''Daredevils of the West'' is an American Western movie serial consisting of 12 chapters, released by

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 a ...

in 1943 starring Allan Lane and

Kay Aldridge Katharine ("Kay") Gratten Aldridge (July 9, 1917 – January 12, 1995) was an American actress and model, best known for playing feisty and imperiled heroines in black-and-white serials during the 1940s. Life and work Aldridge was born on July ...

. The plot involves a gang of land-grabbers who try to prevent safe passage of the Foster Stage Company through frontier territory. There are similarities of style with other Republic serials released during wartime, such as '' King of the Mounties'' and ''

The Masked Marvel ''The Masked Marvel'' (1943) is a 12-chapter film serial created by Republic Pictures, who produced many other well known serials. It was Republic's thirty-first serial, of the sixty-six they produced. Plot In ''The Masked Marvel'', a hero dress ...

''. Both Native American actors who played the

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

's companion Tonto, Chief Thunder Cloud (of the 1930s ''Lone Ranger'' movie serials) and Jay Silverheels (of 1950s ''Lone Ranger'' television program) appear in the sequence in which Kay Aldridge and Eddie Acuff are held hostage by Indians. The serial was long considered to be a partially

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

; for years, copies of only chapters 2, 4, 5, and 12 circulated on 16-mm among film collectors. The entire serial, however, was never fully "lost", it was simply never re-released to theaters, or released on video because five reels of sound from the archival material apparently went missing not long after the serial's original exhibition. The absence of these reels may be the reason why Republic Pictures had no objection to subsequently selling off an incomplete print of the serial to cowboy actor William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd for use as stock footage. All 12 chapters were screened, for the first time in 65 years, in May 2008 by the Serial Squadron at SerialFest 2008 in

Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania Newtown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,248 at the 2010 census. It is located just west of the Trenton, New Jersey metropolitan area, and is part of the larger Philadelphia metropolitan area. It ...

. The film was subsequently shown at the Lone Pine film festival in October 2009 and at the Memphis film festival in June 2010. ''Daredevils of the West,'' with restored audio and dubbed missing-dialogue sequences, was released on DVD by the Serial Squadron, an organization that restores classic film serials, in February 2011.

Cast

* Allan Lane as Duke Cameron *

as June Foster * Eddie Acuff as Red Kelly * William Haade as Barton Ward *

Robert Frazer Robert Frazer (born Robert William Browne, June 29, 1891August 17, 1944) was an American actor who appeared in some 224 shorts and films from the 1910s until his death. He began in films with the Eclair company which released through Universal ...

as Martin Dexter * Ted Adams as Silas Higby * George J. Lewis as Turner * Charles F. Miller as Foster

Production

''Daredevils of the West'' was budgeted at $140,550, although the final negative cost was $167,003 (a $26,453, or 18.8%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1943. It was filmed between 9 January and 13 February 1943. The serial's production number was 1199. Kay Aldridge and Allan Lane were billed as "their Majesties, the King and Queen of Serials".

Stunts

* Tom Steele as Duke Cameron (doubling Lane) * Babe DeFreest as June Foster (doubling Aldridge) * Pierce Lyden * Eddie Parker * Allen Pomeroy * Ken Terrell * Bill Yrigoyen * Joe Yrigoyen

Special effects

All the special effects in ''Daredevils of the West'' were produced by the Lydecker brothers.

Release

Theatrical

The movie's official release date was 1 May 1943, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

Chapter titles

# Valley of Death (24min 44s) # Flaming Prison (15min 33s) # The Killer Strikes (15min 35s) # Tunnel of Terror (15min 32s) # Fiery Tomb (15min 32s) # Redskin Raiders (15min 33s) # Perilous Pursuit (15min 36s) # Dance of Doom (15min 31s) # Terror Trail (15min 32s) # Suicide Showdown (15min 32s) # Cavern of Cremation (15min 34s) # Frontier Justice (15min 32s) _Source:

References

External links

* *
B-Westerns: Allan Lane
(small section on ''Dardevils of the West'') {{Republic serials 1943 films 1943 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Films directed by John English Republic Pictures film serials Films with screenplays by Joseph F. Poland 1940s American films