ANNE NAGEL
September 29th, 1915 -- July 6th, 1966

Above: Serial heroine par excellence Anne Nagel with actor Ross Alexander in a scene from an unidentified Warner Brothers film (identification of Alexander courtesy of reader John Searle).

After Jean Rogers and Lucile Browne, the Boston-born Anne Nagel was the most prolific and popular of Universal's serial queens. In addition to appearing in four Universal cliffhangers, she also played the heroine in one of Columbia's best serials, THE SECRET CODE. Her persona was that of a savvy, slightly impertinent, but warm and friendly girl, reminding one rather of Myrna Loy. It would be remiss not to mention Anne when covering the great serial heroines; she will always be one of the best.

Like so many other cliffhanger actresses, Anne Nagel started out as a model. She joined a Boston theatrical group in her late teens, and journeyed to Hollywood with her family when her stepfather, a Technicolor expert, was hired by Tiffany Studios to direct an experimental series of color shorts. After beginning her career as a Warner Bros. starlet, in Warner B-films,such as the Dick Foran B-western LAND BEYOND THE LAW and the murder mystery MYSTERY HOUSE, she moved on to Universal Pictures, and most of her subsequent work was at that studio. She made her first serial appearance in Universal's 13-chapter cliffhanger THE GREEN HORNET. Based on the popular radio show created by Fran Striker, THE GREEN HORNET chronicled the adventures of Britt Reid, the crusading publisher of the Daily Sentinel, who disguises as the mysterious Green Hornet in order to battle the forces of crime on their own terms. As in the show, Reid (well played by Gordon Jones, who later became a versatile character actor) was aided by his Korean valet Kato (Keye Luke), who alone knew the secret of his identity. Anne was Lenore "Casey" Case, Reid's secretary, who doesn't know who the Hornet is, but is convinced that he's not the gangster the police believe him to be, and frequently argues the point with Britt's bumbling bodyguard Mike Axford (Wade Boteler), who is after the reward on the Hornet. While all of Anne's scenes took place inside the Daily Sentinel building, she still made a vivid and memorable impression as Miss Case, coming up with some great wisecracks and retorts in her frequent wit combats with Axford and Sentinel reporter Jenks (Phillip Trent), and always voicing her faith in the Green Hornet no matter what anyone else may say. THE GREEN HORNET is a true serial classic, and it is impossible to remember it without thinking of Nagel's standout performance.

Above: Wade Boteler (far left) displays an insulting note from THE GREEN HORNET (Universal, 1939), while Anne Nagel, Gordon Jones (seated), and Phillip Trent watch with amusement.

Her next serial was WINNERS OF THE WEST (Universal, 1940), in which she played Claire Hartford, the daughter of a railroad builder (Edward Keane). Her father's railroad found itself in for a lot of trouble when it tried to run a line through Hell's Gate Pass, the territory of outlaw boss King Carter and his gang of badmen and Indians. Carter will stop at nothing to keep the railroad from breaking up his empire, and he gives Claire and her father a hard time until railroad agent Jeff Ramsey (Dick Foran) and his pals Tex and Jim (Tom Fadden and future star James Craig) step in. WINNERS OF THE WEST was another successful and popular serial for Universal, in the same vein as earlier Western successes like RUSTLERS OF RED DOG and FLAMING FRONTIERS, and another good vehicle for Anne Nagel.

Above: Jim Jackson (James Craig. left) and Jeff Ramsay (Dick Foran) protect Claire Hartford (Anne Nagel) in this publicity still for WINNERS OF THE WEST (Universal, 1940).

Anne returned to the role of Casey Case in 1940's THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN. While Warren Hull played the Hornet this time around, and Eddie Acuff as a reporter named Lowry replaced Phillip Trent, Keye Luke and Wade Boteler both reprised their original roles along with Nagel. Once again, Anne parried some wonderful dialogue with Axford, and in one chapter even got to accompany Britt Reid and Axford in an undercover mission to crack a stolen car ring using a diner as a front. THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN was an excellent sequel to an excellent original, and Anne was as memorable and likable as she had been in the first Hornet outing.

Above: Anne Nagel with the masked Warren Hull in this publicity still for THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN (Universal, 1940), Anne's third serial and the second time she played The Hornet/Britt Reid's secretary Miss Case.

Despite Anne's sterling service in her three previous cliffhangers, Universal never let her play the main heroine again; her last serial role for the studio was the part of Misty Gaye, the nurse girlfriend of Don Winslow's sidekick Red Pennington in DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY (Universal, 1941). Don Terry played Winslow, Kurt Katch was his arch-enemy, the evil Nazi agent known as the Scorpion and Claire Dodd was the major heroine, Mercedes Colby. Nagel really deserved a better exit to her career at Universal than the small role of Misty, but she did her best in it.

Above: A lobby card for DON WINSLOW OF THE NAVY (Universal, 1941). Don Terry, as Winslow, is shown in the upper left hand corner. Walter Sande, as Red Pennington, is shown in the bottom left hand corner. Kurt Katch, as the Scorpion, looms in the upper right hand corner, while below him, from left to right, are Claire Dodd (as Mercedes) and Anne Nagel (as Misty).

Anne was in a couple of other Universal movies--the horror film MAN MADE MONSTER (1941), with Lon Chaney Jr., the Johnny Mack Brown B-western STAGECOACH BUCKAROO (1942), and the Western ROAD AGENT (1941), which reunited her with her WINNERS OF THE WEST co-star, Dick Foran. It would seem that she left Universal shortly after STAGECOACH BUCKAROO, since, in 1942, we find her at Columbia, making her final cliffhanger appearance in THE SECRET CODE. THE SECRET CODE was an attempt by Columbia to match the success of Republic Pictures' very popular serial SPY SMASHER, and to a great extent they succeeded, thanks to great action director Spencer Gordon Bennett and a stellar cast that included, besides Nagel, Paul Kelly, Trevor Bardette, and Clancy Cooper. The plot dealt with Dan Barton (Kelly) a police detective who rigs his dishonorable discharge from the force so he can infiltrate a gang of Nazi saboteurs headed by spymaster Jensen (Bardette). Barton dons the disguise of the Black Commando so he can fight the Nazis from within without exposing himself, and does his best to bollix up their various schemes throughout the course of the serial. Anne was Jean Ashley, Dan's reporter girlfriend, who is upset by his discharge from the police force but aids him in his crusade once she is let in on the secret of his identity. THE SECRET CODE remains one of Columbia's most action-packed and enduringly popular serials, and provided a perfect valedictory for the serial career of Anne Nagel.

Above: Anne Nagel with Clancy Cooper in the first chapter of THE SECRET CODE (Columbia, 1942).

Above: A publicity shot of Paul Kelly and Anne Nagel in THE SECRET CODE (Columbia, 1942).

Anne continued to appear in films till the early fifties. None of her later roles were that memorable; one of the more notable was the part of the murder victim in a 1947 Charlie Chan murder mystery called THE TRAP. Her final role was a touching bit as the widow of cop Charles McGraw's murdered partner in ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (RKO, 1950), starring McGraw and William Talman, but she continued to appear on TV until 1956. She died of cancer in 1966, another serial performer whose career might not seem to count for much to the critical eye, but who will forever be remembered lovingly by the cliffhanger crowd.

Above: A final shot of the lovely Anne Nagel, taken during her days at Universal pictures. We'll never forget you, Anne.