Villain of the Month: Kit Guard
Kit Guard had a long career as a bit player that spanned close to forty years. Starting in the silent days, he appeared in a slue of films including Sherlock’s Home (1924), The Racketeer (1929), The Phantom Broadcast (1934), Nancy Drew Reporter (1939), Dick Tracy vs. Cueball (1946), Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) and Revolt in the Big House (1958).
Of course most serial fans remember him for his biggest role ever, the dimwitted Dinky Stone, chief henchman to James Craven in Columbia’s The Green Archer (1940), complete with an outrageously erratic Cockney accent that comes and goes through out the serial. One of his funniest scenes have him begging Craven to let him try being The Green Archer, stating “I’d be a knock out in tights”, while flexing his arms. When Craven snaps back, “With that face?” Guard cheerfully answers “I could wear a mask!”
Guard was for the most part a James Horne regular, having small henchmen parts in The Shadow (1940), Terry and the Pirates (1940), Deadwood Dick (1940) and White Eagle (1941). His other henchmen roles at Columbia include The Spider’s Web (1938), Mandrake the Magician (1939), The Secret Code (1942), The Valley of Vanishing Men (1942), Atom Man vs Superman (1950) and Riding With Buffalo Bill (1954). Sharp eyed fans will also spot him popping up in the Republic serials Dick Tracy (1937), SOS Coastguard (1937) and Haunted Harbor (1944).
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