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STANLEY PRICE
Above: Stanley Price seems irritated at something or other in this scene from ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (Republic, 1944). John Davidson, John Picorri, and Stanley Price are the three "lieutenant" villains who stand out from the ranks of the specialist heavies. All three of them served multiple times as adviser and confidant of the chief bad guys, but all three had a different persona. While Davidson was canny and suave, and Picorri was cackling and demented, Stanley Price was nearly always sneaky, weaselly, and subservient. Price's two specialties was making some timid criticism of his leader's plan--which criticism was always discounted by the confident mastermind--and spilling the beans first chance he got when he fell into the hands of the good guys. Occasionally a Price character would try to doublecross his boss, but these attempts were invariably doomed to failure. On several occasions, though, Stanley would depart from his standard role, and the result was always memorable. Indeed, Price, whether weaselly or non-weaselly, was invariably memorable. His glowing eyes, expressive, sinister features, and his distinctive, modulated voice all helped him in conveying feverish eagerness, cool intelligence, or abject terror--whatever quality the situation called for. Stanley Price was born in Kansas on the last day of 1892. No data is available on his early life and career, but I'd hazard a guess, based on his extremely articulate line delivery, that he had stage experience during the twenties and possibly came to Hollywood as a voice tutor when the talkie era hit. At any rate, his first screen appearance was in the Joan Blondell/Bette Davis/Ann Dvorak drama THREE ON A MATCH, in 1932. He played one of gangster Edward Arnold's lackeys in this film (as did Humphrey Bogart!) and was cast in similarly small parts for the next couple of years. However, Price's first serial, THE MIRACLE RIDER (Mascot, 1935) featured him in a meaty role as Chapman, one of the henchmen of oil magnate Zaroff (Charles Middleton). Zaroff was after deposits of X-94, an incredibly valuable explosive, on the Ravenhead Indian Reservation, and ordered Chapman to murder peaceful Ravenhead chief Black Wing (Robert Frazer) as the first step in his scheme. Price performed the dirty deed, but was instantly pursued by Texas Ranger Tom Morgan (Tom Mix). Mix and Price battled it out aboard a runaway oil truck, which crashed just in time for the first chapter cliffhanger. Mix continued to pursue Price and the other bad guys throughout the serial, finally nailing them and their leader Middleton in the last chapter.
Above: Tom Mix wraps up an indignant Stanley Price in this scene from THE MIRACLE RIDER (Mascot, 1935). Mascot Pictures may well have intended to utilize Stanley in more serials, but the studio merged with Monogram and Consolidated to form Republic in 1936, and Price was apparently lost in the shuffle. He didn't get back into cliffhangers until 1938, when he appeared at Universal in FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS. Price's role as a Martian lab worker was uncredited, but the frightening sequence when he was transformed into a Clay Man by the Martian Queen Azura (Beatrice Roberts) as a penalty for failure lingered in many a kid's memory for years afterwards. Stanley then popped over to the two-year-old Republic lot for a voiceover in THE FIGHTING DEVIL DOGS (Republic, 1938). Price was called upon to dub in the voice of the serial's mystery villain, the Lightning, in a brief scene that had been added in postproduction. He returned to Universal the same year for RED BARRY, which starred Buster Crabbe, who had also played Flash Gordon. Crabbe was a police detective trying to recover some stolen war bonds. This proved to be a complex task, as a group of Chinese agents, a group of Russian agents, and a group of American gangsters were all after the bonds as well. Price was Petroff, one of the Russians. His panic-stricken cry of "faster, Igor, faster!" as he and a fellow Russian were being pursued by Crabbe in a furious car chase, marked the first of the many "fear-crazed" bits that Stanley would perform in years to come. Price teamed up with Crabbe a third time in BUCK ROGERS (Universal, 1939). Crabbe was Buck Rogers, a 20th-century adventurer who was placed in suspended animation and woke up in the 25th Century. Finding the Earth of the 25th Century ruled by the tyrant Killer Kane (Anthony Warde), Buck joined with the Hidden City Exiles in an attempt to overthrow the dictator. Stanley played one of Kane’s enslaved "human robots" that wound up being worshipped by the Zuggs, a primitive Saturnian race. Kane's lieutenant Captain Laska (Henry Brandon) turned this situation to his advantage and had Stanley lead the Zuggs in revolt against Tallen, Prince of Saturn (Phillip Ahn). The rebellion was intended to stop Tallen from coming to the aid of the Exiles, but Crabbe managed to head the rising off by removing Price’s robot helmet. Stanley proved to be a Hidden City soldier who had been captured earlier by Kane, and promptly commanded the Zuggs to lay down their arms once he was in possession of his true senses.
