Gang Busters

GAng Busters is a 1941 serial based on the radio series of the sane name, though only the device of a prison escape and siren are actually taken from the radio series - the serial's story is both entirely fictional and so bizarre that it must surely have been written originally as a Dick Tracy serial.

Synopsis

The detective squad in this 12 part serial are up against the League of Murdered Men, all of whom have been murdered and restored to life, up to and including the Professor, their leader who restores them to life and gives them a drug he claims keeps them alive. It is only after the Professor has been captured that he admits to the lead detective that this drug is in fact a placebo and that he doesn't need it to survive - for he too has undergone the resurrection process after being shot to death.

Notes

Professor Mortis was portrayed by Ralph Morgan, who had poryrayed the villain in dick Tracy vs Crime lnc,, the last Dick Tracy serial, so it's reasonable to assume that, after failing to acquire the Dick Tracy rights , Universal Pictures, who made this serial, bought the Gang Busters rights for the express purpose of replacing Dick Tracy with another lead character.

Gang Busters
Year	1941
Director	Spencer Gordon Bennett
Cast	Ralph Morgan as the Professor
Runtime	12 episodes