''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' is a 1939

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 ...

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 ...

consisting of twelve chapters starring

Reed Hadley Reed Hadley (born Reed Herring, June 25, 1911 – December 11, 1974) was an American film, television and radio actor. Early life Hadley was born in Petrolia, Texas, to Bert Herring, an oil well driller, and his wife Minnie. Hadley had one ...

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 ...

and 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 Black ...

and John English. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against the evil Don Del Oro. The serial is unusual in featuring a real historical personage, Mexican President Benito Juárez, as a minor character. It is the second in a series of five Zorro serials: ''

Zorro Rides Again ''Zorro Rides Again'' (1937) is a 12-chapter Republic Pictures film serial. It was the eighth of the sixty-six Republic serials, the third with a Western theme (a third of Republic's serials were westerns) and the last produced in 1937. The s ...

'' (1937), ''

Zorro's Black Whip ''Zorro's Black Whip'' is a 1944 12-chapter film serial by Republic Pictures starring Linda Stirling. The film was made after the 1940 20th Century-Fox remake of '' The Mark of Zorro'' in order to capitalize on it. Republic was not able to u ...

'' (1944), ''

Son of Zorro ''Son of Zorro'' is a 1947 American Western film serial from Republic Pictures. It was the 43rd of the 66 serials produced by that studio. The serial was directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Fred C. Brannon. George Turner starred as a descen ...

'' (1947) and ''

Ghost of Zorro ''Ghost of Zorro'' is a 1949 Republic Movie serial. It uses substantial stock footage from earlier serials, including ''Son of Zorro'' and '' Daredevils of the West''. This film was shot in Chatsworth, Los Angeles. Plot The year is 1865 and t ...

'' (1949).

Plot

The mysterious Don Del Oro ("Lord of Gold"), an idol of the

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Stat ...

, emerges and attacks the gold trade of the Republic of Mexico, intent on becoming Emperor. A man named Francisco is put in charge of a fighting legion to combat the Yaqui tribe and protect the gold; he is attacked by men working for Don Del Oro. Francisco's partner recognizes Zorro as the hidalgo Don Diego Vega. Francisco asks Diego, as Zorro, to take over the fighting legion and defeat Don Del Oro.

Cast

as Don Diego Vega/Zorro Though there were numerous Zorro serials, Hadley was the only actor to play the original Zorro in any of them. *

Sheila Darcy Sheila Darcy (born Rebecca Benedict Heffener August 8, 1914 – February 24, 2004), also known as "Rebecca Wassem", was an American film actress of the 1930s and the 1940s. Biography Born Rebecca Benedict Heffener in York, Pennsylvania, D ...

as Volita *

William Corson William Corson (December 23, 1909 – January 28, 1981) was an American film actor. Partial filmography *'' Sea Devils'' (1937) - Coast Guard Seaman (uncredited) *''China Passage'' (1937) - Ship's Officer (uncredited) *'' The Woman I Lo ...

as Ramón *

Leander De Cordova Leander de Cordova (5 December 1877 – 19 September 1969) was a Jamaican-born American actor and film director. He was the brother of Rudolph de Cordova. He was the son of Altamont de Cordova and Katherine Lewis. He was also the grandnep ...

as Governor Felipe *

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 Manuel González *

John Merton John Merton (born Myrtland F. LaVarre; February 18, 1901 – September 19, 1959) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1927 and 1959, mostly as a villain. He was the brother of filmmaker André de la Varre an ...

as Comandante Manuel *

C. Montague Shaw Charles Montague Shaw (23 March 1882 – 6 February 1968) was an Australian character actor, often appearing in small supporting parts in more than 150 films. Shaw was born in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He began his acting care ...

as Chief Justice Pablo/Don Del Oro *

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 Juan *

Carleton Young Captain Carleton Scott Young (October 21, 1905 – November 7, 1994) was an American character actor who was known for his deep voice. Early years Born in Fulton, Oswego, New York, Young was the second and only surviving child of St ...

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Liberalism in Mexico, Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec peoples, Zapo ...

Bud Geary Bud Geary (February 15, 1898 – February 22, 1946), was an American film actor. He appeared in 258 films between years 1920 and 1946. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and died in Hollywood, California, aged 48. Partial filmography ...

as Don Del Oro (body and voice)

Production

''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' was budgeted at $137,826, 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 $144,419 (a $6,593, or 4.8%, overspend). It was filmed between 15 September and 14 October 1939 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 ...

''Return of Zorro''. The serial's production number was 898. This film was shot in

Simi Hills The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States. Geography The Simi Hills are aligned east-west and run for , and average arou ...

and

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

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. ...

doubling Reed Hadley *

Yakima Canutt Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing t ...

*James Fawcett *

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 ...

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 ...

Release

Theatrical

''Zorro's Fighting Legion''s official release date is 16 December 1939, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. The serial was re-released on 24 March 1958, making it the last serial released by Republic, which re-released serials for several years following the release of their final serial ''

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, ''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.

Chapter titles

209 minutes = 3h, 28m, 58s #The Golden God ''(27 min 21s)'' #The Flaming "Z" ''(16 min 37s)'' #Descending Doom ''(16 min 40s)'' #The Bridge of Peril ''(16 min 42s)'' #The Decoy ''(16 min 38s)'' #Zorro to the Rescue ''(16 min 37s)'' #The Fugitive ''(16 min 23s)'' #Flowing Death ''(16 min 23s)'' #The Golden Arrow ''(16 min 36s)'' – Re-Cap Chapter #Mystery Wagon ''(16 min 37s)'' #Face to Face ''(16 min 20s)'' #Unmasked ''(16 min 34s)'' _Source:

Differences from the Zorro canon

The story takes a few liberties with

's official timeline: it takes place in Mexico instead of Alta California; Zorro wears a masquerade mask, rather than the traditional bandana; the characters Don Alejandro Vega (Don Diego's father) and Bernardo are absent; and Zorro's horse, Tornado, was changed to white (much like

Kaiketsu Zorro is an Italian-Japanese anime, based on the western character Zorro. The series was initially broadcast in Italy in 1994 before being broadcast in Japan two years later, albeit with some episodes skipped (only 46 of the original 52 episodes we ...

). However, this story is presented as a further adventure of Zorro, a sequel to the traditional "Mark of Zorro" origin story originally starring

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thie ...

and Noah Beery Sr., which would be remade the year after ''Zorro's Fighting Legion'' with

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include '' Jesse James'', ...

and

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

: Don Diego is said to be visiting from Los Angeles, and the serial intentionally did not remake the Zorro story; instead, it shows Zorro visiting Mexico because his help is needed there. The people of Mexico immediately recognize Zorro when he first appears, strongly suggesting that Zorro is a well-known hero. The date given for the movie is 1824, which in and of itself establishes that it takes place well after Zorro's California adventures: Zorro opposed a corrupt Spanish Colonial government in his canon tales, and California ceased being a Spanish Colony in 1821.

References

External links

* *
Stomp Tokyo Review of ''Zorro's Fighting Legion''

Download or view online

Complete serial at The Internet Archive
* * * * * * * * * * * *

{{Authority control 1939 films 1939 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films directed by William Witney Films directed by John English Republic Pictures film serials Zorro films Films set in Mexico Articles containing video clips Films based on works by Johnston McCulley 1930s American films