BLAKE OF SCOTLAND YARD (1937)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*


These two serials, filmed about ten years apart, make only occasional use of their marvelous elements, and like most of their breed, are largely about good guys running around trying to keep some secret or weapon out of the hands of bad guys. (Note: this review was originally paired with one for THE BLACK WIDOW.)

BLAKE OF SCOTLAND YARD  is a remake, with considerable alterations, of a lost 1927 silent serial.  Both were directed by Robert F. Hill of SHADOW OF CHINATOWN fame, and both, though shot in America, were set in Great Britain, though the 1937 film seems to include more American characters.  Like CHINATOWN this serial is rather stodgy in the action department, and on top of that there's barely any music to set BLAKE's mood.  There's none of the well choreographed action seen in the celebrated Republic serials, but in a way that occasionally makes the action less predictable.  BLAKE must be the only serial in which two of the heroes fend off a gang of henchmen by throwing metal plates at them!

The marvelous element here is a death-ray, invented by Jerry Sheehan (Ralph Byrd of DICK TRACY fame).  In contrast to most serials produced during or after the official beginning of WWII, where some new invention is zealously guarded as a bulwark of American security, Sheehan wants to give the ray away to the United Nations, in the belief that the existence of such a fearful weapon will discourage the act of war.  This naivete is the serial's most charming sociological aspect, though it's also of interest that the character of the title is an older, retired Scotland Yard detective, Sir James Blake (silent star Herbert Rawlinson).  Serials were often a venue where former stars ended up in their golden years, but usually not in starring roles.  Despite his age, Blake holds his own in brawls alongside Byrd's Sheehan.  The other two principal heroes, Blake's adult niece Hope and grade-school-age nephew Bobby, aren't combat-types but manage to give good accounts of themselves anyway, and Hope is a rare example of a female scientist during this period of American films.  Bobby is one of the few sources of decent humor, constantly upsetting his staid British uncle with his use of American slang.

Perhaps fittingly, the villain seems entirely apolitical: the mysterious Scorpion doesn't work for any foreign power, but merely wants the ray for his own uses.  Unfortunately, for some reason the filmmakers came up with a take on the "mysterious costumed mastermind" that is risible today and probably raised some eyebrows in 1937.  Though the Scorpion wears a face-mask to conceal his identity, he also wears a black cloak that he constantly holds over his face with his arm-- which, for good measure, has a faux scorpion-claw over it.  I can't help but suspect that the filmmakers had some notion of sending up the "clutching hand" type of villain that dates back to silent days.

I can't honestly say that BLAKE OF SCOTLAND YARD is an above-average serial.  However, it's an interesting curiosity, and I applaud the Serial Squadron's restoration of this rarely seen work.