A Republic Serialiin Twelve Chapters
Zorro had a big year in 1937. The Hispanic hero of the old colonial Spanish West had been created in 1919 by newspaperman Johnston McCully, and the 1920 Zorro feature, starring the acrobatic film icon Douglas Fairbanks, was one of the great hits of the Golden Age of the silent screen. But Zorro had lain unexploited through almost a decade of sound films when, in January of 1937, McCully himself produced an eight reel minor epic for Republic Pictures reviving the character. Filmed in an early two-color process, it was called THE BOLD CABALLERO (watch for this film included as an "Extra" on our DVD of ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP) and the film laid down in the sound era the essential Zorro tale told by Fairbanks and, later, by Tyrone Power. Then, utilizing the "modern day" Western technique which Republic was beginning to pioneer in the Gene Autry series, the studio quickly produced a high-quality contemporary twelve chapter Republic Serial and, at Christmas, 1937, began the release of ZORRO RIDES AGAIN.
It was a marvelously exciting show. This first Zorro Republic Serial (which featured a singing Zorro!) starred a familiar face, John Carroll, today best known for his co-starring role with John Wayne in the seminal World War Two epic, "Flying Tigers". As the traditional Republic Serial "heavy", the studio cast veteran character actor Noah Beery, Sr. and then shot out all of his scenes over two long days on a single set! As always, Republic devised an intriguing storyline: A railroad magnate is determined to stop his ostensible partners from succeeding in laying a new track from California to the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Not that he thinks it is a poor idea; he thinks it too good an idea -- and he wants it all for himself. But, his armed henchmen are stopped from sabotaging the project by the "mythical" masked avenger, Zorro, who is ultimately revealed to be the foppish great-grandson of Don Diego, the original Zorro. Aided by his loyal friend, played by the future "Cisco Kid", Duncan Renaldo, this new Zorro sees that good triumphs over evil, and the railroad, meant to deliver the modern world to rural Mexico, becomes a reality. All this because, as you will see, ZORRO RIDES AGAIN!
|
