''Desperadoes of the West'' (1950) is a 12-chapter

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

Cast

Richard Powers Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel ''The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.Judy Clark Judy Clark (June 9, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American film and television actress and singer. Clark adopted a brash and energetic singing style, similar to that of musical-comedy star Betty Hutton (with trade critics almost alw ...

as Sally Arnold *

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for R ...

as Hacker, a henchman * I. Stanford Jolley as J. B. "Dude" Dawson *

Lee Phelps Lee Phelps (born Napoleon Bonaparte Kukuck; May 15, 1893 – March 19, 1953) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 600 films between 1917 and 1953, mainly in uncredited roles. He also appeared in three films that won the Acade ...

as Rusty Steele *

Lee Roberts Lee Roberts (June 17, 1913 – April 24, 1989) was a film actor during the Hollywood Golden Age. Sometimes he is credited as Robert Allen or Lee J. Roberts. Career Little is known about this man who appeared in over 100 films between 1943 a ...

as Larson, a henchman * Cliff Clark as Colonel Arnold *

Guy Teague Albert Guy Teague (January 20, 1913 – January 24, 1970) was an American actor and stuntman. He was known for serving as a double for Eric Fleming's character Gil Favor in the American western television series '' Rawhide''. Life and career ...

as Jack

Production

''Desperadoes of the West'' was budgeted at $153,081 although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example ''The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural h ...

was $150,246 (a $2,835, or 1.9%, under spend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1950. It was filmed between May 31 and June 22, 1950 under the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

s ''Bandit King of Oklahoma'' and ''Desperado Kings of the West''. The serial's studio production number was 1708.

Stunts

* Tom Steele as Ward Gordon (doubling Richard Powers) *

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. ...

as Hacker/Ward Gordon (doubling Roy Barcroft & Richard Powers) *John Daheim

Special effects

Special effects by the

Lydecker brothers Howard and Theodore Lydecker, always known—and billed—as such, were Howard "Babe" Lydecker (June 8, 1911 – September 26, 1969) and Theodore Lydecker (November 7, 1908 – May 25, 1990), a special effects team primarily working as contract s ...

Release

Theatrical

''Desperadoes of the Wests official release date is 2 August 1950, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

Chapter titles

# Tower of Jeopardy (20min) # Perilous Barrier (13min 20s) # Flaming Cargo (13min 20s) # Trail of Terror (13min 20s) # Plunder Cave (13min 20s) # Six-Gun Hijacker (13min 20s) # The Powder Keg (13min 20s) # Desperate Venture (13min 20s) # Stagecoach to Eternity (13min 20s) # Hidden Desperado (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter # Open Warfare (13min 20s) # Desperate Gamble (13min 20s) _Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Desperadoes of the West 1950 films 1950 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials American Western (genre) films Films directed by Fred C. Brannon 1950s American films