Brenda Starr, Reporter

Infobox Film
name = Brenda Starr, Reporter


image_size =
caption =
director = Wallace Fox
producer = Sam Katzman
writer = Ande Lamb
Dale Messick
George H. Plympton
narrator =
starring = Joan Woodbury
Kane Richmond
Syd Saylor
Joe Devlin
Wheeler Oakman
music = Edward J. Kay
cinematography = Ira H. Morgan
editing = Charles Henkel Jr.
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = January 26, 1945
runtime = 13 chapters
243 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by = "Black Arrow"
followed_by = "The Monster and the Ape"
website =
amg_id = 1:138562
imdb_id = 0037556

"Brenda Starr, Reporter" (1945) was the 25th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It was inspired by "Brenda Starr", a popular comic strip created by Dale Messick.

Plot

The hunt is on for a $250,000 payroll robbery. The police are looking for it, and--mostly just to be annoying--so is ace reporter Brenda Starr and sidekick relief photographer Chuck Allen. The main clue is a man named Joe Heller. As the serial begins, Heller is trapped in a burning building. Henchman Kruger guns him down and sticks Brenda in a closet so she'll burn. Lucky for her, her boyfriend Lt. Lawrence Farrell manages to rescue her. And we're off and running! Brenda has her usual knack for getting into tight situations –exploding mines, burning buildings, and the like. Chuck bounces between useless and useful, thereby making it hard to hate the character like so many other comic relief characters. Lt. Farrell constantly ends up berating Brenda and Chuck and their editor.

Cast

Woodbury had played similar roles in feature films for Columbia and Monogram.cite book
last = Cline
first = William C.
title = In the Nick of Time
origyear = 1984
publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
isbn = 078640471X
pages = pp. 95
chapter = 5. A Cheer for the Champions (The Heroes and Heroines) ]

Release

Theatrical

The serials theatrical release January 26, 1945.

Home media

This is one of the few sound serials not available commercially. For many years a collector named Fred Shay in New Jersey claimed to be the only person to own the only existing print. At the Friends of Old-Time Radio Convention, Shay repeatedly offered a number of collectors a copy of the print for $5,400, which to date, no one has taken up on the offer. Numerous attempts have been made to bring the serial to commercial release, but each effort was turned down by Mr. Shay, who prefers to be compensated for his time and efforts.

In September of 2008, the serial will be screened at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, a non-profit event. The print is not from Fred Shay's collection.

Critical reception

Cline writes that Woodbury "managed to carry the story from one episode to another in fine style, leaving herself in jeopardy just enough to require [Richmond's] services as a rescuer each week... [she] salvaged by her beauty and charm what might have been Katzman's greatest fiasco except for Who's Guilty?"

Chapter titles

# Hot News
# The Blazing Trap
# Taken for a Ride
# A Ghost Walks
# The Big Boss Speaks
# Man Hunt
# Hideout of Terror
# Killer at Large
# Dark Magic
# A Double-cross Backfires
# On the Spot
# Murder at Night
# The Mystery of the Payroll_Source: [cite book
last = Cline
first = William C.
title = In the Nick of Time
origyear = 1984
publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
isbn = 078640471X
pages = pp. 240
chapter = Filmography ]

ee also

*List of film serials by year

*List of film serials by studio

References

External links

*
*

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Columbia Serial
before="Black Arrow" (1944)
years="Brenda Starr, Reporter" (1945)
after="The Monster and the Ape" (1945)