The Black Widow (serial)


The Black Widow is a Republic serial film. Thirteen episodes were made.

Plot

of the Daily Clarion newspaper hires amateur criminologist Steve Colt to solve a series of murders, all involving venomous spider bites.
Meanwhile, King Hitomu has sent his daughter Sombra to the United States to fulfill his plan for global domination. There she poses as a fortune teller and, with a gang of henchmen, attempts to steal a prototype Atomic Rocket Engine.

Cast

The Black Widow was budgeted at $168,995 although the final negative cost was $186,314. It was the most expensive Republic serial of 1947.
It was filmed between 11 April and 8 May 1947. The serial's production number was 1697.
It was one of only four 13-chapter serials to be released by Republic. Three of the four were released in 1947, the only original serials released in that year. The fourth serial of the year was a re-release of the 15-chapter, 1941 serial Jungle Girl. This marked the first time Republic had re-released a serial to add to their first run serial releases.

Stunts

Created by the Lydecker brothers.

Release

Theatrical

The Black Widow's official release date is 1 November 1947, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

Television

In the early 1950s, The Black Widow was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.
The Black Widow was one of twenty-six Republic serials re-released as a film on television in 1966. The title of the film was changed to Sombra, the Spider Woman. This version was cut down to 100-minutes in length.

Chapter titles

  1. Deadly Prophecy
  2. The Stolen Formula
  3. Hidden Death
  4. Peril in the Sky
  5. The Spider's Lair
  6. Glass Guillotine
  7. Wheels of Death
  8. False Information
  9. The Spider's Venom - a re-cap chapter
  10. The Stolen Corpse
  11. Death Dials a Number
  12. The Talking Mirror
  13. A Life for a Life
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