KANE RICHMOND
December 23rd, 1906 -- March 22nd, 1973

Above: A nice portrait of Richmond in his first starring serial, THE LOST CITY (Krellberg, 1935).

Above: Richmond as SPY SMASHER (Republic, 1942).

Kane Richmond was the ideal serial hero. Not only was he handsome, athletic, and charismatic, but he was a very good actor as well, a trait not always found in a serial performer. In all, Richmond did seven starring serials, more than any other actor, with the exceptions of Buster Crabbe and Clayton Moore. Truly an impressive cliffhanger career.

Kane was born Fred Bowditch in Minneapolis in 1906. We have no concreted data on his early life, but it’s believed he finished high school and then spent most of his time helping out his family by working at various jobs. Around 1925, Kane apparently saved up enough to go to Hollywood in search of acting work. First, he took on the lead role in a series of boxing shorts (the “Kid Robertson” films), and then broke into the big time when he signed a contract with MGM in 1930. Kane certainly had the looks, build, and talent to become a major star at this major studio, but 1932 he decided to leave MGM to work on a jungle film called DEVIL TIGER, which was being filmed on location in Malaysia, and which took nearly two years to complete. By the time of his return to Hollywood, he had been forgotten by the major studios and was forced to start all over again. Richmond's career decision, in the long run, worked out fine for him from a personal point of view, as he met his wife, Marion Burns, while filming DEVIL TIGER. It also worked out fine for the serial fans, since if Kane had stayed at MGM, none of his cliffhangers would ever have been made. Richmond's first starring serial was the low budget independent serial THE LOST CITY (Krellberg, 1935). As electrical engineer Bruce Gordon, Richmond battled a power hungry dictator (played by the very very hammy William "Stage" Boyd--who was no relation to Hopalong Cassidy, by the way) in the heart of Africa. LOST CITY was a rather amateurish production by all accounts, and the only real actor in the cast besides Richmond was George "Gabby" Hayes (who played Butterfield, a bad guy gone good), but it was a huge hit at the time it was released, and Richmond, who hitherto had been aiming for stardom in “big” pictures found himself entrenched in the ranks of the serial players.

Above: Kane Richmond (center) with William "Stage" Boyd (left) and Eddie Fetherstone in THE LOST CITY (Krellberg, 1935).

Richmond's next serial was THE ADVENTURES OF REX AND RINTY (Mascot, 1935). Mascot, the studio that later became the nucleus of Republic's serial division, had been producing a series of dog serials (first starring Rin Tin Tin and later Rin Tin Tin Jr.) since the very early thirties. Richmond took third billing to Tin Jr. (Rinty) and Rex the Wonder Horse (Rex) but he was the human hero who handled the fistfights and rescued his animal co-stars from danger when the situation called for it. The story dealt with Richmond's attempts to restore Rex to his native island of Sujan, despite the evil interference of Harry Woods and Wheeler Oakman. REX AND RINTY was Mascot's next to last serial, but the Mascot personnel would call on Richmond again after they had been merged into Republic.

Above: Rin Tin Tin Jr. rescues Kane Richmond in THE ADVENTURES OF REX AND RINTY (Mascot, 1935).

Richmond then journeyed to Universal to act in FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS (Universal, 1938). He played a Martian captain who originally served the evil Ming the Merciless (Charles Middleton) and Azura, Queen of Mars (Beatrice Roberts), but he joined forces with Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe) when he discovered that Flash had been responsible for restoring his brother, transformed to a Clay Man by Azura, to his natural shape. After realizing that Ming had been responsible for the death of his lawful queen, Azura, Richmond helped prevent Ming from assuming the throne of Mars and provided pivotal assistance in thwarting the villain at the climax. It was a nice "guest appearance" and gave Kane a nice little showcase to display his acting talent, particularly in the recognition scene with his restored brother and his reaction when he realizes that he has inadvertently (through Ming’s trickery) bombed his own Queen from his “stratosled”.

Above: Frank Shannon, Donald Kerr, Kane Richmond, and Kenne Duncan in FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS (Universal, 1938).