Above: Henry Brandon gives orders to the helmeted "robot" (Stanley Price) while the Zuggs look on in BUCK ROGERS (Universal, 1939). Price was cast in another off-the-wall part in DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE (Republic, 1939). He only appeared in one episode, but his character, a murderous mad scientist named Selden, was a very vivid one. The deformed (the character had a club foot and withered hand) and demented Selden was hired to rewire a delta-ray machine to shoot destructive gamma rays, as part of the villain 39013's plan to eliminate one of his enemies, the District Attorney. The three heroes, the Daredevils of the Red Circle (Charles Quigley, Herman Brix, and Dave Sharpe) saved the DA from the gamma ray and then investigated Selden. The lunatic attempted to electrocute them, but they escaped, and 39013's henchmen threatened Selden with punishment for his failure. Selden's response (for a mad scientist) was perfectly normal: he announced there was a time bomb hidden in the room and that he would set it off if he was harmed. In response to this threat, one of the thugs shot him, and, as the Daredevils slugged it out with the henchmen, one of the bad guys fell against the switch and turned on the bomb. The villains were routed, and Selden gasped out the bomb's location in time for the Daredevils to throw it out of the room. This was of no avail to Selden, though, as he subsequently died from his gunshot wound.
Above: Stanley Price (far left) confronts the DAREDEVILS OF THE RED CIRCLE (Republic, 1939). The Daredevils, from left to right, are Herman Brix, Charles Quigley, and David Sharpe. Stanley got the first of his rare good guy roles in DICK TRACY'S G-MEN (Republic, 1939). As the Oriental chemist Dr. Shang, he played a small but pivotal part in the plot when he helped Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) identify the rare drug that the evil Nicholas Zarnoff (Irving Pichel) had used to put himself in suspended animation and escape the gas chamber. Price was also a good guy in SKY RAIDERS (Universal, 1941); he played a loyal mechanic at Sky Raiders Inc., the aircraft company run by hero Captain Dayton (Donald Woods). Stanley was back to villainy in ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL (Republic, 1941). He played Owens, a henchman who was captured by Captain Marvel (Tom Tyler) and intimidated into giving information. Owens agreed to identify his mystery leader, the Scorpion, but the Scorpion (who was one of a group of outwardly respectable scientist) got a note to Price instructing him to lead Billy Batson (Frank Coghlan Jr.) into a death trap in a mountain cave. What the bad guys didn't know was that Batson was secretly Captain Marvel. When Billy and Owens reached the cave, the Scorpion opened a pit trap beneath them, but Billy caught onto the pit's edge and uttered the magic word ("Shazam") that changed him into Captain Marvel, while poor Stanley met an unpleasant end at the spiked bottom of the pit. DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC. (Republic, 1941), gave Price a small, brief role as Jackson, one of the henchmen of the mysterious Ghost. In HOLT OF THE SECRET SERVICE (Columbia, 1941), he was present through the whole cliffhanger (but mainly a background figure) as Dent, one of Stanley Blystone's gangster henchmen. Universal then cast Stanley as "Corky" Watts, one of the villainous henchmen of Dr. Mortis (Ralph Morgan), in the 1942 serial GANG BUSTERS. "Corky" was indentified by the police following a shootout with hero Kent Taylor, and Morgan sent thugs to silence him as a result. Stanley was no fool, though, and went into hiding at a waterfront hotel. Unfortunately for him, he was tracked there by villains and police, and wound up getting plugged by one of his former companions. PERILS OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (Columbia, 1942), featured him as Hood, one of the thugs of profiteer Kenneth MacDonald. His best scene in this one came when he was called on to impersonate a Mountie as part of one of MacDonald's schemes. Stanley tangled some more with the RCMP in KING