ZORRO RIDES AGAIN

Zorro about to spring into action

ZORRO RIDES AGAIN (12 chapter Republic serial/1937). Directors: John English; William Witney. 

An evil man named Marsden (Noah Beery) wants to take over the Califronia-Yucatan Railroad and doesn't care who gets hurt in the process. He is opposed by minority stockholders Phillip Andrews (Reed Howes) and his sister, Joyce (Helen Christian). The principal stockholder in the Railroad is James Vega (John Carroll), who seems utterly disinterested in the railroad or much of anything else. Only his friend, Renaldo (Duncan Renaldo), knows that Vega is actually the new Zorro, the great-grandson of the original. Using his whip and other skills, and riding his horse "El Rey," Zorro mounts a one-man campaign against Marsden and his nasty lieutenant, Brad Dace, also known as "El Lobo" (Richard Alexander).

John Carroll as Zorro/James Vega

Zorro Rides Again is an early Republic chapterplay and the first of several to feature the Zorro character and his descendants. This serial takes place in "modern" times. There are plenty of horses and cowboys, but also cars, trucks, planes and skyscrapers, one of which Zorro nearly falls off after he raids Marsden's Manhattan office. In other cliffhangers, Zorro and pals are on a train that is bombed by El Lobo's pilot; has to deal with a ticking time bomb in the railroad supply warehouse; and is sent hurtling down a mine track toward imminent destruction. In the best cliffhanger, Zorro winds up with his foot caught by a derailing switch just as an express train comes barreling towards him!

Helen Christian and Reed Howes

The villains in this are especially ruthless. In the first chapter they murder both the father trying to protect his little boy but the child as well. A surprising bit shows blood coming out of the mouth of a cowboy who's been shot -- you rarely if ever saw blood in one of these old serials or westerns. Zorro hangs out in a kind of "bat cave" which can be accessed by a secret tunnel behind a painting. Frankly it doesn't make much sense that Vega wouldn't simply tell Phillip and Joyce that he was Zorro, and it seems incredible that they were fooled even for an instant. One of the most satisfying scenes shows Zorro literally whipping El Lobo onto his ass in a nightclub, although the deaths of the bad guys in this are not nearly terrible enough. There are some good chases and fight scenes in this serial, but the kind of incredible choreographed fisticuffs that Republic could boast did not quite develop until a later period. John Carroll makes a likable hero and looks the part. 

Verdict:  Entertaining early Republic cliffhanger with some exciting and suspenseful sequences. ***.