I always suspected that directors Ray Taylor and William Witney handled the main location unit, while Alvin J. Nietz (under his "Alan James" pseudonym) handled a second location unit that staged all the copious action and thrilling stuntwork. It seems I was right. And I was also right in guessing that Ray Taylor's contribution was rather small. Taylor was actually fired by producer J. Laurence Wickland early on for drinking on the location set and was then replaced by Witney who was at that time acting as a script supervisor and prompter. Part of Witney's duties were to rehearse the players, so he was the obvious person to select when Taylor was fired – particularly as Nietz had his hands full with all the action material. The serial, in fact, is crowded with action – which is just as well as the plot features a juvenile Kit Carson played by Sammy McKim (who appeared in no less than 62 movies, in around half of which he was uncredited). Personally, I never did take kindly to juveniles in serials. Nevertheless, despite this introduction of a juvenile Kit Carson into Chapter One, that first chapter is certainly packed with action – a judicious blend of new and stock material. Incidentally, take note of all the thick black smoke pouring from the riverboat's funnel. Health conscious, those old steamers most certainly were not!
Anyway, getting back to the early chapters of this serial, Hoot Gibson – despite his co-star billing (in much smaller print) – has very little footage. Charles King, on the other hand – despite being billed second last – has a major role. Keen fans will keep their eyes out for Lafe McKee's river boat captain. He hovers at the edge of just two or three shots and has a line or two to offer Ray Corrigan. There are so many things happening in this serial that I almost forgot to mention that fascinating singing arrow in the hands of the lovely Julia Thayer. Wow! But I did deliberately forget to mention Ed Platt and Lou Fulton's boringly inept turns as Oscar and Elmer. They are a pain, but at least their appearances are brief and I'm happy to say that despite an elaborate introduction to each episode, they often don't appear at all.
I'm not alone in my belief that the best episodes are the first five. Once the expedition reaches Santa Fe, the action melts down quite a bit. The serial is still very watchable but nowhere near as impressive as the earlier chapters, so it's no wonder the setting resumes to the rugged mountain locations for the final episodes. It's also no surprise to find the 80-minutes 1938 feature cutdown omits all the Santa Fe footage completely.
Although I enjoyed the serial very much and I'd definitely place it amongst Republic's best in this genre, I do have some reservations. Number one, it was disappointing to see Hoot Gibson in such a small role. Admittedly, he's on screen in many episodes, but he has nothing Hootish to do at all. Any actor from Central Casting could have done as well. Hoot was obviously hired on the strength of his name after the screenplay had already been written and no attempt at all has been made to insert any special material for him. Instead, Charles King – although billed second last in the entire line- up – has acres of typical Charles King lines and action. I'll admit that Ray Corrigan makes almost as little impression as does Gibson, but Corrigan never did have a strong on-screen persona. Even in his long- shot, seven seconds walk-on, Lafe McKee displays more color and character than Corrigan does for the entire movie. A weak hero has to be bolstered and this was cleverly achieved by assembling westerners like Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett and most importantly a young Kit Carson. If this had not been done, it would have enabled the villains, led by LeRoy Mason, to take center stage. I'm sure someone at Republic noticed that the initial script had problems and that explains why to balance our heroes, the lovely Julia Thayer's mysterious rider with her whistling arrows was also written into the plot. An inspired invention! My hat's also off to Alvin J. Nietz who has done wonders with his second unit. Wow! Those scenes with the wagon charging right into the camera! And the numerous running inserts Words fail me!
Anyway, getting back to the early chapters of this serial, Hoot Gibson – despite his co-star billing (in much smaller print) – has very little footage. Charles King, on the other hand – despite being billed second last – has a major role. Keen fans will keep their eyes out for Lafe McKee's river boat captain. He hovers at the edge of just two or three shots and has a line or two to offer Ray Corrigan. There are so many things happening in this serial that I almost forgot to mention that fascinating singing arrow in the hands of the lovely Julia Thayer. Wow! But I did deliberately forget to mention Ed Platt and Lou Fulton's boringly inept turns as Oscar and Elmer. They are a pain, but at least their appearances are brief and I'm happy to say that despite an elaborate introduction to each episode, they often don't appear at all.
I'm not alone in my belief that the best episodes are the first five. Once the expedition reaches Santa Fe, the action melts down quite a bit. The serial is still very watchable but nowhere near as impressive as the earlier chapters, so it's no wonder the setting resumes to the rugged mountain locations for the final episodes. It's also no surprise to find the 80-minutes 1938 feature cutdown omits all the Santa Fe footage completely.
Although I enjoyed the serial very much and I'd definitely place it amongst Republic's best in this genre, I do have some reservations. Number one, it was disappointing to see Hoot Gibson in such a small role. Admittedly, he's on screen in many episodes, but he has nothing Hootish to do at all. Any actor from Central Casting could have done as well. Hoot was obviously hired on the strength of his name after the screenplay had already been written and no attempt at all has been made to insert any special material for him. Instead, Charles King – although billed second last in the entire line- up – has acres of typical Charles King lines and action. I'll admit that Ray Corrigan makes almost as little impression as does Gibson, but Corrigan never did have a strong on-screen persona. Even in his long- shot, seven seconds walk-on, Lafe McKee displays more color and character than Corrigan does for the entire movie. A weak hero has to be bolstered and this was cleverly achieved by assembling westerners like Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett and most importantly a young Kit Carson. If this had not been done, it would have enabled the villains, led by LeRoy Mason, to take center stage. I'm sure someone at Republic noticed that the initial script had problems and that explains why to balance our heroes, the lovely Julia Thayer's mysterious rider with her whistling arrows was also written into the plot. An inspired invention! My hat's also off to Alvin J. Nietz who has done wonders with his second unit. Wow! Those scenes with the wagon charging right into the camera! And the numerous running inserts Words fail me!