long Chance
13 – Law and Order

Plot

The city is terrorized by a crime wave masterminded by the elusive, soft-spoken Professor Mortis (Ralph Morgan) from his base in a forgotten cavern beneath the rails of the city’s subway line. He declares over the radio that The League of Murdered Men will exact revenge upon the city officials. Mortis’s gang members were officially pronounced dead in prison but revived by medical genius Mortis, who recruited them to do his bidding.

Police detective Bill Bannister (Kent Taylor) is visited by his brother, a reformed criminal who will inform on Mortis. Mortis’s men kill the informant before he talks, and detective Bannister vows to get Mortis. Bannister, together with his partner Tim Nolan (Robert Armstrong), and police chief Martin O’Brien (Joseph Crehan) use the latest police methods to track down Mortis. Following the story are newspaper reporter Vicki Logan (Irene Hervey) and her photographer Happy Haskins (Richard Davies).