Mystery of the River Boat

1944 film by Ray Taylor, Lewis D. Collins

October 24, 1944 (1944-10-24)

Running time

13 chapters (218 minutes)CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Mystery of the River Boat, Chapter 1, The Tragic Crash

Mystery of the River Boat is a 1944 Universal movie serial directed by Lewis D. Collins and Ray Taylor. It co-starred Lyle Talbot, Robert Lowery and Mantan Moreland.

Plot

Deposits of "Nitrolene", a high-energy fuel, have been discovered in swampland near Duval's Landing in the bayous of Louisiana by Dr. Hartman, who signs an agreement with developer Herman Einreich. After getting the map locating the deposits, Einreich has Hartman killed by his henchman Cassard and departs for Duval's Landing on the riverboat Morning Glory. The riverboat's captain, Ethan Perrin, is one of the three landowners involved, and attorney Steve Langtry, the son of one of the other two landowners, is investigating Einreich's offer for his father's land, but foreign agent Rudolph Toller and his underlings Bruno Bloch and Louis Schaber are also on the Morning Glory trying to get Einreich's map, aided by one of the riverboat's entertainers, singer Celeste Eltree. "Mystery Man" Clayton and his Cajun associate Batiste are also clearly up to no good, but helping Langtry are Captain Perrin's daughter Jenny, the riverboat's steward Napoleon and entertainer Jug Jenks.

Cast

Robert Lowery as Steve Langtry
Eddie Quillan as Jug Jenks
Marion Martin as Celeste Eltree, riverboat singer
Marjorie Clements as Jenny Perrin, Captain Perrin's daughter
Lyle Talbot as Rudolph Toller, foreign agent
Arthur Hohl as Clayton
Oscar O'Shea as Captain Ethan Perrin, captain of the riverboat The Morning Glory
Francis McDonald as Batiste
Mantan Moreland as Napoleon, ship steward
Eddy Waller as Charles Langtry
Ian Wolfe as Herman Einreich, villainous land speculator
Byron Foulger as Dr. H. Hartman
Earle Hodgins as Jean Duval
Anthony Warde as Bruno Bloch
Alec Craig as the Chief Engineer

Production

Stunts

John Daheim doubling Robert Lowery
Carey Loftin doubling Robert Lowery
Eddie Parker doubling Dick Curtis
Tom Steele doubling Arthur Hohl

Critical reception

Cline considers this to be an average serial but one with a good cast and all the necessary "ingredients" of a good serial.^[1]

Chapter titles

The Tragic Crash
The Phantom Killer
The Flaming Inferno
The Brink of Doom
The Highway of Peril
The Fatal Plunge
The Toll of the Storm
The Break in the Levee
Trapped in the Quicksands
Flaming Havoc
Electrocuted
Risking Death
The Boomerang

_Source:^[2]

References

^ Cline, William C. (1984). "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 50. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
^ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 238. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

Mystery of the River Boat at IMDb
Mystery of the River Boat at AllMovie

Preceded by

Raiders of Ghost City (1944)

Universal Serial
Mystery of the River Boat (1944)

Succeeded by

Jungle Queen (1945)

Universal serials

Serials

Silent Serials (1914-1929)	Lucille Love, Girl of Mystery The Master Key The Trey o' Hearts The Black Box The Broken Coin Graft Under the Crescent The Adventures of Peg o' the Ring Liberty The Mystery Ship The Red Ace The Gray Ghost The Voice on the Wire The Brass Bullet The Bull's Eye The Lion's Claws The Lure of the Circus The Red Glove The Great Radium Mystery The Lion Man The Midnight Man The Flaming Disc The Moon Riders King of the Circus The Vanishing Dagger The Dragon's Net The Diamond Queen Do or Die The Secret Four Terror Trail The White Horseman Winners of the West The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe In the Days of Buffalo Bill Perils of the Yukon The Radio King With Stanley in Africa Around the World in 18 Days Beasts of Paradise The Eagle's Talons The Ghost City In the Days of Daniel Boone The Oregon Trail The Phantom Fortune The Social Buccaneer The Steel Trail The Fast Express The Fighting Ranger The Iron Man The Riddle Rider Wolves of the North Ace of Spades The Great Circus Mystery The Scarlet Streak Fighting with Buffalo Bill Strings of Steel The Winking Idol Blake of Scotland Yard The Fire Fighters The Return of the Riddle Rider The Trail of the Tiger Whispering Smith Rides Haunted Island Tarzan the Mighty The Vanishing Rider The Diamond Master A Final Reckoning The Pirate of Panama
Part-sound Serials (1929-1930)	The Ace of Scotland Yard Tarzan the Tiger The Jade Box The Lightning Express Terry of the Times The Indians Are Coming
Pre-war Sound Serials (1931-1942)	Finger Prints Heroes of the Flames Danger Island Battling with Buffalo Bill The Spell of the Circus Detective Lloyd The Airmail Mystery Heroes of the West Jungle Mystery The Lost Special Clancy of the Mounted The Phantom of the Air Gordon of Ghost City The Perils of Pauline Pirate Treasure The Vanishing Shadow The Red Rider Tailspin Tommy Rustlers of Red Dog The Call of the Savage The Roaring West Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery The Adventures of Frank Merriwell Flash Gordon The Phantom Rider Ace Drummond Jungle Jim Secret Agent X-9 Wild West Days Radio Patrol Tim Tyler's Luck Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars Flaming Frontiers Red Barry Scouts to the Rescue Buck Rogers The Oregon Trail The Phantom Creeps The Green Hornet Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe Winners of the West Junior G-Men The Green Hornet Strikes Again! Sky Raiders Riders of Death Valley Sea Raiders
War-time Serials (1942-1945)	Don Winslow of the Navy Gang Busters Junior G-Men of the Air Overland Mail The Adventures of Smilin' Jack Don Winslow of the Coast Guard Adventures of the Flying Cadets The Great Alaskan Mystery Raiders of Ghost City Mystery of the River Boat Jungle Queen The Master Key Secret Agent X-9
Post-war Serials (1945-1946)	The Royal Mounted Rides Again The Scarlet Horseman Lost City of the Jungle The Mysterious Mr. M

