King of the Royal Mounted (serial)
| King of the Royal Mounted | |
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| Directed by |
William Witney John English |
| Produced by | Hiram S. Brown Jr |
| Written by |
Franklin Adreon Norman S. Hall Joeseph F. Poland Barney A. Sarecky Sol Shor |
| Starring |
Allan Lane Robert Strange Robert Kellard Lita Conway Herbert Rawlinson Harry Cording Bryant Washburn Budd Buster |
| Cinematography | William Nobles |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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12 chapters (211 minutes) (serial) 68 minutes (feature) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $136,686 (negative cost: $137,874) |
King of the Royal Mounted (1940) is a Republic Pictures northern serial based on the King of the Royal Mounted Comic strip directed by William Witney and John English.
Set and filmed during World War II, the story is about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police against Nazi spies after a new Canadian discovery, "Compound X".
A feature version, called The Yukon Patrol was released in 1942.
Although the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are few in number, they successfully guard a vast dominion of the British Empire. From the United States border to the Arctic ice pack and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the red coat of the Mountie is the symbol of law and order and a promise that justice will prevail. To these gallant men, "King of the Royal Mounted" is respectfully dedicated.
In World War II, the Nazis require a special mineral, Compound X, discovered in Canada. Although intended to cure paralysis, the Nazis have discovered that it can be used in magnetic mines to destroy the British fleet and blockade America to prevent it assisting the Allies. The Mounties discover this plot and work to defeat and capture the Nazi spies sent to obtain the ore. Sgt King's father is killed in the line of duty, saving his son from death on a circular saw, and leaving him to carry on the fight against the enemy.
The plot was described as "pure and simple propaganda" by William Witney.
King of the Royal Mounted was budgeted at $136,686 although the final negative cost was $137,874 (a $1,188, or 0.9%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1940 which was the first year in which Republic's overall spending on serial production was less than in the previous year.
It was filmed between 18 June and 12 July 1940. The serial's production number was 998.
Republic found success with this naming scheme following this adaptation and subsequently liked calling their heroes "King" in order to use the title "King of..." It even led the studio to name Roy Rogers "King of the Cowboys.".
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