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Title: Typical James Horne serial of the forties
Review: Many of the Columbia serials of the forties were'nt a whole lot better than the Universals but the 1940-41 Columbia serials had one advantage: they were done with tongue-in-cheek by former Laurel and Hardy director James Horne. In this serial, for example you will see such things as gangsters hanging out their laundry to dry and engage in knockabout fights that are so outrageously phoney as to evince a smile. Jack Holt as our hero reminds one of Fearless Fosdick and engages in tough guy dialogue with, most clearly, his tongue in his cheek. Serial puristS probably hate the serials of James Horne, understandably. Horne must have figured with his limited budget and resources that his approach might not have made better serials but at least they would be different.
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