But bigger things were around the corner. In 1942, Republic signed Richmond to play SPY SMASHER, Fawcett Comics' all-American, spy-chasing, masked hero. Republic really gave Richmond a complex part in SPY SMASHER--he played Spy Smasher, his alter ego Alan Armstrong, and Alan's twin brother Jack. Richmond carried the triple role off extremely well. His Spy Smasher/Alan Armstrong was appropriately grim and determined, while the younger Armstrong came off as much more boyish and exuberant. The serial is generally considered to be one of the best ever made, thanks to Richmond's tour-de-force performance and the action-packed direction of the great William Witney. SPY SMASHER was the crowning moment of Kane’s serial career.

Above: Kane Richmond and Marguerite Chapman in SPY SMASHER (Republic, 1942).

Richmond's next serial was also a Republic outing: 1944's HAUNTED HARBOR. As Captain Jim Marsden, a rough and ready schooner owner, Richmond found himself plunged into a wave of intrigue and accused of a murder he didn't commit. Marsden is ultimately successful in clearing himself, with the help of Patricia Harding (Republic's "serial queen" Kay Aldridge) and his trusty mates Yank and Tommy (Clancy Cooper and Marshall Reed). Marsden winds up tracing the murder to an ex-convict named Carter (Roy Barcroft), who is also behind the mysterious disappearance of a gold-laden ship. Packed with action by veteran director Spencer Bennett, HAUNTED HARBOR was another successful outing for Richmond, who delivered his usual excellent performance.

Above: Jim Marsden (Kane Richmond, right) is wrongfully accused of murder in the first chapter of HAUNTED HARBOR (Republic, 1944).

Richmond then moved to Columbia for his last three serials. The first of these was BRENDA STARR REPORTER (Columbia, 1945), with Joan Woodbury in the title role of the comic strip reporter. Second billed, Kane played Brenda's friend, Police Lieutenant Larry Farrell, who was frequently called upon to rescue the female newshound from a group of gangsters including Wheeler Oakman and John Merton. Richmond was frankly wasted in this outing, engaging in very few action scens and basically playing straight man and dull authority figure to Woodbury and her goofy reporter sidekick Syd Saylor.

Above: Kane Richmond carries the unconscious Joan Woodbury out of a collapsed mine shaft in this scene from BRENDA STARR REPORTER (Columbia, 1945).

The same year, Kane starred in Columbia's JUNGLE RAIDERS. He played the son of an explorer/scientist (John Elliott) who disappeared in the African jungle, sending Richmond in search of him. Richmond joins forces with the daughter (Janet Shaw) of another missing scientist (Budd Buster) and together they battle villainous trading post owner Charles King and his female accomplice, Veda Ann Borg.

Above: Kane Richmond faces villainesses Carol Hughes (as a native high priestess) and Veda Ann Borg (center), in a lobby card for JUNGLE RAIDERS (Columbia, 1945).

In 1946 Kane took some time off from cliffhangers to star as Lamont Cranston/The Shadow in a series of SHADOW films for low-budget Monogram pictures. Richmond was perfectly cast, but the series suffered from an excess of comedy relief and only lasted three films. And so, Kane returned to serials one last time, to play the role of the comic strip hero BRICK BRADFORD (Columbia, 1947). As Brick, Richmond battled an evil scientist (former serial hero Charles Quigley), moon men (headed by Carol Forman and Robert Barron), and even 18th century pirates in his quest to obtain the neccessary components of an Interceptor Ray vital to world peace. Opinions vary on BRICK BRADFORD. Some think it the worst serial ever made, others consider that it wasn't at all a bad serial for Richmond's cliffhanger career to end on. Whichever, it certainly was unusual in its overtly zany approach. Kane played it straight for the most part, and delivered one final solidly heroic performance.

Above: Richmond and Linda Johnson step out of the time-traveling Time Top in BRICK BRADFORD (Columbia, 1947).

Shortly after BRICK BRADFORD, Richmond gave up hope of breaking out of the cliffhanger mold and retired to become a successful businessman. Right to the end of his life, he was pleasantly surpised at the number of fans who still remembered his serial performances. But how could we forget Spy Smasher, Brick Bradford, Captain Jim Marsden, and all the other characters Richmond so wonderfully played?

One final shot of Kane in action , as he fends off the attack of a pair of pirates (Al Ferguson, left, and Stanley Blystone, right) in BRICK BRADFORD. He'll come out on top, never fear!