DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE (1939)--a colorized version of the serial

DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE (1939) is a 12-chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Charles Quigley, David Sharpe, Herman Brix (better known under his subsequent stage name, Bruce Bennett), Carole Landis, Miles Mander (in a dual role) and Charles Middleton. It was directed by William Witney and John English and is considered one of the better serials produced by Republic. The serial was the fourteenth of the sixty-six serials produced by the studio.

PLOT:
Diabolical mastermind Harry Crowel, a.k.a. Prisoner 39013, escapes and, with a seemingly endless supply of henchmen, sets out to destroy all holdings of industrialist Horace Granville, who put him in prison. One target is an amusement park, home of the three Daredevils of the Red Circle, who perform death-defying stunts. Aghast at innocent lives lost, our three heroes swear to capture No. 39013. It'll be harder than they suspect; the villain is holding the real Granville captive, and with a near-perfect disguise, has taken his place!

MAIN CAST:
Charles Quigley as Gene Townley, high diver, one of the Daredevils of the Red Circle
Herman Brix as Tiny Dawson, strongman, one of the Daredevils of the Red Circle
David Sharpe as Bert Knowles, escape artist, one of the Daredevils of the Red Circle
Carole Landis as Blanche Granville, Granddaughter of Horace Granville
Miles Mander as Horace Granville, millionaire philanthropist victim and ex-partner of 39013, and also as 39013 when he is impersonating Granville
Charles Middleton as Harry Crowel/39013, escaped criminal with a vendetta against Horace Granville
SUPPORTING CAST:
Montague Shaw as Malcolm, Horace Granville's doctor
Ben Taggart as Dixon, Horace Granville's manager
William Pagan as Landon, police chief
Corbet Morris as Klein, one of 39013's henchmen
Raymond Bailey as Stanley, Horace Granville's secretary and one of 39013's henchmen
Snowflake as Snowflake, black comic-relief servant of Horace Granville
George Chesebro as Sheffield, one of 39013's henchmen
Ray Miller as Jeff, Horace Granville's nurse
Robert Winkler as Sammy Townley, Gene's younger brother
Stanley Price as Prof. Selden (uncredited)
"Tuffie", the dog

PRODUCTION:
Daredevils of the Red Circle was budgeted at $126,855 although the final negative cost was $126,118 (a $737, or 0.6%, under spend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1939 and one of only three pre-war serials to be made under budget. The other two were The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) and Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940).

It was filmed between 28 March and 28 April 1939. The serial's production number was 897.

Ironically, David Sharpe, who is generally considered to have been one of the greatest stuntmen in the movies, had to be doubled in action scenes by Jimmy Fawcett because he was playing a leading role, and the studio could not risk any production delays were Sharpe to suffer injury.

THEATRICAL RELEASE:
Daredevils of the Red Circle's official release date is 10 June 1939, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

TELEVISION RELEASE:
In the early 1950s, Daredevils of the Red Circle was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.

CHAPTERS:
The Monstrous Plot (27 min 48s)
The Mysterious Friend (16 min 41s)
The Executioner (16 min 45s)
Sabotage (16 min 38s)
The Ray of Death (16 min 39s)
Thirty Seconds to Live (16 min 39s)
The Flooded Mine (16 min 42s)
S.O.S. (16 min 40s)
Ladder of Peril (16 min 39s)
The Infernal Machine (16 min 36s)
The Red Circle Speaks (16 min 39s) -- Re-Cap Chapter
Flight to Doom (16 min 40s)