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. ***. 

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. ***.