OF THE MOUNTIES (Republic, 1942) as an Axis saboteur named McGee. He had another one-chapter spot in VALLEY OF VANISHING MEN (Columbia, 1942), and was again a henchman of Kenneth MacDonald. G-MEN VS. THE BLACK DRAGON (Republic, 1943) gave Price another memorable character role as "Gabby" Gibbs, a mute trading post proprietor. Gabby was a member of the dreaded Black Dragon spy ring, and helped Japanese spy George J. Lewis escape from the FBI. Thanks to the tell-tale written notes that Gabby used to "talk" to Lewis, G-man Rod Cameron discovered the storekeeper's complicity and tried to arrest him. Price pulled a knife, and in the fight that followed, wound up dying on his own blade. THE BATMAN (Columbia, 1943) allowed Price to do his straight henchman routine and, after being taken prisoner by the hero, his weasel routine. He accompanied chief henchman Robert Fiske and zombie Frank Shannon in a radium robbery (and uttered the immortal line "I don't mind robbing the safe, but why do we have to take this zombie along?") and engaged in battle with Batman and Robin (Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft). Price was captured by the Dynamic Duo and taken to the Bat Cave, where the sinister bearing of Batman and the sight of live bats flying around soon reduced him to a quivering jelly. He blabbed all he knew, was turned over to the police, and not heard from again.
Above: Batman and Robin (Lewis Wilson and Douglas Croft) confront Frank Shannon (center), Robert Fiske, and Stanley Price (far right) in THE BATMAN (Columbia, 1943). THE MASKED MARVEL (Republic, 1943), cast Price as a smooth, crooked gasoline-company representative who suavely spun a yarn in an attempt to fool the good guys, took part in one big fight and then went out for the count. ADVENTURES OF THE FLYING CADETS (Universal, 1943), cast him in a miniscule role as a telephone operator, but THE PHANTOM (Columbia, 1943) featured Stanley in one of his best-remembered parts. As Chota, a scheming native chief, Price plotted against the heroic Phantom (Tom Tyler) with the villainous Dr. Bremmer (Kenneth MacDonald) but was terrified into squealing on Bremmer when the Phantom threatened to burn his village down with impressive "magic." Finally, in the last chapter, Chota decided to get his revenge on the Phantom ("last time, Phantom make big trouble for Chota--this time, Chota make big trouble for Phantom!") and apparently shot the jungle lord with a poison blowpipe. Fortunately for the good guys, Chota actually killed one of Bremmer's henchmen, who had been posing as the Phantom to hoodwink the natives. Not realizing his failure, Chota rushed from the scene of his crime but was shot down by the Phantom's pal Rusty (Ernie Adams). CAPTAIN AMERICA (Republic, 1943) featured Stanley in a semi-reprise of his Professor Selden character in the first chapter. He was a deranged chemist engaged in distilling the deadly Purple Death for the Scarab (Lionel Atwill), and, when cornered by Captain America/Grant Gardner (Dick Purcell) he threatened to drop a vial of Purple Death and kill everyone in the room. Gardner, undaunted, shot Price and then escaped with heroine Gail Richards (Lorna Gray) while the deadly fumes enveloped Stanley and his cohort LeRoy Mason. THE GREAT ALASKAN MYSTERY (Universal, 1944) featured him briefly as a henchman who (sensibly) refused to take part in the theft of a weapon called the Peratron after witnessing the machine's accidental evaporation of three fellow thugs. THE TIGER WOMAN (Republic, 1944) cast Price in what would be the first of his "villain's lieutenant and toady" parts. He was Slim, clerk in villain Crane Whitley's store, and mainly existed to question (for exposition purpose) the plans of Whitley and co-villain LeRoy Mason. Price played essentially the same role in ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (Republic, 1944), where he was clerk to chief villain Francis McDonald through all twelve chapters. In between these two similar parts, Stanley played an uncredited henchman in THE DESERT HAWK and a credited henchman role in BLACK ARROW, both released by Columbia in 1944.
