KING OF THE MOUNTIES

Allan Lane returns as Sgt. Dave King

KING OF THE MOUNTIES (12-chapter Republic serial/1942). Director: William Witney. Colorized version.

After the success of King of the Royal Mounted, Allan Lane was brought back as Sgt. Dave King of the RCMP in this new cliffhanger with even more formidable adversaries. A deadly triumvirate consisting of Japanese admiral Yamata (Abner Biberman); German Marshal Von Horst (Wilhelm von Brincken); and Italian Count Boroni (Nestor Paiva) are working behind the scenes to destroy Canada. Professor Brent (George Irving of Spy Ship) has invented a special device that can detect the activities of the Axis trio's "Falcon," a rocket-controlled aircraft which takes the group into their HQ inside an active volcano. Traitors working for the Axis include Blake (Bradley Page) and Harper (Douglass Dumbrille of The Catman of Paris), with Anthony Warde and Jay Novello on board for more nefarious activity. William Bakewell plays another Mountie and associate of King's, Peggy Drake is Brent's daughter, Carol, and Duncan Renaldo is Harper's right-hand Pierre. 

Axis trio: Paiva, Biberman and von Brincken

King of the Mounties is another exciting serial with Lane making the most of his role, and such memorable cliffhangers as a car exploding with Carol inside it; King being dropped right out of the bomb bay of the Falcon; planes colliding in mid-air; and a runaway car that smacks into King as he stands at the edge of a cliff. As usual, you can easily lose count of how many fist fights with broken furniture there are -- at least two in every chapter -- and there are plenty of chases and breathless escapes. The actors are all game as well. There's a splendid climax inside the exploding volcano where our villains come to a satisfying ending. 

Verdict: Fine follow-up to King of the Royal Mounted. ***. 

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED

Allan Lane as Sgt. Dave King

KING OF THE ROYAL MOUNTED (12 chapter Republic serial/1940). Directors: John English; William Witney. Colorized version.

Tom Merritt (Stanley Andrews) has invented a serum, Compound X, that will help cure infantile paralysis, but he is unaware that his partner, Crandall (Bryant Washburn), is an enemy agent (of an unspecified nation) who wants to use the compound to make mines. Crandell, who watches as associate Garson (Harry Cording) murders Merritt, reports to a man named Kettler (Robert Strange). Tom Merritt's son, Tom Jr. (Robert Kellard) works with Sgt. Dave King (Allan Lane), whose father is Inspector King (Herbert Rawlinson) of the Canadian Royal Mounted. 

Kellard, Cording and Lane

Dave King and young Tom are unaware of Crandall's duplicity, but are perpetually endangered by the actions of Garson. Dave manages to survive a plane crash, and his father saves his life when he's tied to a buzzsaw and nearly dismembered, but unfortunately the elder King succumbs to a bullet. King of the Royal Mounted is based on a story (and subsequent comic strip) by Zane Grey. It is a fast-paced and entertaining serial, the first of two with Lane playing King, and the first of several serials about the Mounties. The climax takes place on an enemy submarine where Dave and Tom are to be blown out of the torpedo tubes, but one of them makes a heroic sacrifice to save the other. The entire cast give energetic and capable performances. 

Verdict: The Mounties get their man! ***.