ERNIE ADAMS
June 18th, 1885 -- November 26th, 1947

Above: Ernie Adams in LAW OF THE RANGER, a Bob Steele B-western from the mid-thirties.

While Stanley Price could be a pretty good cringer, and while Jay Novello was frequently repulsive in his cowardice, there can be no doubt that the King of Weasels, in serials at any rate, was Ernest S. Adams. Ernie's slight stoop, keen and shifty eyes, and diminutive stature were all a great help to him in playing convincing stoolpigeons and squealers, but it was his acting talent, as much as his physical appearance, that helped him to enjoy his long career in cliffhangers. His attitude seemed cocky and furtive at the same time, and his reedy, slightly cracked voice could be used to convey both smug self-confidence and abject terror. Adams frequently played straight henchmen, too, especially early in his career, but his size led to his being often cast as "specialist" villains--gang scientists, spies, etc.--and this in turn slowly led to his typecasting as the ultimate sneak. Every now and then, Ernie would switch hats and play a good guy, and, though this always came as a shock, it was always acceptable to audiences. For, despite Ernie's on-screen characters, there was something loveable--almost endearing--about the little fellow in all his roles.

Ernie was born in San Francisco, of an American father and a French mother. He came to Hollywood when he was in his mid-thirties, so we must assume he held some other job before taking up showbiz. His first movie was a silent film called A REGULAR GIRL in 1919; predictably, Ernie was cast as a character named Shorty. He cemented his thug/weasel image as the twenties progressed; his filmography shows him listed with such names as Swink, Dropper, Rat, Ace, Flash, and Bart. His first sound film was Gary Cooper's THE VIRGINIAN, in which he played a rustler. It's never been confirmed whether Ernie appeared in Tom Tyler's serial PHANTOM OF THE WEST (Mascot, 1931), or not, but it seems likely, as Adams soon after joined the large company of silent films veterans at Nat Levine's low-budget cliffhanger factory. THE GALLOPING GHOST (Mascot, 1931) is Ernie's first confirmed credit at Mascot. A modern day sports/crime thriller starring football great Red Grange, GHOST is one of the most popular of the early Mascots, and it also features Adams' first big serial role. He was cast as Brady, chief henchman to a ring of shady gamblers who bribed Red's pal Buddy (Francis X. Bushman Jr.) to throw the big football game. Red found out and took the blame himself to protect Buddy and Buddy's sister Barbara (Dorothy Gulliver), and then set out to clear his name by tangling with Brady and his shady bosses. Along the way, Red also got involved in a taxi-cab war and clashed with a mad doctor (Theodore Lorch), but he was ultimately successful in saving the day.

Above: A nattily-attired Ernie Adams grapples with Red Grange on the gangplank while Tom London attempts to make off with Dorothy Gulliver in THE GALLOPING GHOST (Mascot, 1931).

Ernie was perfectly cast as Pat Kelly in SHADOW OF THE EAGLE (Mascot, 1932). Since the character was a carnival barker working with the villains, Adams was allowed to be both voluble and villainous. The villains of the serial, led by the mysterious Eagle, were out to break an engineering corporation, and were framing their crimes onto the carnival owner, Nathan Gregory. Gregory owed the corporation a grudge for stealing an invention of his years ago, but he had nothing to do with the sabotage. Gregory's daughter (Dorothy Gulliver) and carnival pilot Craig McCoy (John Wayne) set out to prove him innocent and track down the Eagle. Ernie's character proved pivotal in achieving this goal; repenting his betrayal of Gregory, he was about to confess the Eagle's identity, when he was downed by a bullet in the back. However, helpful ventriloquist James Bradbury imitated Adams' voice in order to trick the Eagle into a confession, Wayne brought the culprit to justice, and Ernie recovered from the gunshot wound.

