''King of the Forest Rangers'' (1946) is a

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

*Larry Thompson as Forest Ranger Captain Steve King *

Helen Talbot Helen Talbot (April 7, 1924 January 29, 2010) was a motion picture actor, actress and pin-up girl in the United States. She was born Helen Darling in Concordia, Kansas and lived there until 1941 when she moved to live with her brother in Wes ...

as Marion Brennan * Stuart Hamblen as Prof Carver *

Anthony Warde Anthony Warde (born Benjamin Schwartz; January 1, 1909 – January 8, 1975) was a noted American actor who appeared in over 150 films between 1937 and 1964. Early years Born as Benjamin Schwartz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on New Year' ...

as Burt Spear *

LeRoy Mason LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fir ...

as "Flush" Haliday *Scott Elliott as Andrews/Bryan/Merkle/Sands

Production

''King of the Forest Rangers'' was budgeted at $134,948 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 $137,320 (a $2,372, or 1.8%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1946. It was filmed between 27 September and 25 October 1945. The serial's production number was 1595. Republic liked calling their heroes "King" in order to use the title "King of..." The studio had found success with this naming scheme following the adaptation of

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontie ...

's ''

King of the Royal Mounted ''King of the Royal Mounted'' is an American comics series which debuted February 17, 1935 by Stephen Slesinger, based on popular Western writer Zane Grey's byline and marketed as ''Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted''. The series' protagonist i ...

''.

Stunts

* Tom Steele as Forest Ranger Captain Steve King (doubling Larry Thompson) * David Sharpe as Prof Carver (doubling Stuart Hamblen) *

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 Burt Spear (doubling Anthony Warde) *

Carey Loftin William Carey Loftin (January 31, 1914 – March 4, 1997, a.k.a. Cary Loftin, Carry Loftin, Carey Lofton, Gary Loftin, William Carey Loftin) was an American professional stuntman, stunt coordinator and actor in the U.S. film industry. He is ...

* Eddie Parker *

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 ...

*Sailor Vincent *Bud Wolfe *Joe Yrigoyen

Special effects

Special effects created 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

''King of the Forest Rangers official release date is 27 April 1946, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

Television

In the early 1950s, ''King of the Forest Rangers'' was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.

Chapter titles

# The Mystery of the Towers (20min) # Shattered Evidence (13min 20s) # Terror by Night (13min 20s) # Deluge of Destruction (13min 20s) # Pursuit into Peril (13min 20s) # Brink of Doom (13min 20s) # Design for Murder (13min 20s) # The Flying Coffin (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter # S.O.S. Ranger (13min 20s) # The Death Detector (13min 20s) # The Flaming Pit (13min 20s) # Tower of Vengeance (13min 20s) _Source:

References

External links

* * {{Republic serials 1946 films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films Republic Pictures film serials Films directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet Films directed by Fred C. Brannon American adventure films 1946 adventure films 1940s American films