Rescue Squad

DeWitt Porter, wealthy young man-about-town and antiques collector, meets pretty heiress Norma Britt when she accidentally smashes into his car while speeding. Curious as to why the girl was in such a rush, he learns that she is seeing Lester Vaughn, a small-time gambler and con man. Though perplexed by what a girl like Norma could possibly see in such a man, Porter puts aside these questions to attend to the acquisition of a rare jade Buddha. He does not realize that the owner of the Buddha plans to poison him after making the sale so as to still keep the priceless artifact. At the same time that Porter leaves to purchase the Buddha, Norma is hurrying to elope with Lester on a cruise, and the two again run into each other in an apartment elevator. A fire erupts in the building, trapping them both in the elevator. As the inferno edges closer and closer, Porter tells Norma why Lester is all wrong for her. A rescue squad races to the scene, but even if they can arrive in time to save them, Porter will still die at the hands of the fiend awaiting him…

Rescue Squad is a fun B-picture that is like a pulp story brought to life, with twists and turns that were the specialty of director Spencer Gordon Bennett. Known as the "King of Serial Directors", he directed more serials than any other director, including both Superman (1948) and Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), The Tiger Woman (1944), Batman and Robin (1949), The Adventures of Sir Galahad (1949) and Captain Video (1951). Dashing leading man Ralph Forbes was an English actor who immigrated to America in the mid-1920s. He quickly made a name for himself in his new home with roles in Beau Geste (1926), Lilies of the Field (1930) and Smilin' Through (1932). He was also Sir Hugo Baskerville in the first of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes pictures, The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939). Ever-reliable character actor Leon Ames plays the film's heavy using his birth name Leon Waycoff. His most famous early role was Edgar Allan Poe's detective Pierre Dupin in Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932). As Leon Ames, he would appear in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944), Lady in the Lake (1947) and the film noir classic The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). He also played Wilbur's neighbor on the popular TV series Mister Ed (1963-1965).