''King of the Texas Rangers'' (1941) is a

Republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

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 ...

. Set in the years prior to America entering

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the plot is slightly

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

in that the serial features a mix of period western and modern elements, which was not unknown in the B-Western films also produced by Republic. Although the serial's plot involves

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 '' vaqu ...

s battling

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

agents in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

are never named as such but their presence is strongly implied within the serial.

Plot

When Captain King of the Texas Rangers is murdered by saboteurs, his son, Tom ( "Slingin' Sammy Baugh"), a famous football star, leaves college and joins the Texas Rangers himself. Shortly after, Tom is given the mission of avenging his father's death and defeating the foreign agents. John Barton ( Neil Hamilton), supposedly a respectable citizen, works with "His Excellency" (

Rudolph Anders Rudolph Anders (December 17, 1895 – March 27, 1987) was a German character actor who came to the United States after the rise of Hitler, and appeared in numerous American films in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Biography He was born Rudol ...

), a mysterious leader of a gang of saboteurs, intent on destroying the Dobe Hills Oil Company oil fields in Texas. Tom teams up with Sally Crane (

Pauline Moore Pauline Moore (born Pauline Joless Love; June 17, 1914 – December 7, 2001) was an American actress known for her roles in Western and B movies during the 1930s and 1940s. Early years Moore was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After her fathe ...

), a reporter who witnessed his father's murder, and Mexican officer Lt. Pedro Garcia (

Duncan Renaldo Renault Renaldo Duncan (April 23, 1904 – September 3, 1980), better known as Duncan Renaldo, was a Romanian-born American actor best remembered for his portrayal of The Cisco Kid in films and on the 1950–1956 American TV series ''The Cisco Ki ...

). The agents are working across the border in both countries with destroying the saboteurs' hideouts being their goal. One of the targets of the gang of saboteurs is an invention by Professor Nelson (Joseph Forte) who has developed a new type of aviation fuel. Tom protects the professor, riding aboard a train as his bodyguard. foiling the plot to kidnap the inventor. When rumours spread that the new aviation fuel is dangerous, Tom and Sally set out in an aircraft to prove the fuel is safe. When Pedro learns that Tom's aircraft is rigged with a time bomb, he warns him in time for Sally and Tom to parachute to safety. The saboteurs plan to destroy the Whitney Dam would flood the oil fields in Texas, and when Sally finds one of their hideouts, Tom has to rescue her. Barton and his gang finally get their hands on the formula for the special aviation fuel and set out in a

dirigible An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

flown by "His Excellency". Their attack on the oil fields is thwarted when Tom and Pedro crash their aircraft into the dirigible, killing the gang. The two lawmen parachute to safety and are later honoured by the Texas Rangers for their bravery.

Chapter titles

# The Fifth Column Strikes (29min 11s) # Dead End (17min 42s) # Manhunt (16min 42s) # Trapped (17min 9s) # Test Flight (16min 40s) # Double Danger (16min 30s) # Death Takes the Witness (16min 43s) # Counterfeit Trail (16min 48s) # Ambush (16min 48s) # Sky Raiders (16min 51s) # Trail of Death (16min 40s) # Code of the Rangers (16min 47s) _Source:

Cast

* "Slingin' Sammy Baugh" as Ranger Tom King Jr. * Neil Hamilton as John Barton/Felix Hauptman *

as Sally Crane *

as Lt Pedro Garcia *

Charles Trowbridge Charles Silas Richard Trowbridge (January 10, 1882 – October 30, 1967) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1915 and 1958. Biography Trowbridge was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where his father served in the ...

as Robert Crawford *

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 Colonel Lee Avery * Frank Darien as Pop Evans *

as His Excellency *

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 Shorty * Joseph Forte as Professor Nelson

Production

''King of the Texas Rangers'' (production number 996) was budgeted at $138,536 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 $139,701 (a $1,165, or 0.8%, overspend). The serial was the cheapest Republic serial of 1941. ''King of the Texas Rangers'' was filmed in the

Big Bear Valley Big Bear Valley is a valley in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The valley, in the San Bernardino Mountains, includes Big Bear Lake, Big Bear City, Fawnskin, Holcomb Valley, Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which ...

San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernard ...

, California between June 17 and July 18, 1941. Other actors were curious and sceptical about footballer Sammy Baugh as the lead in a sort of western. However, according to co-star Kenne Duncan, Baugh turned out to be a good horseman (he was raised on a ranch in Texas), took direction well and learned about acting quickly.Harmon and Glut 1973, pp. 116, 119. In the opinions of researchers Jim Harmon and

Donald F. Glut Donald F. Glut (; born February 19, 1944) is an American writer, motion picture film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing the novelization of the second ''Star Wars'' film, ''The Empire Strikes Back''. Filmmaker Amateur car ...

, ''King of the Texas Rangers'' contains "one of the greatest cliffhangers of all time." King (Baugh) jumps onto a speeding train and gets into the engine cab just as the train enters a tunnel in a mountain. The villains detonate explosives causing a landslide at the other end of the tunnel. In the resolution, Baugh yells "Open that throttle!" and the train shoots out of the tunnel to safety.

Reception

The official release date of ''King of the Texas Rangers'' is October 4, 1941, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. In the early 1950s, ''King of the Texas Rangers'' was one of 14 Republic serials edited into a television series broadcast in six, 26½-minute episodes. ''King of the Texas Rangers'' was reviewed by Jesse Sublett in his retrospective analysis of the myth of the Texas Rangers, "Lone On The Range: Texas Lawmen: A history of the Texas Rangers." Sublett, said, "A search of movie databases can quickly overwhelm the researcher with Ranger movies ..." ''King of the Texas Rangers'' is identified as the most important film on the mythology of the Rangers from the period 1926–1948.Sublett, Jesse
"Lone On The Range: Texas Lawmen: A history of the Texas Rangers."
''Texas Monthly'', December 31, 1969. Retrieved: July 12, 2019.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Cline, William C. "Filmography". "2. In Search of Ammunition", ''In the Nick of Time''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1984, . * Harmon, Jim and Donald F. Glut. "5. Real Life Heroes "Just Strangle the Lion in Your Usual Way", ''The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury''. New York: Routledge, 1973. . * Mathis, Jack. ''Valley of the Cliffhangers Supplement''. South Barrington, Illinois: Jack Mathis Advertising, 1995. . * Rainey, Buck. ''Serials and Series: A World Filmography, 1912–1956''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2010. . * Weiss, Ken and Ed Goodgold. ''To be Continued ...: A Complete Guide to Motion Picture Serials''. New York: Bonanza Books, 1973. .

External links

* *
King of the Texas Rangers at Todd Gault's Movie Serial Experience
{{DEFAULTSORT:King Of The Texas Rangers 1941 films American aviation films 1940s English-language films American World War II films American spy films American black-and-white films Republic Pictures film serials Films set in Texas Films directed by William Witney Films directed by John English 1941 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films with screenplays by Joseph F. Poland 1940s American films