''Daredevils of the West'' is an American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

movie 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 ...

consisting of 12 chapters, released by

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...

in 1943 starring

Allan Lane Allan "Rocky" Lane (born Harry Leonard Albershardt; September 22, 1909 – October 27, 1973) was an American studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV shows in ...

and

Kay Aldridge Katharine ("Kay") Gratten Aldridge (July 9, 1917 – January 12, 1995) was an American actress and model, best known for playing feisty and imperiled heroines in black-and-white serials during the 1940s. Life and work Aldridge was born on July ...

. The plot involves a gang of land-grabbers who try to prevent safe passage of the Foster Stage Company through frontier territory. There are similarities of style with other Republic serials released during wartime, such as ''

King of the Mounties ''King of the Mounties'' is a 1942 Republic 12-chapter film serial, directed by William Witney. Allan Lane played Sgt. Dave King of the Mounties, with Peggy Drake as heroine Carol Brent, and Abner Biberman played the villainous Japanese admiral ...

'' and ''

The Masked Marvel ''The Masked Marvel'' (1943) is a 12-chapter film serial created by Republic Pictures, who produced many other well known serials. It was Republic's thirty-first serial, of the sixty-six they produced. Plot In ''The Masked Marvel'', a hero dress ...

''. Both Native American actors who played the

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

's companion

Tonto Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native American (either Comanche or Potawatomi) companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Tonto has appeared in radio and tele ...

, Chief Thunder Cloud (of the 1930s ''Lone Ranger'' movie serials) and

Jay Silverheels Jay Silverheels (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television ...

(of 1950s ''Lone Ranger'' television program) appear in the sequence in which Kay Aldridge and Eddie Acuff are held hostage by Indians. The serial was long considered to be a partially

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

; for years, copies of only chapters 2, 4, 5, and 12 circulated on 16-mm among film collectors. The entire serial, however, was never fully "lost", it was simply never re-released to theaters, or released on video because five reels of sound from the archival material apparently went missing not long after the serial's original exhibition. The absence of these reels may be the reason why Republic Pictures had no objection to subsequently selling off an incomplete print of the serial to cowboy actor William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd for use as stock footage. All 12 chapters were screened, for the first time in 65 years, in May 2008 by the Serial Squadron at SerialFest 2008 in

Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania Newtown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,248 at the 2010 census. It is located just west of the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area. It is ...

. The film was subsequently shown at the Lone Pine film festival in October 2009 and at the

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

film festival in June 2010. ''Daredevils of the West,'' with restored audio and dubbed missing-dialogue sequences, was released on DVD by the Serial Squadron, an organization that restores classic film serials, in February 2011.

Cast

as Duke Cameron *

as June Foster *

Eddie Acuff Edward DeKalb Acuff (June 3, 1903 – December 17, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. He frequently was cast as a droll comic relief, in the support of the star. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in ...

as Red Kelly *

William Haade William Haade (March 2, 1903 – November 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1937 and 1957. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California. Haade was a construction boss until ...

as Barton Ward *

Robert Frazer Robert Frazer (born Robert William Browne, June 29, 1891August 17, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in some 224 shorts and films from the 1910s until his death. He began in films with the Eclair company which released through Universal ...

as Martin Dexter * Ted Adams as Silas Higby * George J. Lewis as Turner * Charles F. Miller as Foster

Production

''Daredevils of the West'' was budgeted at $140,550, 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 $167,003 (a $26,453, or 18.8%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1943. It was filmed between 9 January and 13 February 1943. The serial's production number was 1199. Kay Aldridge and Allan Lane were billed as "their Majesties, the King and Queen of Serials".

Stunts

* Tom Steele as Duke Cameron (doubling Lane) * Babe DeFreest as June Foster (doubling Aldridge) *

Pierce Lyden Pierce W. Lyden (January 8, 1908 – October 10, 1998) was an American actor best known for his work in television and film Westerns. Early life Lyden was born in a sod house on a ranch near Hildreth, Nebraska on January 8, 1908. The son of a hor ...

* Eddie Parker * Allen Pomeroy *

Ken Terrell Kenneth Jones Terrell (April 29, 1904 – March 8, 1966) was an American western and action film actor and stuntman best known for playing Joe Marcelli in the 1956 film ''Indestructible Man ''Indestructible Man'' is a 1956 American cri ...

* Bill Yrigoyen * Joe Yrigoyen

Special effects

All the special effects in ''Daredevils of the West'' were produced 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

The movie's official release date was 1 May 1943, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

Chapter titles

# Valley of Death (24min 44s) # Flaming Prison (15min 33s) # The Killer Strikes (15min 35s) # Tunnel of Terror (15min 32s) # Fiery Tomb (15min 32s) # Redskin Raiders (15min 33s) # Perilous Pursuit (15min 36s) # Dance of Doom (15min 31s) # Terror Trail (15min 32s) # Suicide Showdown (15min 32s) # Cavern of Cremation (15min 34s) # Frontier Justice (15min 32s) _Source:

References

External links

* *
B-Westerns: Allan Lane
(small section on ''Dardevils of the West'') {{Republic serials 1943 films 1943 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films directed by John English Republic Pictures film serials Films with screenplays by Joseph F. Poland 1940s American films