Very Cool!!!

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Pretty Good

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

All told, Columbia's 57 serials are a pretty shoddy lot. The Spider's Web is just about as good as they ever got, so you can imagine what the rest are like. Columbia's aim seems to have been to produce serials as cheaply as possible. Notice how the limited production quality even of this one has fallen off in Hull's next effort, Columbia serial number 7, Mandrake the Magician, whilst number 11, Deadwood Dick, stars no less a person than Don Douglas, an actor of no significance whatever, who limns even his fleeting role here with such a total lack of charisma it's hard to remember him at all - at least outside the credit titles. Standing sets are pressed into service, whether suitable for the action or not; all the cliffhangers in this one, with the sole exception of a fade-out with the hero's accomplices trapped in a flooding room (and even this is undermined by inept staging), are really tame; the accent is on dialogue rather than action (and such dialogue it is, written by true Hollywood hacks); the direction, aside from a few touches which we'll discuss in a moment, is self-consciously dull in the studio scenes, whilst the outdoor action is almost invariably marred by an obvious lack of money for decent stuntwork and special effects. Overall, the film has a woebegone, shoestring look about it. Columbia's serials are the impoverished cousins of the all-action Republic and ultra-glossy Universal product. Nonetheless, whether by happy accident (maybe the producer was scrounging around Columbia's costume department and found a dozen Franciscan robes left behind from some forgotten religious epic) or design, there are some things in The Spider's Web which make most episodes reasonably entertaining. Except the final episode, that is. An economy chapter if ever there was one, with perhaps the tamest hero-villain confrontation and climactic unmasking on record. In no particular order these spurts to enjoyment are: the bizarrely costumed Octopus himself, all in white mind you, with a crippled leg and artificial hand to boot. No less than three actors supply his voice. The first is very effective indeed, putting all the usual villainous megalomania across with wonderful relish and even credibility. I suspect the same actor supplied the voice of Blinky McQuade, another agreeably grotesque figure. The heavy's robed lieutenants are another fascinatingly gothic touch. (Of course, why they indulge in all this rigmarole is never explained. But we like it). It must be admitted too that there's a certain amount of suspense in the script, even though the scriptwriters handicap themselves by treating the maniac's identity in a remarkably perfunctory fashion. The question isn't even raised till Chapter 8 and is then off the agenda till 12. In the main the writers create tension by pitting the hero against both the villains and the police and showing how he ingeniously outwits both. The conflict is deepened by making the heavies unusually vicious by serial standards, and the police reasonably alert and sympathetic. Another nice if minor touch is that the heroine actually gets to wear a few different costumes. Miss Meredith is certainly the most interesting of the goodies. Of the villains, Marc Lawrence makes the most impression, though Dick Curtis stands out in his one brief scene. Stoloff's music score is okay and occasionally even adds to the suspense, but finally it is the photography that I wish to commend. Generally the lighting is dull and flat, but sometimes Siegler is given his head, resulting in some really effective visuals, particularly of the Octopus and his henchmen strikingly outlined in the noirish gloom of their underworld.

A couple minor directorial changes in this serial would have made this a close to perfect example of the genre, putting it in the same league as Spy Smasher or Capt. Marvel. The musical score is often quite unsuitable, sounding too upbeat and heroic like Roy Rogers or Rin Tin Tin music, when instead there should have been something more mysterioso, ala film noir. Also, Warren Hull's speech is just a bit too fast and his affect just a bit too bright for a deadly vigilante such as The Spider.And deadly the Spider is! This film is a fine relic of the pulp magazines, masked vigilantes, and of the 1930's, when duly deputized G-Men summarily executed real-life criminals such as Bonnie and Clyde, and John Dillinger. The Spider outdraws and dispatches criminals without the slightest qualms. (Do not think that flapdoodle64 personally approves of such things...he is instead fascinated by these windows into the mores of the past!) Despite the flaws, this is a very enjoyable serial, and while it takes some liberties with the source material, it is true to the spirit of the Spider and true to the spirit of 1930's pulp magazines as well. It is quite fun to see the Spider and his cadre of assistants seek to break the tyrannical hand of a predatory monopolist who seeks to control the country. In the 21st century, predatory plutocrats are considered admirable, but in the 1930's they were seen as criminal thugs.Of the Spider's assistants, I particularly liked the Sikh guy...the turban and the beard are cool fashion accessories for crime fighters. Speaking of fashion, the Spider's cape is made out of some thin silk-like fabric, which tends to billow when the Spider runs and swings on ropes...this is a good effect.There are plenty of fights and the stunts are pretty good by Columbia standards. There is a better than average believability factor overall, except for one of the later chapters, in which the Spider is shot several times by the thugs but in the next scene is shown to be undamaged. In a Columbia serial, however, such a flaw should be considered minor.I recommend this serial to any serial fan, to fans of the pulps, and to fans of old-time escapist cinema as well. These fans should be able to overlook the awkwardness and enjoy the bloodthirsty vigilante action.

To truly understand and appreciate this serial, you'll have to be familiar w/ the Spider's pulp history. Action is plentiful, from intense shootouts, to realistic fistfights, to dramatic car chases, this serial has it all. The storyline/plot was brilliantly written and easy to follow. Warren Hull portrays the Spider as if he was in the pulp magazines. He was fearless, as both Richard Wentworth and the Spider, when confronting the enemy, especially during shootouts, where he would stand wide open as an easy target and using his double colt automatics. That I found true to the character, for he was not a stable man. This serial is on par w/ Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and most of John Woo's movies. There are scenes, where it seems that there is a rope waiting for the Spider to climb on or swing on from every building, that is not a coincidence, for in the pulp magazines, the Spider does carry a (thin) rope w/ him for those purposes. My only disappointment, is w/ Columbia Pictures low quality visuals, and brutal editing jobs. (i.e. The Spider cold-bloodedly gunned down two men, as they were waking up from a beating-Chapter 5. The Spider's Hindu Mercenary friend, throwing a knife at an intruder-Chapter 14). You will see the intent of the actions, but not the following, only the end result is shown. Just use your imagination for those scenes, otherwise, this is a great serial. The Spider's webbed mask and cape, was the inspiration for the creation of the Amazing Spiderman, by comic books Great, Stan Lee. For more info on the Spider, I recommend Tim Truman's graphic adaption, "The Spider: Master of Men" Chapters 1-6, from Eclipse Books(1991-1992).

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.