Blake of Scotland Yard (Feature Film Version) (DVD)

Jerry Sheehan, along with Sir James Blake and his niece Joan, has invented a "death ray" that can be used to threaten aggressive nations with annihilation if they refuse to convert to the path of non-violence. Sir James trusts that his machine can end war and he plans to make a gift of the technology to the League of Nations. But before world peace can be achieved, the claw-handed criminal mastermind known as "The Scorpion" sends his gang of conspirators to steal the deadly device. Composited from a fifteen chapter serial, the feature film version of Blake of Scotland Yard is an engrossing thriller with an inventive plot and plenty of action-packed violence.

Character actor Ralph Byrd is best remembered for portraying comic-strip cop Dick Tracy in seven films in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as an early 1950s TV series. Co-star Joan Barclay got her film career off to a flying start at the tender age of 12, appearing in the 1927 silent classic, The Gaucho, with Douglas Fairbanks, and followed it up with a long career in B-movies and serials.

• science fiction