Mandrake, the Magician

1939
Approved
3h 35m

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

221

YOUR RATING

Edward Earle, Warren Hull, and Doris Weston in Mandrake, the Magician (1939)

Superhero Action Adventure Crime Family

Mandrake and his assistant Lothar are working the cruise lines and make the acquaintance of Professor Houston who has developed a radium energy machine, which is much coveted by a masked Cri... Read allMandrake and his assistant Lothar are working the cruise lines and make the acquaintance of Professor Houston who has developed a radium energy machine, which is much coveted by a masked Crime Lord known as "The Wasp".Mandrake and his assistant Lothar are working the cruise lines and make the acquaintance of Professor Houston who has developed a radium energy machine, which is much coveted by a masked Crime Lord known as "The Wasp".

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

221

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Chapter1 has some nice shots of the Glendale Grand Air Terminal, once the premier airport in Los Angeles. It still stands and has been mostly restored.

Goofs
At the end of chapter three, the announcer states that the 'Wasp' orders that Tommy Houston captured and to throw him out of the speeding car. In reality, Tommy overhears the henchmen's plan and stows away in the rumble seat of their car. As soon as Tommy finds out what he wants to know, he jumps from the car so he can notify Mandrake what's going on.

Connections
Referenced in Critic's Choice (1963)

User reviews9

Review

Featured review

10/10

An intriguing and magical cinema serial

"Mandrake, the Magician"(1939 - 214 minutes - 12 episodes), is one of the classics B&W cinema serials of Columbia, directed by Sam Nelson and Norman Deming. Based on the known Comics created by Lee Falk and Phill Davis in 1924 and written by Joseph F. Poland, Basil Dickey and Ned Dandy. Mandrake (the actor Warren Hull) is a sagacious detective who is traveling in a maritime cruise when he knows the professor Hudson (the actor Forbes Murray), the author of a machine that uses the energy of the radio waves. Developed for the good, the powerful device becomes a dangerous weapon when it falls in the hands of an evil genius known as "Wasp". Mandrake and his faithful assistant, Lothar (the actor Al Kikume), will fight Wasp and his gang, living an intensely battle between the good and the evil. The Mandrake's dress style with the black and red layer, ternary and top-hat, had immortalized the figure of the magician. The English word "Mandrake" is the name of a root that was always associated with magical powers and miraculous cures. Lothar was an African prince and one of the first black character treated in a serious way in Comic books, he was always considered as an intelligent and loyal ally. With original special effects for that time, the film deserves reverence to the great performance of Warren Hull, that gave life to one of the biggest icons of the Comic books of all times.