Chick Carter, Detective is a 1946 Columbia film serial. Columbia could not afford the rights to produce a Nick Carter serial so they made Chick Carter, Detective about his son instead. This was based on the radio series Chick Carter, Boy Detective. A Nick Carter series was being made by MGM.In a "rather strange precedent" for a serial, the title character is rarely involved in the cliffhangers. For example, the first cliffhanger revolves around the reporter Rusty rather than Carter.