Adams was an out-and-out villain in HURRICANE EXPRESS (Mascot, 1932), another John Wayne serial. Physically puny and perpetually chucked all over the place by the Duke, Ernie was nevertheless the chief action heavy and by far the toughest and most ferocious among the henchmen of the villainous “Wrecker”. After playing a minor henchman in FIGHTING WITH KIT CARSON (Mascot, 1933), and an animal handler in THE LOST JUNGLE (Mascot, 1934), Ernie got another big role in LAW OF THE WILD (Mascot, 1934), which co-starred Bob Custer with Mascot animal favorites Rin Tin Tin Jr. and Rex, King of the Wild Horses. Custer, a former silent star, was Rex's owner, and had the horse stolen from him by crooked gambler Edmund Cobb and ex-cowboy Dick Alexander. Custer attempted to recover the horse, but the hero quickly found himself framed for Alexander's murder (a murder that had really been committed by Cobb). With the help of Rin Tin Tin and heroine Lucile Browne, Custer escaped a lynch mob and set out to clear himself and rescue Rex, who had now fallen into the hands of gambling king Richard Cramer and his henchman Raymond (Ernie Adams). Complete with a loud striped suit and a pair of spats, the cocky Ernie made a perfect racetrack tout, looking and behaving as if he had just stepped out of a Damon Runyon story.

Above: John Wayne battles a bevy of henchmen atop a train in HURRICANE EXPRESS (Mascot, 1932). Ernie Adams is at the far left, Glenn Strange is grabbing Wayne's leg. Stanley Blystone is grabbing Wayne's arm while Al Ferguson is taking a good sock from the Duke. Charlie King is attempting to grab Wayne from behind.

Above: Lucile Browne gives poor Ernie Adams a good swat with her reins in this scene from LAW OF THE WILD (Mascot, 1934).

Ernie's final Mascot serial was THE MIRACLE RIDER in 1935. Here, Adams didn't get much of a chance to strut his stuff in his henchman role, as the cliffhanger was dominated by the stars--hero Tom Mix and villain Charles Middleton. However, teamed with some of the best bad guys in the business--Bob Kortman, Charles King, Tom London, Stanley Price--Ernie managed to serve Middleton well and contribute to the perils of Mix more than once. After Mascot merged with Republic, it would appear the executives dropped Adams' contract, as he subsequently migrated to Supreme Pictures, a small but highly competent B-western outfit. There, Adams played important supporting roles in Bob Steele and Johnny Mack Brown outings such as THE TRUSTED OUTLAW, GUN RANGER, and LIGHTNIN' CRANDALL. After finishing at Supreme, Ernie began to work in B-westerns for every studio; during this time he had one of his best non-weasel parts as the fun-loving cowhand Idaho in the Hopalong Cassidy film THREE ON THE TRAIL. Adams returned to serials with a bit in Universal’s 1937 outing RADIO PATROL, which gave him a minor but colorful part as a hobo. He got another enjoyable bit in THE SPIDER'S WEB (Columbia, 1938), as Merkel, a thug who posed as a pathetic beggar to help trap hero Warren Hull.

Adams' first cliffhanger for Republic was 1939's THE LONE RANGER RIDES AGAIN, which saw him as a shifty doctor by the name of Grover. Doc Grover, working with the Black Raiders gang headed by Bart Dolan (Ralph Dunn), faked his death and pinned his murder on nester leader Jed Scott (William Gould). Scott was arrested but the Lone Ranger (Bob Livingston) asked that the body of the doc be produced. Then the villains had to make sure that Grover died for real, but Ernie didn't go along with this plan and was only too happy when the Ranger showed up at the gang's cave hideout and brought him back (after a fight with the Raiders) to prove Scott's innocence. Adams' wonderful talent for weaseliness was displayed fully here, when a henchman arrived and announced "the boss says the law's gotta see Grover's body." Ernie then began to chuckle "But I ain't dead!", only to have his mirth fade away as he realized the henchmen intended to put him in that state as soon as possible.

MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN (Columbia, 1939), cast Ernie in a relatively straight henchman part as Brown, but OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON (Columbia, 1939) gave him a more typically colorful role as Thor, the blacksmith (!) of the Black Raiders gang. Led by the mysterious and tyrannical Pegleg, the Raiders were out to grab control of the unsettled Western frontier, but met with stiff opposition from Kit Carson (Wild Bill Elliott again). One of the key plot points was a vein of iron ore that would supply the Raiders with gun metal aplenty; when the Raiders secured the vein after considerable tussling, it fell upon Adams to make the rifles (all along, he had been whining "get me the ore or I can't make the guns"). However, Carson infiltrated the Black Raiders hideout, and when Pegleg discovered his trickery and tried to shoot him, one of the barrels of explosive molten ore was hit and poured its contents into Adams' forge. Ernie, realizing the hazard, ran from the cave screaming "It's going to blow!" He was followed by Pegleg and the Raiders, but Carson was knocked unconscious and apparently trapped in the explosion at the chapter's end (you'll have to watch it to see how he gets out of the mess).

Above: Ernie Adams (far left) and Dick Curtis (center) get their orders from the mysterious Pegleg in this poster crop from OVERLAND WITH KIT CARSON (Columbia, 1939).

Adams next tried his hand at Universal serials, appearing in FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE (1940), RIDERS OF DEATH VALLEY, (1941), and SEA RAIDERS (1941). In FLASH, he was relegated to a bit part, but in RIDERS, he had a wonderful little guest appearance. Ernie's character was Cactus Pete, an old desert rat who helped the good guys (headed by Dick Foran and Buck Jones) by spreading a rumor of a fake gold rush and tricking the villains (headed by Charles Bickford) into leaving town. In SEA RAIDERS, he was Zeke, a sinister little turncoat serving a band of Axis spies. Adams' size came in handy in this serial, as it allowed him to be convincingly intimidated by the Dead End Kids (Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabe Dell, and company).

Above: Duke York Jr. (far left) holds Billy Halop while Reed Hadley (third from left) and Stanley Blystone (fourth from left) ask some questions. Ernie Adams (far right) watches at a safe distance with Richard Alexander in SEA RAIDERS (Universal, 1941).

One of Ernie's most notable non-serial roles--and one that is always mentioned in pieces on his career--came in PRIDE OF THE YANKEES, in which he played Miller Huggins, the sympathetic team manager. However, appearing in a classic like PRIDE did nothing to swell Ernie's head, though--the same year, he was back in serials, teaming with Wild Bill Elliott for their third and last cliffhanger together, VALLEY OF VANISHING MEN (Columbia, 1942). Adams was a bartender named Stubby, who served drinks in villain Kenneth MacDonald's saloon and spied on customers on the side. Ernie popped back to Republic briefly for THE MASKED MARVEL in 1943; he played a good guy baggage agent who was ruthlessly knifed by an Axis spy (Fred Graham). Then came THE PHANTOM (Columbia, 1943), which featured Ernie in a meatier sympathetic role. This time, he was not just a background good guy, but the hero's pal and one of his most trusty allies. In the role of Rusty Fenton, a trading post owner, Adams provided cheery and competent back-up for the jungle hero, the Phantom (Tom Tyler) in the first third of the classic serial. Ernie dropped out of sight in the middle section, but returned to prominence towards the end, when he singlehandedly captured henchmen George Chesebro and Wade Crosby, and gunned down evil witch doctor Stanley Price to boot. Despite Ernie's past "record", he made Rusty a character audiences liked and cared for; we felt concern for him when he was surrounded and ambushed by the henchmen, we cheered when the Phantom saved him, and we rooted for him when he was instrumental in bringing down the bad guys at the end.

Above: Ernie Adams, in light shirt and vest, explains his security system to (from left) David Bacon, Bill Healey, Richard Clarke, Louise Currie, and William Forrest in THE MASKED MARVEL (Republic, 1943). An unidentified guard is partly hidden in the shadow of the door.

Above: The Phantom (Tom Tyler, left) with Ernie Adams and Ace the Wonder Dog in THE PHANTOM (Columbia, 1943).

