The Green Archer (1940 serial)

The Green Archer is the 12th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was based on Edgar Wallace's 1923 novel The Green Archer, which had previously been adapted into the silent serial of the same name in 1925 by Pathé Exchange.[1]

The Green Archer
Directed byJames W. Horne
Produced byLarry Darmour
Screenplay byMorgan Cox
(as Morgan B. Cox)
John Cutting
Jesse Duffy
(as Jesse D. Duffy
James W. Horne
Based onThe Green Archer
by Edgar Wallace
StarringVictor Jory
Iris Meredith
Music byLee Zahler
CinematographyJames S. Brown, Jr.
Edited byDwight Caldwell
Earl Turner
Production
company
Columbia Pictures
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release date
  • October 25, 1940 (1940-10-25)
Running time
285 minutes
(15 episodes)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The struggle over the Bellamy estate ends with Michael Bellamy accused of murder and killed on the way to prison, while his brother, Abel Bellamy, takes control of the estate for his own nefarious plans. Bellamy is using Garr Castle as a base for his jewelry-theft ring, and he kidnaps his brother's wife to keep things quiet. Insurance investigator Spike Holland enters the case, and Bellamy continually dispatches his resident gang to do away with him. Detective Thompson, representing the law, is seldom of any help. Meanwhile, the estate's fabled "Green Archer", a masked, leotard-clad marksman, steals silently through Garr Castle and the estate grounds, confounding the enemy forces.

This serial is an example of a fifteen-episode production that could have been rented for a twelve-episode run, as three episodes use an entirely self-contained subplot concerning the theft of a synthetic radium formula.

Cast

Chapter titles
  1. Prison Bars Beckon
  2. The Face at the Window
  3. The Devil's Dictograph
  4. Vanishing Jewels
  5. The Fatal Spark
  6. The Necklace of Treachery
  7. The Secret Passage
  8. Garr Castle is Robbed
  9. Mirror of Treachery
  10. The Dagger that Failed
  11. The Flaming Arrow
  12. The Devil Dogs
  13. The Deceiving Microphone
  14. End of Hope
  15. The Green Archer Exposed[2]

Production

The script was written by Morgan B. Cox, John Cutting, and Jesse A. Duffy. Director James W. Horne also contributed to the script, which often emphasizes tongue-in-cheek comedy. Under Horne's direction, the heroes and villains exaggerate the melodrama — James Craven is enjoyably florid as the villain, and his henchmen also play for laughs, with comedian Fred Kelsey cast as a very dumb detective. In one scene some of the crooks are shown playing tiddlywinks.

The serial was released in the US on October 1, 1940, and in Latin America in March 1941 under the title El Arquero Verde (in English with Spanish subtitles). The Green Archer was one of 1940's best remembered serials.[3]

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See also

References
  1. Cline, William C (1984). "2. In Search of Ammunition". In the Nick of Time. McFarland and Company, Inc. p. 11. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
  2. Cline, William C (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland and Company, Inc. pp. 228–229. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
  3. Cline, William C (1984). "4. The Plotters of Peril (The Writers)". In the Nick of Time. McFarland and Company, Inc. p. 57. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
Preceded by
Deadwood Dick (1940)		 Columbia serial
The Green Archer (1940)		 Succeeded by
White Eagle (1941)
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