Manhunt of Mystery Island (1945) is a Republic Movie serial. It was the thirty-sixth serial produced by Republic (of a total of sixty-six) and the first released in 1945.

It is the penultimate 15-chapter serial to be released by the studio. The year 1945, the end of the Golden Age of Serials, was the last in which Republic released any 15-chapter serials, the remainder being either 12 or 13 chapters in length.

In 1966 footage from the serial was edited together into the 100-minute film Captain Mephisto and the Transformation Machine.

Three of the serial’s cliffhanger gags / set pieces are copied in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Plot
A breakthrough scientific device will revolutionize the world’s energy usage if the kidnapped creator can be found. To rescue her father, Claire Forrest enlists the help of private detective, Lance Reardon. Clues lead them to a remote Pacific isle known only as Mystery Island, where the two confront sinister and astonishing forces. The descendants of a long-dead pirate, Captain Mephisto are holding the scientist for their own gain. Worst of all, one of the heirs possesses a Transformation Machine with the impossible ability of changing him into the molecular duplicate of his ancestor, Mephisto.

Cast
Richard Bailey as Lance Reardon, a private detective
Linda Stirling as Claire Forrest, daughter of Professor Forrest
Roy Barcroft as Higgins/ Captain Mephisto
Kenne Duncan as Sidney Brand
Forrest Taylor as Professor William Forrest, inventor of the Radiatomic Power Transmitter
Forbes Murray as Professor Harry Hargraves
Jack Ingram as Edward Armstrong
Harry Strang as Frederick “Fred” Braley