See also
Film serials List of film serials List of film serials by studio

v t e Films directed by Ray Taylor
Fighting with Buffalo Bill (1926) Whispering Smith Rides (1927) The Avenging Shadow (1928) Beauty and Bullets (1928) The Crimson Canyon (1928) A Final Reckoning (1928) Greased Lightning (1928) Quick Triggers (1928) Tarzan the Mighty (1928) The Vanishing Rider (1928) The Ace of Scotland Yard (1929) Come Across (1929) Eyes of the Underworld (1929) The Pirate of Panama (1929) The Jade Box (1930) Battling with Buffalo Bill (1931) Danger Island (1931) Detective Lloyd (1931) Finger Prints (1931) The One Way Trail (1931) The Airmail Mystery (1932) Heroes of the West (1932) Jungle Mystery (1932) Clancy of the Mounted (1933) Gordon of Ghost City (1933) The Perils of Pauline (1933) The Phantom of the Air (1933) Pirate Treasure (1934) The Return of Chandu (1934) The Ivory-Handled Gun (1935) Outlawed Guns (1935) The Roaring West (1935) Tailspin Tommy in the Great Air Mystery (1935) The Throwback (1935) The Cowboy and the Kid (1936) Flash Gordon (1936) The Phantom Rider (1936) Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) Silver Spurs (1936) Sunset of Power (1936) The Three Mesquiteers (1936) The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936) Boss of Lonely Valley (1937) Dick Tracy (1937) Drums of Destiny (1937) The Painted Stallion (1937) Raw Timber (1937) Flaming Frontiers (1938) Frontier Town (1938) Hawaiian Buckaroo (1938) Panamint's Bad Man (1938) Rawhide (1938) The Spider's Web (1938) Flying G-Men (1939) Scouts to the Rescue (1939) Bad Man from Red Butte (1940) Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) The Green Hornet (1940) Law and Order (1940) Pony Post (1940) Ragtime Cowboy Joe (1940) Riders of Pasco Basin (1940) West of Carson City (1940) Winners of the West (1940) Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie (1941) Fighting Bill Fargo (1941) Man from Montana (1941) Rawhide Rangers (1941) Riders of Death Valley (1941) Sky Raiders (1941) Don Winslow of the Navy (1942) Gang Busters (1942) Junior G-Men of the Air (1942) Stagecoach Buckaroo (1942) Treat 'Em Rough (1942) The Adventures of Smilin' Jack (1943) Adventures of the Flying Cadets (1943) Cheyenne Roundup (1943) Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (1943) Boss of Boomtown (1944) The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944) Mystery of the River Boat (1944) Raiders of Ghost City (1944) Jungle Queen (1945) The Master Key (1945) The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945) Secret Agent X-9 (1945) Lost City of the Jungle (1946) The Scarlet Horseman (1946) Black Hills (1947) Border Feud (1947) Cheyenne Takes Over (1947) The Fighting Vigilantes (1947) Ghost Town Renegades (1947) Law of the Lash (1947) The Michigan Kid (1947) Range Beyond the Blue (1947) Return of the Lash (1947) West to Glory (1947) Check Your Guns (1948) Dead Man's Gold (1948) Gunning for Justice (1948) Hidden Danger (1948) The Return of Wildfire (1948) The Tioga Kid (1948) Tornado Range (1948) The Westward Trail (1948) Crashing Thru (1949) Law of the West (1949) Outlaw Country (1949) Range Justice (1949) Shadows of the West (1949) Son of a Bad Man (1949) Son of Billy the Kid (1949) West of El Dorado (1949)

Films directed by Ray Taylor