Daredevils of the Red Circle
Daredevils of the Red Circle
NR | 10 June 1939 (USA)
Daredevils of the Red Circle Trailers

Escaped Prisoner 39013 impersonates the rich and influential Horace Granville, allowing him to create a variety of disasters. Fortunately, he is thwarted repeatedly by three daring circus daredevils.

Reviews
Alicia I love this movie so much
AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks
ShangLuda Admirable film.
Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Michael Morrison David Sharpe? Enough said. He was more fun to watch than just about anyone else. His grace and athleticism plus his good looks and charm made him almost perfect.Funny thing: He was mostly a stunt man.But he sure got a chance to shine in this excellent Republic serial -- and when you say "Republic serial" you've said "excitement, fun, thrills, action.""Republic" -- I like the sound of that word -- also means special effects by the Lydecker brothers and direction by Witney and English.Add the excellent stars Charles Quigley and Bruce Bennett, well, as I said, almost perfect.But we're not through: Yakima Canutt, the king of the stuntmen, gets to play, albeit uncredited, a G-Man, a good guy!He and the other stuntmen provide plenty of action, especially lots of fights, at which the Republic stuntmen were surely the best.Carole Landis, really a good actress as she got to show in future excellent performances, is the leading lady, but doesn't really do much.There are genuinely dozens of very good actors, too many to name here, and who are also un-named in the film credits, but any film with them in it is improved.Finally, add a score by William Lava, with a couple helpers, and you have a movie serial that is, yes, almost perfect."Daredevils of the Red Circle" is available in a truncated version at YouTube -- apparently copyright problems, and it's a wonder even part of it is up -- and of course on DVD. But I do hope you watch this excellent serial, one of the very best ever, and one I highly recommend.
Bill Esser The daredevils/heroes are: Gene-- the brains of the outfit, Tiny – a gifted strongman, and Bert -- an agile escape artist. They are aided by Carole Landis who plays Blanche Grandville – the granddaughter of Horace Grandville whose multimillion dollar industrial complex is under attack by master criminal 39013. This film is twelve chapters of action packed cliff-hanging fun. I particularly liked the fact that these circa 1939 daredevils did almost all of their action scenes in double breasted three piece suits! The history of the major actors is quite interesting: Dave Sharpe,Bert, became an Army pilot during WWII and a major stuntman; having a long and celebrated career in the industry. He has been ranked with the great Yakima Canutt. Charles Quigley, Gene, had a good career but died of cirrhosis of the liver before he turned sixty. Bruce Bennet aka Herman Brix, who played Tiny, was a 1928 Olympic champion who went on to a very long career and lived to be over 100 years old. Carole Landis was 29 when she committed suicide. I bought this film because of the multitude of glowing reviews found on this forum. I was not disappointed!
Vigilante-407 Now this serial had a lot of hype to live up to...I had heard or read that it was one of the best serials ever made from every source I encountered. It was spoken of in the same awed tones as The Adventures of Captain Marvel, Zorro's Fighting Legion, Fighting Devil Dogs, and Drums of Fu Manchu. And it lived up to all the hype.Charles Quigley, David Sharpe and Bruce Bennett are great as the three circus daredevils who join the police in their efforts to stop the escaped convict who is known by the name 39013. The action and thrills are easily on a par with most of the SFX blockbusters today...and these old time SFX are pretty believable too. Just watch the motorcycle racing ahead of the water in the flooding tunnel!This chapter play doesn't really fall into the ruts of many of the genre. The cliffhanger resolutions are all very believable, and there is only about a half a chapter of recap. The acting, beyond the three principals, is excellent. Carole Landis has a minor though pivotal role that really doesn't use her comic talents, but Charles Middleton plays the archtypical villain role that he became known for...especially after he took on the role of Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon.There are few serials that I can recommend wholeheartedly. But Daredevils of the Red Circle has definitely joined that list!
Paul Curtis This Republic serial is about as good as they get. The chapter ending involving a tunnel under the river is quite memorable, as I pass through the Lincoln Tunnel every morning on the way to work.I was also impressed with the always-excellent Charles Middleton (best remembered as Ming the Merciless) as the villain. Everytime we see him in a movie, my girlfriend gasps "39013!"...which is pretty remarkable when you think about it. How many numerically-named characters do YOU remember from old movies?