*** Welcome to piglix ***

Zorro Rides Again

Zorro Rides Again
Zorroridesagain.jpg
Directed by William Witney
John English
Produced by Sol C. Siegel
Written by Franklin Adreon
Morgan Cox
Ronald Davidson
John Rathmell
Barry Shipman
Johnston McCulley (original Zorro novel)
Starring John Carroll
Helen Christian
Reed Howes
Duncan Renaldo
Noah Beery, Sr.
Richard Alexander
Music by Alberto Colombo
Walter Hirsch
Eddie Cherkose (aka Eddie Maxwell)
Lou Handman
Cinematography William Nobles
Edited by Helene Turner
Edward Todd
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release date
  • November 20, 1937 (1937-11-20)
Running time
12 chapters (212 minutes (serial)
68 minutes (feature)
6 26½-minute episodes (TV)
Country United States
Language English
Budget $98,110 (negative cost: $110,753)

Zorro Rides Again (1937) is a 12-chapter Republic Pictures film serial. It was the eighth of the sixty-six Republic serials, the third with a western theme (a third of Republic's serials were westerns) and the last produced in 1937. The serial was directed by William Witney & John English in their first collaboration. The serial starred John Carroll who also sang the title song as a modern descendant of the original Zorro with Carroll stunt doubled by Yakima Canutt. The plot is a fairly standard western storyline about a villain attempting to illicitly take valuable land (in this case a new railroad). The setting is a hybrid of modern (1930s) and western elements that was used occasionally in B-Westerns (such as the western feature films also produced by Republic). It was also the first in a series of five Zorro serials: Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939), Zorro's Black Whip (1944), Son of Zorro (1947) and Ghost of Zorro (1949).

In contemporary (for the 1937 production) California, villain J. A. Marsden aims to take over the California-Yucatan Railroad with the aid of his henchman El Lobo. The rightful owners, Joyce and Phillip Andrews, naturally object. Their partner, Don Manuel Vega summons his nephew, James Vega, to help them as he is the great grandson of the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega. He is disappointed, however, to find that his nephew is a useless fop (presumably Don Manuel had not paid too much attention to his family history).


...
Wikipedia

...