Todd’s Serial Blog

Jack Roberts made a good living in Hollywood as a bit player.  Debuting in film as Sergeant # 2 in The Bold Caballero (1936), he followed it up by being strangled by Richard Alexander in Republic’s serial SOS Coastguard (1937).  His biggest role in film was the following year, playing Dude, one of Charles Middleton’s vicious sons in Dick Tracy Returns (1938). After another bit part in Dick Tracy’s G-Men (1939), Roberts would make no more serials.

He continued to appear in a diverse number of films like The Monster and the Girl (1941), No time for Love (1943), The Great Gatsby (1949), Branded (1951), Ace in the Hole (1951) and The Bridges of Toko-Ri (1954).  His last film credit is playing The Governor in the That’s Armgeddon segment of The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977).

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Sometimes when a promising career takes a bad turn, it is better to recognize this and move on than face continuing disappointment.  Jacqueline Logan, a former Ziefield girl who for a short time became a popular performer in the twenties.  She appeared in A Perfect Crime (1921), Salome Jane (1923), Manhatton (1924), The Outsider (1926) and Midnight Madness (1928).

Her only serial was Mascot’s King of the Kongo (1929), a sound film, ie music and sound effects but no talking, about a search for Logan’s missing father, played by non other than Boris Karloff, who has  amnesia and is leading a band of ivory smugglers.

With the coming of the talkies Logan worked sporadically, appearing in The Middle Watch (1930) and Shadows (1931).  Trying her hand at directing she helmed Strictly Buisness (1932), before calling it quits and retiring from the movie business.

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Many respected supporting players in film came from the stage.  Though they never became major stars they worked constantly and always delivered solid performances.  One such dependable supporting player from the theater was James Durkin, who came to Hollywood after decades of playing the boards.

Starting with Shadow of the Law (1930), Durkin was a tireless performer who worked constantly for five years until his untimely death in 1934.  Some of his over twenty film appearances included The Conquering Horde (1931), The Vice Squad (1931), The House of Mystery(1931), South of the Rio Grande (1932), The Secret of the Blue Room (1933), The Devil’s Mate (1933) and Underworld (1934).

He also made two serials for Universal.  Perils of Pauline (1933), he played Pauline’s father, a chemist and archeologist searching for an ancient formula for a deadly gas while trying to prevent villain John Davidson from getting it first.  His second serial was The Vanishing Shadow (1934) playing a scientist who uses his inventions to help Onslow Stevens clear his name from a murder charge framed by a political group that had hounded his father to his death.

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