Mystery of the River Boat is a 1944 Universal movie serial directed by Lewis D. Collins and Ray Taylor. It co-starred Lyle Talbot, Robert Lowery and Mantan Moreland.
Plot
Deposits of "Nitrolene", a high-energy fuel, have been discovered in swampland near Duval's Landing in the bayous of Louisiana by Dr. Hartman, who signs an agreement with developer Herman Einreich. After getting the map locating the deposits, Einreich has Hartman killed by his henchman Cassard and departs for Duval's Landing on the riverboat Morning Glory. The riverboat's captain, Ethan Perrin, is one of the three landowners involved, and attorney Steve Langtry, the son of one of the other two landowners, is investigating Einreich's offer for his father's land, but foreign agent Rudolph Toller and his underlings Bruno Bloch and Louis Schaber are also on the Morning Glory trying to get Einreich's map, aided by one of the riverboat's entertainers, singer Celeste Eltree. "Mystery Man" Clayton and his Cajun associate Batiste are also clearly up to no good, but helping Langtry are Captain Perrin's daughter Jenny, the riverboat's steward Napoleon and entertainer Jug Jenks.
Cast
Robert Lowery as Steve Langtry
Eddie Quillan as Jug Jenks
Marion Martin as Celeste Eltree, riverboat singer
Marjorie Clements as Jenny Perrin, Captain Perrin's daughter
Lyle Talbot as Rudolph Toller, foreign agent
Arthur Hohl as Clayton
Oscar O'Shea as Captain Ethan Perrin, captain of the riverboat The Morning Glory
Francis McDonald as Batiste
Mantan Moreland as Napoleon, ship steward
Eddy Waller as Charles Langtry
Ian Wolfe as Herman Einreich, villainous land speculator
Byron Foulger as Dr. H. Hartman
Earle Hodgins as Jean Duval
Anthony Warde as Bruno Bloch
Alec Craig as the Chief Engineer
Production
Stunts
John Daheim doubling Robert Lowery
Carey Loftin doubling Robert Lowery
Eddie Parker doubling Dick Curtis
Tom Steele doubling Arthur Hohl
Critical reception
Cline considers this to be an average serial but one with a good cast and all the necessary "ingredients" of a good serial.
Chapter titles
The Tragic Crash
The Phantom Killer
The Flaming Inferno
The Brink of Doom
The Highway of Peril
The Fatal Plunge
The Toll of the Storm
The Break in the Levee
Trapped in the Quicksands
Flaming Havoc
Electrocuted
Risking Death
The Boomerang
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