When a mass murdering terrorist calling himself "The Octopus" begins to cripple the United States transportation, power, and manufacturing industries, cheerful playboy Richard Wentworth abandons his plan to retire from crime fighting and resumes his role as the death-dealing vigilante "The Spider." (1938 - Columbia Pictures)
The Spider was a pistol-weilding pulp vigilante created in 1933 by Harry Steeger, co-founder of the pulp magazine company Popular Publications, in response to Street and Smith Publications' popular crime fighter, the Shadow. Like many other masked adventurers (Shadow, Batman, Sandman, Zorro, etc.), the Spider was a member of the idle rich who used his vast wealth and many talents to fight crime. The Spider was particularly ruthless, having no reservations about executing his enemies. His garish costume--complete with fangs and a hunchback--was designed to instill terror in the underworld, and his adventures are notable for being particularly violent. It should be noted, however, that despite also being relentlessly hunted by the police, the Spider considered himself to be on the side of justice and would not shoot police officers--even when they were shooting at him.
Most of the Spider stories were written by Norvell Page, but many other authors contributed to the series as well, all writing under the Popular Publications house pseudonym of "Grant Stockbridge." The Spider pulp magazine ran for 118 issues from 1933 to 1943.
THE SPIDER'S WEB was produced by Columbia Pictures and directed by serial veterans Ray Taylor and James W. Horne. Though the violence was toned down somewhat and the Spider's costume was altered for the serial, the supporting cast--fiancee Nita Van Sloan, manservant Ram Singh, chauffeur Ronald Jackson, butler Harold Jenkyns, Police Commissioner Stanley Kirk, and Wentworth's second alter-ego Blinky McQuade--are all taken directly from the original printed stories.
The Spider was a pistol-weilding pulp vigilante created in 1933 by Harry Steeger, co-founder of the pulp magazine company Popular Publications, in response to Street and Smith Publications' popular crime fighter, the Shadow. Like many other masked adventurers (Shadow, Batman, Sandman, Zorro, etc.), the Spider was a member of the idle rich who used his vast wealth and many talents to fight crime. The Spider was particularly ruthless, having no reservations about executing his enemies. His garish costume--complete with fangs and a hunchback--was designed to instill terror in the underworld, and his adventures are notable for being particularly violent. It should be noted, however, that despite also being relentlessly hunted by the police, the Spider considered himself to be on the side of justice and would not shoot police officers--even when they were shooting at him.
Most of the Spider stories were written by Norvell Page, but many other authors contributed to the series as well, all writing under the Popular Publications house pseudonym of "Grant Stockbridge." The Spider pulp magazine ran for 118 issues from 1933 to 1943.
THE SPIDER'S WEB was produced by Columbia Pictures and directed by serial veterans Ray Taylor and James W. Horne. Though the violence was toned down somewhat and the Spider's costume was altered for the serial, the supporting cast--fiancee Nita Van Sloan, manservant Ram Singh, chauffeur Ronald Jackson, butler Harold Jenkyns, Police Commissioner Stanley Kirk, and Wentworth's second alter-ego Blinky McQuade--are all taken directly from the original printed stories.
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Short film