''King of the Royal Mounted'' (1940) is a Republic Pictures northern serial based on the

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 ...

comic strip directed by

William Witney William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serials: '' Dick Tracy Returns'', '' G-Men vs. the Bl ...

and John English. Set and filmed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the story is about the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

against Nazi spies after a new Canadian discovery, "Compound X". A feature version, called ''The Yukon Patrol'' was released in 1942.

Plot

, 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 The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

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

.Witney, William (1996). ''In a Door, Into a Fight, Out a Door, Into a Chase: Moviemaking Remembered by the Guy at the Door''. (McFarland & Company)

Cast

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 show ...

as Sergeant Dave King *Robert Strange as John Kettler. Strange's performance is described by Cline as "a flawless characterisation". *

Robert Kellard Robert Kellard, aka Robert Stevens (April 23, 1915 – January 13, 1981), was an American actor who appeared in over 60 films between 1937 and 1951. Early years Kellard was born Robert Dorsey Kellard April 23, 1915, in Los Angeles, California. H ...

as Corporal Tom Merritt Jr *Lita Conway as Linda Merritt *

Herbert Rawlinson Herbert Banemann Rawlinson (15 November 1885 – 12 July 1953) was an English-born stage, film, radio, and television actor. A leading man during Hollywood's silent film era, Rawlinson transitioned to character roles after the advent of sound f ...

as Inspector King *

Harry Cording Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 – 1 September 1954) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films '' The Black Cat'' (1934) and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). Life and career ...

as Wade Garson * Bryant Washburn as Matt Crandall *

Budd Buster Budd Leland Buster (June 14, 1891 – December 22, 1965), usually credited as Budd Buster (and sometimes Bud Buster), was an American actor known for B western films. He sometimes was credited as George Selk in his later work. Early life Bus ...

as Vinegar Smith

Production

''King of the Royal Mounted'' was budgeted at $136,686 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 ho ...

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 Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

"King of the Cowboys". Director

records that production of the serial was not pleasant. Although the interview for the leading man went well, neither Witney nor his partner John English subsequently had a high opinion of

as a person or as an actor. The serial is only afforded three pages in the autobiography of his serial-years, in a chapter entitled "Two Duds and a Hot Water Tank". Filming took place on location, following a good weather forecast from a Doctor Krich at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, at Big Bear Lake. The area had a log cabin settlement and a disguised dam (logs covering concrete) built by Paramount Pictures for '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' (1936). The area also had the pine trees necessary for the Canadian setting.

Release

Theatrical

''King of the Royal Mounteds official release date is 20 September 1940, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. A 68-minute feature film version, created by editing the serial footage together, was released on 30 April 1940 under the title ''The Yukon Patrol''. It was one of fourteen feature films Republic made from their serials.

Chapter titles

# ''Manhunt'' (26 min 48s) # ''Winged Death'' (17 min 6s) # ''Boomerang'' (16 min 45s) # ''Devil Doctor'' (16 min 45s) # ''Sabotage'' (16 min 51s) # ''False Ransom'' (16 min 42s) # ''Death Tunes In'' (16 min 43s) # ''Satan's Cauldron'' (16 min 40s) # ''Espionage'' (16 min 43s) # ''Blazing Guns'' (16 min 41s) # ''Master Spy'' (16 min 50s) # ''Code of the Mounted'' (16 min 40s) _Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:King Of The Royal Mounted (Serial) 1940 films American black-and-white films Films based on American comics Northern (genre) films American spy films 1940s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials Films directed by William Witney Films directed by John English Royal Canadian Mounted Police in fiction American action adventure films 1940s action films 1940s adventure films Films with screenplays by Joseph F. Poland 1940s American films