Who's Guilty?

15 chapters (? minutes)CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Who's Guilty? is a 1945 American film serial. It was the 28th of 57 serials released by Columbia Pictures. Who's Guilty? was a rare attempt at a whodunit mystery film in serial form. The serial's villain (The Voice) was designed to look like The Shadow on the poster. The film co-starred some well-known actors, such as Charles Middleton, Wheeler Oakman and Minerva Urecal. Robert Kent played the lead role of Detective Bob Stewart.

Plot

Walter Calvert (Clark) calls upon his brother Henry at his eerie old house and demands a share of the family fortune, threatening to kill Henry if he doesn't get it. Within days, Henry's car goes over a cliff. Bob Stewart (Kent), a detective Henry asked to investigate the matter if he should die, begins his investigation and Duke Ellis, a newspaper reporter friend, is with him. Bob meets the family at its mansion and questions Henry's sister, his half-brother, his nephew and his nephew's bride, along with Ruth Allen (Ward), whose father was in business with Henry. Henry's brother Patton (Middleton) and a shadowy figure known as The Voice plan to kill all the relatives and divide the fortune. As the murder attempts multiply, Bob, Ruth and Duke endeavor to track down the masterminds and bring them to justice.

Cast

• Robert Kent as Bob Stewart, detective
• Amelita Ward as Ruth Allen, love interest
• Tim Ryan as Duke Ellis
• Jayne Hazard as Rita Royale
• Minerva Urecal as Mrs Dill, the housekeeper
• Charles B. Middleton as Patton, the Butler/Walter Calvert
• Davison Clark as Henry Calvert, the murder victim
• Sam Flint as Horace Black, the victim's lawyer
• Bruce Donovan as Curt Bennett
• Jack Ingram as Sergeant Smith
• Milton Kibbee as Morgan Calvert
• Nacho Galindo as Pancho
• Robert Tafur as Jose
• Wheeler Oakman as Smiley
• Charles King as Burke

Reception

In the opinion of Cline, Robert Kent, as Police Investigator Bob Stewart was the only sane characterisation. The serial was a "complicated melange of victims and suspects...[Other characters] seemed lost in a swirl of plots, counterplots and cross plots that none of them could understand."^[1]

Chapter titles

1. Avenging Visitor
2. The Unknown Strikes
3. Held For Murder
4. A Killer at Bay
5. Human Bait
6. The Plunge of Doom
7. A Date with Fate
8. Invisible Hands
9. Fate's Vengeance
10. The Unknown Killer
11. Riding to Oblivion
12. The Tank of Terror
13. White Terror
14. A Cry in the Night
15. The Guilty One

_Source:^[2]

See also

• List of film serials by year
• List of film serials by studio

References

External links

• Who's Guilty? at IMDb
• Who's Guilty? at AllMovie

Preceded by Jungle Raiders (1945)

Columbia Serial Who's Guilty? (1945)

Succeeded by Hop Harrigan (1946)