Production
Columbia used The Spider's Web as a basic template for many of its early serials: the daring hero and his assistants adopt disguises to battle an exotic, secretive villain and his lawless gang. In The Spider Returns, The Gargoyle wears robes which would not look out of place on Flash Gordon's Ming the Merciless.
James W. Horne, who had co-directed the first Spider serial, was in complete charge of the sequel. By this time Horne was filling his serials with tongue-in-cheek melodramatics, ludicrous fight scenes (in which the hero fights six men and wins), and ridiculous-looking machines. For this reason, action fans often dismiss The Spider Returns as an inferior serial, but it is one of Horne's best, and a worthy sequel. The Spider does take on half a dozen henchmen at a time, but doesn't always come off best. Despite an unfortunately silly TV-camera contraption (with flailing robotic arms), Horne keeps the action fairly straight until the last chapter, when he inserts some obvious humor (two henchmen, exhausted from fistfighting, haphazardly swing at each other and collapse).
The action-filled screenplay employs a typical serial formula of fistfights, gun battles, explosions, and car chases, not forgetting secret weapons, death traps, and hairbreadth escapes as The Gargoyle tries to get hold of some secret plans. The Spider serials are unique in that The Spider is also sought by the police with the same vigor that he is sought by criminals. The one real difference between this and the first serial is that the police know Wentworth is Blinky McQuade and work with him a number of times.
Dave O'Brien, who had performed The Spider's acrobatic stunts in The Spider's Web, now has a full-fledged second lead as Wentworth's assistant. This appearance led to a starring role in Columbia's serial production, Captain Midnight. Only three of the main participants in The Spider's Web -- Warren Hull, Kenne Duncan, and Dave O'Brien—are on hand for the sequel.
Read more about this topic: The Spider Returns
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