Above: Allan Lane (far left) has the drop on Kenne Duncan (center) and a nervous-looking Stanley Price in THE TIGER WOMAN (Republic, 1944). THE MONSTER AND THE APE (Columbia, 1945) featured Stanley as Mead, a henchman of mad scientist George Macready, and SECRET AGENT X-9 (Universal, 1945), cast him as Duke, one of a group of criminals recruited by Japanese spy Victoria Horne and trained as a "double" for American inventor Mauritz Hugo; Horne gunned him down when Price’s plastic surgery “facelift” failed to produce any resemblance to Hugo. Price got another welcome change of pace in FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (Republic, 1945). He was an ex-convict named Monte Mason. Mason, now a respectable security guard, had been a member of Jim Belmont's (George J. Lewis) criminal gang, and helped hero Jerry Blake (Marten Lamont) in a scheme to capture the sly Belmont. In THE CRIMSON GHOST (Republic, 1946), Stanley played Count Fator, a rather distinguished foreign agent seeking to buy the deadly Cyclotrode device from the mysterious title villain. No wimp this time, Price took on hero Charles Quigley in a slam-bang last-chapter fight, and did not allow himself to be intimidated by hero or villain at any point in the proceedings.
Above: Robert Lowery has the drop on a smiling Stanley Price in THE MONSTER AND THE APE (Columbia, 1945). Stanley has good reason to smile: he’s about to drop the pesky hero down a trap door.
Above: Charles Quigley connects with Stanley Price's jaw in this lobbycard from THE CRIMSON GHOST (Republic, 1945). However, SON OF ZORRO (Republic, 1947), has to feature the most offbeat Price role of all time. In ZORRO, Price was not only non-cowardly and a good guy, but the hero's faithful sidekick! As Pancho, Jeff Stewart's (George Turner) faithful servant, Stanley enthusiastically aided his master in his crusade (in the guise of Zorro) against the evil politicians and outlaws in Nevada's Box County. Price donned Zorro's costume to save his master from being shot by a mob in one chapter, and even got to plug evil sheriff Ed Cassidy in the last episode. An excellent serial, SON OF ZORRO proved that Stanley could play a likeable character as easily as a rotten one. His obvious delight in helping Zorro prepare for his missions of justice mirrored the audience's joy in watching the heroic avenger do his stuff.
Above: Stanley Price as the trusty Pancho in SON OF ZORRO (Republic, 1947).
Above: Pancho (Stanley Price, far right) presents Jeff Stewart (George Turner) with the legendary Zorro costume while Kate Wells (Peggy Stewart) watches in SON OF ZORRO (Republic, 1947). THE BLACK WIDOW (Republic, 1947), and G-MEN NEVER FORGET (Republic, 1947), two atypically witty and literate Republic serials, also gave Price two of his more respectable villainous roles. In BLACK WIDOW, he was a bookstore owner who made a slip when questioned by hero Bruce Edwards and heroine Virginia Lindley as to the whereabouts of the Black Widow's (Carol Forman) lieutenant Dr. Jaffa (I. Stanford Jolley). Edwards planted a recorder in Price's bookstore before leaving, and returned to confront him after the device recorded Price's phone conversation with the Black Widow. Price was defeated after a lengthy fistfight with Edwards, and turned over to the police. In G-MEN, Stanley was the "lieutenant" villain, but definitely not a toady. His character, "Doc" Benson, ran a rather seedy sanitarium as a front for his association with the Murkland mob. When Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft), escaped from prison, he went to the sanitarium and had Benson alter his face to look exactly like that of Police Commissioner Cameron (also Roy Barcroft). Cameron was then kidnapped and taken to the sanitarium, while the gangster Murkland took his place and frustrated all attempts of G-man Clayton Moore to capture him. Stanley's Doc Benson was cruel, cool, and dangerous, and a worthy accomplice for the equally cruel, cool, and dangerous Murkland.
Above, from left to right: Jack O’Shea, Roy Barcroft, Drew Allen, and Stanley Price in G-MEN NEVER FORGET (Republic, 1947). Price played a nameless native chief in BRICK BRADFORD (Columbia, 1948), during the sequence where heroes Kane Richmond and Rick Vallin went back in time. Price ordered the two good guys burned at the stake, but Richmond was able to convince Stanley and the other natives that Vallin was a wizard, and procured his and Vallin's release. SUPERMAN (Columbia, 1948), had Price playing Crandall, a henchman instructed by the Spider Lady (Carol Forman) to sabotage the test of the government's Reducer Ray. Superman (Kirk Alyn) sailed into Price's lab and knocked him out along with a cohort, just before some electrical equipment exploded and killed the two villains. All of this took place in Chapter Three, so Stanley wasn't on screen long. He lasted longer in CONGO BILL (Columbia, 1948), as witch doctor Frank Lackteen's native henchman, assisting Lackteen in a gold smuggling operation and intriguing with him against their ruler, the white queen Lureen (Cleo Moore).
