''The Vigilante'' 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 ...

directed by

Wallace Fox Wallace Fox (March 9, 1895 – June 30, 1958) was an American film director. He directed more than 80 films between 1927 and 1953. He was born in Purcell, Oklahoma, and died in Hollywood, California. Selected filmography * ''Trail of Cour ...

. The 33rd serial released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, it was based on the comic book cowboy

Vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

, who first appeared in ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics ...

'', published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. It stars

Ralph Byrd Ralph Byrd (April 22, 1909 – August 18, 1952) was an American actor. He was most famous for playing the comic strip character Dick Tracy on screen, in serials, films and television. Early life and career The son of George and Edna May ...

, well known for his central role in the

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''Detroit Mirror'', and it ...

serials. It was his last serial appearance.

Plot

The Vigilante, a masked government agent, is assigned to investigate the case of the "100 Tears of Blood", a cursed string of rare blood-red pearls sought by a gang led by the unknown ''X-1'' that may have been smuggled into the country. Greg Sanders (Sanders at that time, later changed to Saunders in the comics), in his civilian guise as an actor, is filming a western on George Pierce's ranch. Pierce is a wealthy rancher and nightclub owner. When Prince Hamil arrives at the ranch, he gives a horse each to Sanders, Pierce, Captain Reilly, Tex Collier, and Betty Winslow. But an outlaw gang soon attacks, attempting to steal all five horses. It turns out that each horse has twenty of the pearls hidden in their shoes (five in each) in secret compartments. Edging closer, Sanders learns that Prince Hamil's servant stole the diamonds from his master and smuggled them in on the horses with the intention of passing them on to ''X-1''.

Cast

as Greg Sanders / The Vigilante * Ramsay Ames as Betty Winslow, rodeo star *

Lyle Talbot Lyle Florenz Talbot (born Lisle Henderson, also credited Lysle Talbot; February 8, 1902 – March 2, 1996) was an American stage, screen and television actor. His career in films spanned three decades, from 1931 to 1960, and he performed on ...

as George Pierce * George Offerman Jr. as Stuff, The Vigilante's sidekick *

Robert Barron Robert Emmet Barron (born November 19, 1959) is an American people, American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Diocese of Winona-Rochester since 2022. He is the founder ...

as Prince Hamil, dignitary of Aravania. Barron was wrongly listed on-screen as Prince Hassan but referred to as Hamil. *

Hugh Prosser Hugh Prosser (March 2, 1907 – November 8, 1952) was a Hollywood actor who appeared in over 90 films between 1936 and 1953. A native of Illinois, Prosser was a versatile supporting performer particularly adept at playing unscrupulous villain ...

as Captain Reilly, highway patrol officer *

Jack Ingram Jack Owen Ingram (born November 15, 1970) is an American country music artist formerly signed to Big Machine Records, an independent record label. He has released eleven studio albums, one extended play, six live albums, and 19 singles. Although ...

as Silver Henchman ''X-2'' * Eddie Parker as Doc Henchman ''X-3'' *

Tiny Brauer Tiny Brauer (born Harold J. Brauer; June 26, 1909 – March 19, 1990) was an American film actor. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Brauer appeared in over 20 films between 1946 and 1966. Career Brauer is best known for his role as the "heavy" in s ...

as Thorne Henchman ''X-9''

Production

''The Vigilante'' was originally a comic book character whose first appearance was in ''

'' (Issue #42, November 1941). He was a singing-

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...

radio performer who doubled as a motorcycle-riding crime-fighter along with a pre-teen Chinese boy,

Stuff the Chinatown Kid Stuff, the Chinatown Kid is a DC Comics fictional character, a sidekick to the original Vigilante. He first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #45 (February 1942). In ''American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944'', Kurt Mitchell and Roy Thomas say that ...

. In the serial version, Stuff became a white, draft-age

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

played by George Offerman Jr. Ralph Byrd was cast as the Vigilante. Director Wallace Fox makes a cameo appearance as the director filming Greg Sanders' movie at George Pierce's ranch.

Chapter titles

# The Vigilante Rides Again # Mystery of the White Horses # Double Peril # Desperate Flight # In the Gorilla's Cage # Battling the Unknown # Midnight Rendezvous # Blasted to Eternity # The Fatal Flood # Danger Ahead # X-1 Closes In # Death Rides the Rails # The Trap that Failed # Closing In # The Secret of the Skyroom _Source:

References

External links

* *
The Vigilante article at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigilante, The 1947 films 1940s vigilante films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures film serials 1940s English-language films Live-action films based on DC Comics Films directed by Wallace Fox 1947 Western (genre) films American vigilante films American Western (genre) films Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton 1940s American films Films based on DC Comics