| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Bela Lugosi | ... |
Dr. Alex Zorka /
Dr. Zane
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Robert Kent | ... | |
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Dorothy Arnold | ... | |
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Edwin Stanley | ... | |
| Regis Toomey | ... |
Lt. Jim Daly
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Jack C. Smith | ... | |
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Edward Van Sloan | ... | |
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Dora Clement | ... |
Ann Zorka [Chs. 1-2]
(as Dora Clemant)
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Anthony Averill | ... | |
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Hugh Huntley | ... | |
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Monte Vandergrift | ... |
Al - Guard [Ch. 5]
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Frank Mayo | ... |
Train Engineer [Ch. 6]
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Jim Farley | ... |
Skipper [Ch. 9]
(as James Farley)
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Eddie Acuff | ... |
Mac - AMI Agent [Chs. 2-12]
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Reed Howes | ... |
Signalman [Ch. 10]
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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 ... Written by Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
As serials go, this really isn't bad. The plot, though goofy, at least makes sense and isn't repetitive (unlike the mind-bogglingly boring "Commando Cody" serial). By this time, poor Lugosi was already typecast, and he hams it on up screen but you never tire of his antics. The rest of the cast unfortunately is off the typical serial "bad-acting" crowd.
Are there any good prints out there of this? The version I saw was terrible and half the time it was too dark to make sense of what was going on.