Above: Frank Lackteen (horned cap) and Stanley Price, both seated, look on as their followers perform a war dance. The enthroned Cleo Moore is partially visible on the far left in this scene from CONGO BILL (Columbia, 1948). KING OF THE ROCKETMEN (Republic, 1949) was the last time Price played a good guy. As Gunther Von Strum, one of a group of scientists, Stanley was targeted for destruction by the evil Dr. Vulcan. For a while, Price was one of the suspects for the mysterious villain, but the audience (and hero Tristram Coffin) found out otherwise when Von Strum was drugged by Vulcan and ordered to steal a valuable paper. Coffin stopped the zombie-like Price from performing the theft, and took him to a safe place of concealment, hoping he would reveal Vulcan's identity upon recovery. However, Vulcan's henchman Don Haggerty located Price, and murdered him despite the efforts of Coffin and his pal House Peters Jr. THE INVISIBLE MONSTER (Republic, 1950) billed Price on the first cast card for the first and last time in his serial career. Stanley was none other than the chief villain, a mastermind known as the Phantom Ruler, who had the ability to make himself invisible. He planned on using this power to steal enough money to enlist an invisible army for world conquest, but was thwarted at every turn by insurance investigator Lane Carson (Richard Webb, later TV's Captain Midnight). In the last chapter, the Ruler, watching, invisible, while Carson fought it out with his henchmen, prepared to gun down his arch nemesis, but Carson was warned in the nick of time and knocked the Ruler onto a live wire that the villain had prepared to electrocute two of his own gang. Stanley gave his all in what was probably one of his two greatest parts (the other being Pancho in SON OF ZORRO) and brought an air of restrained, subtle insanity to the character of the Phantom Ruler.
Above: The Phantom Ruler (Stanley Price, right) gives orders to his henchman Burton (Lane Bradford) in THE INVISIBLE MONSTER (Republic, 1950). As good as he had been in INVISIBLE MONSTER, it was somehow fitting that Price's last major role should be a "weasel" part--and that was exactly what he played in PIRATES OF THE HIGH SEAS (Columbia, 1950). As Lamar, the secretary to genial island governor (and secret pirate leader) Gene Roth, Price toadied and flattered in his trademark style. He eventually tried to turn on Roth and grab the serial's "prize", a fortune in diamonds, for himself, but his leader caught on to his treachery and ultimately plugged him (in the back, naturally). Killing Stanley didn't do Roth much good, though, as he met his downfall at the fists of hero Buster Crabbe, teamed with Price once again for the fourth and last time in their respective careers.
Above: Gene Roth (standing) and Stanley Price listen in on Tristram Coffin (offscreen) in PIRATES OF THE HIGH SEAS (Columbia, 1950). Price played mainly bit roles for the last years of his life, concentrating on his job as dialogue coach at Lippert and Allied Artists rather than on-screen appearances. He managed two more serial roles during this time, a bit in GREAT ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN KIDD (Columbia, 1953), and the part of a henchman named Cragg in PERILS OF THE WILDERNESS (Columbia, 1956). This Columbia cliffhanger proved to be Stanley Price's "last hurrah"; he had suffered a heart attack and passed away in 1955, the year before the cliffhanger was released. Stanley Price is too often thought of as "only a weasel" by those who remember his admittedly excellent performances in THE PHANTOM, THE BATMAN, and CAPTAIN MARVEL, among others. The truth is, he was much more than that. He was a character actor who could play any character--a mad scientist, a sidekick, a badman, a native, a master villain, an inventor, a gangster, a mute, a spy, or a zombie. He deserves to be honored and applauded for the rich roster of eccentric, oddball characterizations that he enlivened so many cliffhangers with in his long and productive serial career.
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