THE DESERT HAWK (Columbia, 1944), an excellent “Arabian Nights” serial, featured Ernie in another good guy role, perhaps the most offbeat part of his entire career. He played the Grey Wizard, a resourceful old magician who lived in a maze of caves and tunnels out in the wilderness and who possessed a magical crystal ball that could foretell the future. The Grey Wizard lent his assistance to Kasim (Gilbert Roland), the rightful Caliph of Ahad, as Kasim attempted to overthrow his ursurping twin brother Hassan (Gilbert Roland). Ernie was almost executed by the evil Hassan for daring to reveal Hassan’s crimes in his crystal, but Kasim came to the rescue in time.

Ernie’s next part was a bit in BLACK ARROW (Columbia, 1944), as a minor henchman. He did a bit better in RAIDERS OF GHOST CITY (Universal, 1944), as Hans Plattner, aka Bill Jasper, a German spy posing as a Confederate soldier. Adams' boss, Lionel Atwill, was helping Confederate loyalist Regis Toomey hijack Union gold shipments and then making sure that the gold never reached the Confederacy. After the war ended (in Chapter Three), Toomey's West Point classmate Dennis Moore wised him up to the situation, but Atwill had Toomey killed and continued his operations, albeit with stiff opposition from Moore. But back to Ernie. His nervousness and fear of getting caught contrasted perfectly with the self-confident suavity of Atwill, and the two played off each other admirably.

BRENDA STARR, REPORTER (Columbia, 1945) featured Ernie as a character called Toothpick Charlie, a sneaky, shifty little underworld dreg who attempted to play all the opposing sides in the serial--reporter Joan Woodbury and police detective Kane Richmond, gangsters George Meeker, Anthony Warde, and Jack Ingram, and lone wolf crook Wheeler Oakman--against each other. It was a highly enjoyable role for Adams to play, and a highly enjoyable role for the audience to watch him play. Adams' next serial was THE MASTER KEY (Universal, 1945). As a small-time crook named "Flash" Faust, Ernie was blackmailed into retrieving some important records for a gang of Nazi spies. Making his escape after grabbing the records, Adams took heroine Jan Wiley prisoner. Heroes Milburn Stone and Dennis Moore threw out a police dragnet to head Ernie off, but he forced Wiley to stand on the running board to shield him from bullets. As they approached a blockade near a bridge, Wiley made a rapid transfer to Moore's car. The police fired on Adams and killed him, and poor Ernie (and his car) plummeted from the bridge and burst into flames.

Above: A great publicity still of Ernie Adams as Toothpick Charlie, from the pressbook of BRENDA STARR, REPORTER (Columbia, 1945).

FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945) capitalized on Ernie's usual persona to pull a good "fooled you" on the audience. When hero Jerry Blake (Marten Lamont) arrested villainess Rita Parker (Lorna Gray) in Chapter Six, he allowed her to pose for photographers in his office. One of the photographers, played by Ernie, lingered behind, conked the guard, and aided Rita to escape--however, he was shot down by Blake before he could get away. But surprise! Ernie turned out to be a FBI man, Blake hadn't really shot him, and Rita's escape was rigged so the good guys could trail her to her boss, Jim Belmont (George J. Lewis). JUNGLE RAIDERS (Columbia, 1945) put Adams back in the villain mode. He played Charley, a native servant/henchman of sleazy trading post proprietor Charles King, and ultimately got gunned down by King when he nervously tried to surrender to the good guys. Though the casting of Adams as a “native” was odd, Ernie had at least one wonderful bit when he was being forced to guide good guys Kane Richmond and John Elliott to a native village. Ernie scouted ahead and discovered a river full of crocodiles, and the expression of delighted villainy that played across his face was brilliant. Adams then called out “this good place to cross!” and nearly got the good guys eaten up by the reptiles. Ernie didn’t wait to see the outcome, and came tearing back to King’s trading post chuckling “Charley fix ‘em good!”

