Daredevils of the Red Circle

In looking over previous comments of Daredevils of the Red Circle, many of you comment on the ending of Chapter One where Charles Quigley is trying to outrace a torrent of water riding on a motorcyle. I had the privilege of knowing Barry Shipman, the scriptwriter for "Daredevils." He would pen many of the famous Republic serials, including the Lone Ranger, before going over to Columbia to write the Durango Kid features. Bill Witney relays the story of how the chapter came to be written in his autobiography. First, they found a real tunnel in downtown Los Angeles. At that time, the L.A. traffic had not grown to the proportion it is today and Republic got permission from the city to block traffic while they shot footage inside the tunnel. A miniature replica of the tunnel was designed and a process screen was used to show the water seemingly coming from behind Quigley. It was Barry's suggestion that the hero narrowly escapes downing by getting to the end of the tunnel where he turns the wheel to close the watertight doors. This conclusion was known as the take-out or the solution to the cliffhanger.