The Master Key [USA] [VHS]

"The Master Key" is a 13-chapter Universal serial released in 1945, directed by Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins. The story is by Jack Natteford and Dwight V. Babcock, with screenplay by Joseph O'Donnell, George H. Plympton and Ande Lamb. In each chapter the the foreword notes that "This is just a story. Like many good stories, it never happened and never could happen ... But let us imagine that it is 1938, somewhere in the United States."

The plot involves a gang of Nazi spies, each of whom carries a key with their identification number. Agent M-2 is Garret Donohue (Addison Richards), second in command to the unseen "Master Key" or agent M-1, who communicates at their meetings through a loudspeaker on a vacant chair. They have copied a machine, the "Orotron" which does not produce cookies, but rather extracts minerals and elements from seawater. The Nazis want it to get gold, with which to buy critical industries important to defense efforts so, as the Master Key puts it, "the industrial might of the United States will never be used against us when war comes." Unfortunately the machine requires special "Orotron tubes" which the Nazis haven't been able to duplicate, and which don't last very long. So they have captured the inventor, Professor Henderson (Byron Foulger), who is not cooperating with them. Arriving on the scene from Washington is Tom Brant (Milburn Stone) who, with Police Detective Jack Ryan (Dennis Moore) must find Professor Henderson, determine the identity of "The Master Key" and bring the gang to justice. Complicating this is a newspaper reporter, Janet Lowe (Jan Wiley) whom the police suspect may not be telling the full truth about what she knows. Her main source of information is a shopkeeper named Aggie (Sarah Padden) who runs a Boys' club in an old theatre, headed by teenage street urchin Migsy (28-year-old Alfred "Lash" La Rue).

This is good serial, the plot better-constructed than most of the later examples from Universal. The identifying keys are similar to the numbered coins in a serial from the previous year, "Raiders of Ghost City" in which Prussian spies were also after gold to assist their country in world domination. There is a lot of stock footage, including cliffhangers quite familiar from other Universal serials, but usually used to good effect. The atmosphere is well handled, the acting believable and free of "comic" characters. Addison Richards is nicely malevolent, and Milburn Stone is no letdown as the hero, well-supported by Dennis Moore. Jan Wiley has a far better role as a newspaper reporter than such characters usually have in the serials, initially complicated by being the half-sister of Walter Stark (John Eldredge), who is working with the Nazis. The Orotron makes more sense than most serial-movie "scientific" devices; extracting gold from seawater is a reasonable thing to do, if not quite in the way it works here. The Boys' Club may be a poor substitute for the Dead End Kids, but it is used with restraint and provides variety to the action.

VCI's DVD, # 8444, is on two discs, the second containing only the last three chapters plus the "extra" features. The print used by VCI is the main disappointment, doubtless all that was available, looking like a mediocre 16mm reduction print made for television. A bad first impression is given by the titles, not well focused and headed by "Commonwealth Pictures Presents," all from the same chapter having MPPDA certificate number 10592. The actual chapters vary in print quality, with the earlier ones sharper than the titles. Some of these are fairly dark, making it hard to see much in the "night" scenes, but the contrast and brightness are stable, and the gray scale good enough that details remain visible otherwise. The later chapters are about as fuzzy as the titles and also a little murky, if not especially dark. There are a few scratches and some dirt, if not too distracting, but the sound is clear enough. The "extras" include the original theatrical trailer for "The Master Key" plus those for three other DVD releases from VCI, "Tim Tyler's Luck," "Riders of Death Valley" and "Captain Video." There are also bio's of Milburn Stone, Dennis Moore, Byron Foulger, Lash La Rue, Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins.

So a fine serial that keeps the plot more "serious" than most, worth tolerating the print quality, at least in doses of one chapter at a time. It is not sold at a bargain price, but a reasonable value, given the care with which it was transferred.

Decent early day serial. Good mystery as to who was the Master Key! Milburn Stone was very good in his Hero part. Many notables like Clayton Moore did some or many serials in the early part of their careers. It is fun to watch them in these serials. Also heavy about Neo-Nazi Americans as the bad guys. My favorite all time serials from this era are Zorro's Fighting Legion and Fighting Devil Dogs. Both had terrific plots and had excellent music scores plus the best villains of all time whose identity was revealed in the last chapter. They also shared honors with exciting and believable chapter endings!

Not finished watching it yet, but so far it's good. The picture and sound are good.

By the title, you might expect that there might be other keys other than the master key ... there are. Each member of this group of bad guys has his own numbered key. What are they for? Well, when it is time to operate the Orotron to extract gold out of seawater, each member must insert their key into their numbered keyhole on the wall safe in order to open it and remove their boxes, each which contains a unique electronic tube necessary to operate the machine.

What is the master key for? Sorry, you'll have to wait to see chapter 13 . . . .

Cliffhanger setups & escapes: mundane. The setups and the resolutions of how the main characters escape death are unimaginative - in most cases it is only by extraordinary luck that they survive. For example, in one cliffhanger, a speeding train plunges off a trestle bridge into a deep gorge - Tom Brant is unhurt ... what luck!

Extras: Bios (The bios are several text pages long; each page will display automatically after a short interval.) Trailers: "The Master Key", "Tim Tyler's Luck" (African adventure), "Riders of Death Valley" (western), and "Captain Video" (space fiction.)

DVD - 2006. Picture: varies by episode from poor to good. Defects: Generally fuzzy with many specks, occasional streaks and faint green tints. If you sit close to the screen you are likely to notice the image squirms. Most chapters have a thin black and gray bar at the top - it is most pronounced in chapter 6. Wherever a newspaper headline is shown, it is obviously cropped on the left and right sides, but otherwise the cropping is not noticeable. Sound volume normal, clear. Subtitles: none.

Great serial lots of action Well done Milbern Stone Doc Adams Gunsmoke great role good story