Ernie's last Universal serial was THE SCARLET HORSEMAN in 1946; he played a minor member of a gang trying to use the Indians as pawns in a scheme to partition Texas. Interestingly, the hero of the piece was Paul Guliofyle, an actor who was as active a "weasel" in features as Adams was in serials. Ernie added one more portrayal to his ever-growing roster of colorful good guy roles in KING OF THE FOREST RANGERS (Republic, 1946). As Hiram Bailey, a grouchy, poker-playing landowner, he was unaware he had platinum on his property, and the villains took advantage of this fact (and his fondness for cards) by trying to have sharper LeRoy Mason trim him in a card game. Forest ranger hero Larry Thompson arrived, halted the game, and tried to arrest Mason for cheating; this brought on a fight, during which Ernie was shot in the foot. Thompson took Mason into custody, and Ernie, apparently sobered by his minor wound, stopped grumping and imparted some valuable information to Thompson.

Above: Ernie Adams (seated left) watches as Larry Thompson (center) accuses LeRoy Mason of cheating in KING OF THE FOREST RANGERS (Republic, 1946).

HOP HARRIGAN, released the same year as KING, was Ernie's swan song at Columbia. Generally considered one of the weaker cliffhangers, HARRIGAN still benefited from John Merton's portrayal of mad scientist Dr. Tobor, who became increasingly paranoid as spies attempted to steal his inventions. Despite the fact that hero Hop Harrigan thwarted the spies, Tobor completely lost it and decided to blow up the world. Harrigan managed to stop this, too, and Tobor was blown up in his laboratory. Along for the ride was Adams as Tobor's assistant Retner. Terrified (for good reason!) of his employer, Retner still provided him with loyal help in cooking up weapons of death and destruction, and perished with him in the lab at the end.

Above: Ernie Adams (seated) looks terrified of the gun-toting Wheeler Oakman, while bald-headed John Merton does not in this scene from HOP HARRIGAN (Columbia, 1946).

Adams wound up at Republic for his last two serials, both of which gave him excellent parts. In SON OF ZORRO (Republic, 1947), Ernie played crooked Judge Hyde, a combination of brains heavy and weasel. As the most socially respectable of the known villains (there was an unknown mystery boss), Ernie presided at the bad guys' plotting sessions, but always seemed a little scared of his cohorts, outlaw Roy Barcroft and corrupt sheriff Ed Cassidy. The judge was a nasty little bureaucrat, but Adams added a deft comic touch to the character, especially in his courtroom confrontations with lawyer George Turner (who also happened to be Zorro). One of the meatiest of all Ernie's serial parts, his Judge Hyde proved beyond a doubt that he was a first-rate character actor.

Above: Ernie Adams, striking a typically amusing pose in his role of Judge Hyde in SON OF ZORRO (Republic, 1947).

Ernie's final serial was THE BLACK WIDOW (Republic, 1947). His part (most likely written with him in mind) was a perfect farewell to cliffhangers: he played Blinky, a convivial little street photographer who was secretly a spy and lookout man for the title villainess (Carol Forman). Hanging out on the street outside the Black Widow's hideout, casually chatting with the hero and heroine--and then radioing their plans to Forman--Ernie was a recurring character throughout the serial, and was finally apprehended at the end, when star Bruce Edwards realized the "photographer" wasn't as harmless as he seemed. BLACK WIDOW enabled our Ernie to go out in style--as a sneaky guy to the last.

Above: A beaming Ernie Adams (far right) talks with Bruce Edwards and Virginia Lindley in THE BLACK WIDOW (Republic, 1947).

Ernie, by now in his sixties, made no attempt to slacken his workload, popping up in films ranging from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE to DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME. However, his never-ceasing work in film had taken its toll, and on November 26th, 1947, he died of heart disease following a short illness. His last film, RETURN OF THE BADMEN, in which he played a nervous telegrapher, was released posthumously in 1948.

There are many actors I enjoy watching on the screen, but few that I enjoy watching more than good old Ernie Adams. He just seems like such a genuinely nice guy, despite the wretchedness of most of his characters. I know that almost every other serial fan feels the same way. The diminutive King of the Weasels, whether in or out of character, was one of the biggest character actors of them all.