''Son of Zorro'' is a 1947 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 ...

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 ...

from

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 ...

. It was the 43rd of the 66 serials produced by that studio. The serial was directed by

Spencer Gordon Bennet Spencer Gordon Bennet (January 5, 1893 – October 8, 1987) was an American film producer and director. Known as the "King of Serial Directors", he directed more film serials than any other director. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Benne ...

and Fred C. Brannon. George Turner starred as a descendant of the original

Zorro Zorro (Spanish language, Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed a ...

in 1860s United States.

Plot

A man returning home after having fought in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

discovers that corrupt politicians have taken over the county and are terrorizing and shaking down the citizens. He dons the costume of his ancestor, the famous Zorro, and sets out to bring them to justice.

Cast

*George Turner as Jeffrey "Jeff" Stewart/Zorro * Peggy Stewart as Kate Wells *

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 Boyd *Ed Cassidy as Sheriff Moody * Ernie Adams as Judge Hyde *

Stanley Price Stanley Price (December 31, 1892July 13, 1955) was an American film supporting actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1922 and 1956. He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild. Career Price was an actor whose artistic career sp ...

as Pancho *

Edmund Cobb Edmund Fessenden Cobb (June 23, 1892 – August 15, 1974) was an American actor who appeared in more than 620 films between 1912 and 1966. Biography Cobb was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of William Henry Cobb and Eddie (Edmundi ...

as Stockton *

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'' and Jess in the 1958 film ''Attack of the 50 Foo ...

as George Thomas *Si Jenks as Fred *

Tom London Tom London (born Leonard T. Clapman; August 24, 1889 – December 5, 1963) was an American actor who played frequently in B-Westerns. According to ''The Guinness Book of Movie Records'', London is credited with appearing in the most films in ...

as Mark Daniels (uncredited)

Production

''Son of Zorro'' was budgeted at $156,745 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 $119,343 (a $10,022, or 6.8%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1947. It was filmed between 21 June and 20 July 1946 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 ...

''Zorro Strikes Again''. The serial's production number was 1695. This was one of only four 13-chapter serials to be released by Republic. Three of the four were released in 1947, the only original serials released in that year. The fourth serial of the year was a re-release of the 15-chapter, 1941 serial ''

Jungle Girl A jungle girl (so-called, but usually adult woman) is an archetype or stock character, often used in popular fiction, of a female adventurer, superhero or even a damsel in distress living in a jungle or rainforest setting. An alternate depiction i ...

''. This marked the first time Republic had re-released a serial to add to their first run serial releases.

Stunts

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. Van ...

as Boyd, doubling Roy Barcroft *Fred Graham as Boyd, doubling Roy Barcroft *

as Pancho, doubling Stanley Price * Tom Steele *Tommy Coats *John Daheim *

Ted Mapes Ted Mapes (November 25, 1901 – September 9, 1984) was an American character actor, who was also a prolific stuntman and body double. Born on November 25, 1901, in St. Edward, Nebraska, he moved to Los Angeles in his mid-20s, and entered the fi ...

* Eddie Parker *Post Park *

Gil Perkins Gilbert Vincent Perkins (24 August 1907 – 28 March 1999) was an Australian film and television actor. Early life As a teenager, Perkins was a trackman and an athlete. He ran away from home at a young age and joined the crew of a Norwe ...

Rocky Shahan Rocky Shahan (March 4, 1919 – December 8, 1981) was an American actor and stuntman. He was a regular cast member of '' Rawhide''. In 1957, he had a rare integral & speaking part as Dodge’s stagecoach driver “Hank” in the ending of an epi ...

*Duke Taylor *Bud Wolfe

Special effects

The special effects were 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

''Son of Zorros official release date is 18 January 1947, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. The release of ''Son of Zorro'' was followed by a re-release of ''

'' instead of a new serial. This was the first time Republic had re-released a serial. This was followed by the next new serial, ''

Jesse James Rides Again ''Jesse James Rides Again'' is a 1947 American Republic Western film serial. Plot Gunfighter Jesse James is framed for a Missouri bank job and murder by a black-cowled outlaw gang, known as "The Black Raiders". Unable to clear his name, him an ...

''. The serial was re-released on 23 December 1957 between the similar re-releases of ''

Radar Men from the Moon ''Radar Men from the Moon'' is a 1952 black-and-white Republic Pictures' 12-chapter movie serial, the first Commando Cody serial starring newcomer George Wallace as Cody, Aline Towne as his sidekick Joan Gilbert, and serial veteran Roy Barcroft ...

'' and ''

Zorro's Fighting Legion ''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters starring Reed Hadley as Zorro and directed by William Witney and John English. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against t ...

''. The last original Republic serial release had been ''

King of the Carnival ''King of the Carnival'' (1955) is a Republic movie serial that contains a substantial amount of stock footage from the earlier Republic serial ''Daredevils of the Red Circle''. It is the 66th and final serial produced by Republic and is ofte ...

'' in 1955.

Television

In the early 1950s, ''Son of Zorro'' was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a TV series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.

Chapter titles

181 minutes =3h, 0m, 55s #Outlaw Country (19 min 59s) #The Deadly Millstone (13min 24s) #Fugitive from Injustice (13min 24s) #Buried Alive (13min 22s) #Water Trap (13min 25s) #Volley of Death (13min 24s) #The Fatal Records (13min 27s) #Third Degree (13min 25s) #Shoot to Kill (13min 22s) - a re-cap chapter #Den of the Beast (13min 24s) #The Devil's Trap (13min 25s) #Blazing Walls (13min 23s) # Check Mate (13min 25s) _Source:

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1947 films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials Zorro films Films directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet Films directed by Fred C. Brannon Films set in the 1860s 1947 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films based on works by Johnston McCulley 1940s American films