The Black Widow - 1947 - 6/10
A fun serial from Republic, and a slyly subversive one.
Usual nonsense about an evil potentate scheming to rule the world …
The “smartest guy” was not the manly hero.
No, it was Sombra, the Black Widow (played by the deliciously slinky Carol Forman), daughter of the poobah.
She leads her henchmen, devises strategies, overcomes police and Feds.
Bit by bit, she steals rocket parts and eludes capture.
The police put in charge a writer! Ha ha, that’s right, a writer of detective stories.
I guess producers did not want to stoop all the way down to using an English major.
He is assigned a female reporter. Typical of the period, he constantly condescends and belittles her.
Episode after episode, he gets trapped or overpowered, and she’s the one who comes to his rescue.
Viewed over several weeks, amusing enough.