Zorro's Fighting Legion is a 1939 Republic Pictures film serial consisting of twelve chapters starring Reed Hadley as Zorro and directed by William Witney and John English. The plot revolves around his alter-ego Don Diego's fight against the evil Don Del Oro.
Ace Drummond is a Universal Pictures 1936 film serial based on the comic strip "Ace Drummond" written by Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and drawn by Clayton Knight. The serial's cast features John King, Jean Rogers, Noah Beery Jr. and Jackie Morrow, with Lon Chaney Jr. in a supporting role.
Mysterious Doctor Satan is a 1940 American film serial directed by William Witney and John English. Produced by Republic Pictures, the serial stars Edward Ciannelli, Robert Wilcox, William Newell, C. Montague Shaw, Ella Neal, and Dorothy Herbert. The title of the serial is derived from that of its chief villain.
Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) is a 15-chapter Republic serial film based on the character created by Sax Rohmer. Though using the title of the ninth novel in the series, it actually is based on numerous elements from throughout the series to that point, cherry-picked by the writers. It starred Henry Brandon, William Royle and Robert Kellard. It was directed by the successful serial team constituee by William Witney and John English and is often considered one of the best serial films ever made.
Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939) is a 12-chapter Republic Movie Serial starring Charles Quigley, David Sharpe, Herman Brix, Carole Landis, Miles Mander and Charles Middleton. It was directed by William Witney and John English and is considered one of the better serials produced by Republic. The serial was the fourteenth of the sixty-six serials produced by the studio.
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 and the last produced in 1937. The serial was directed by William Witney & John English in their first collaboration. The serial starred John Carroll who also sang the title song as a modern descendant of the original Zorro with Carroll stunt doubled by Yakima Canutt. The plot is a fairly standard western storyline about a villain attempting to illicitly take valuable land. The setting is a hybrid of modern (1930s) and western elements that was used occasionally in B-Westerns. It was also the first in a series of five Zorro serials, followed by Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939), Zorro's Black Whip (1944), Son of Zorro (1947) and Ghost of Zorro (1949).
Jungle Girl is a 1941 15-chapter Republic serial starring Frances Gifford. It was directed by William Witney and John English based on the novel Jungle Girl (1932) by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It was the 22nd of the 66 serials produced by Republic.
Dick Tracy (1937) is a 15-chapter Republic movie serial starring Ralph Byrd based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by Alan James and Ray Taylor.
Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) is a 15-Chapter Republic movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by William Witney and John English.
King of the Royal Mounted (1940) is a Republic Pictures northern serial based on the King of the Royal Mounted comic strip directed by William Witney and John English.
Darkest Africa (1936) is a Republic movie serial. This was the first serial produced by Republic Pictures and was a loose sequel to a Mascot Pictures serial called The Lost Jungle, also starring Clyde Beatty. Mascot, and other companies, had been taken over in 1935 by Consolidated Film Laboratories and merged to become Republic. Producer Nat Levine was formerly the owner of Mascot Pictures.
Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) is a Republic movie serial starring Ray Mala. It was the fourth of the 66 serials produced by Republic and the last to be released in 1936. Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island is notable for being the first Republic serial to contain another common aspect of serials—a Re-Cap Chapter, similar to a clipshow in modern television, whereby the events of the previous chapters are repeated via clips. Contrary to popular belief, this was not the invention of the concept, which had been routinely used in serial production before the release of this serial. The serial was edited into the film Robinson Crusoe of Mystery Island, which was released in 1966.
Dick Tracy Returns (1938) is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was the eleventh of the sixty-six serials Republic produced and a sequel to the 1937 serial Dick Tracy, with Ralph Byrd reprising his role as the title character. It was successful enough that two further sequels were released in 1939 and 1941, and Byrd become so connected with the character he went on to play him in a subsequent television series.
Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) is a Republic movie serial based on the Kioga adventure novels written by pulp writer William L. Chester (1907-1971). Kioga was a Tarzanesque white child raised on a lost island in the Arctic Circle, somewhere in northern Siberia, which was heated by thermal springs and unknown currents. Chester wrote four Kioga novels. The first, Hawk of the Wilderness (1935), was the one that was filmed as the 12-part 1938 Republic serial. (The other novels in the series were Kioga of the Wilderness, One Against a Wilderness and Kioga of the Unknown Land.
The Lone Ranger Rides Again is a 1939 American Republic serial. It was a sequel to Republic's 1938 serial The Lone Ranger, which had been highly successful, and the thirteenth of the sixty-six serials produced by Republic.
Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941) is a Republic Movie serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip. It was directed by the team of William Witney and John English with Ralph Byrd reprising his role from the earlier serials. It was the last of the four Dick Tracy serials produced by Republic, although Ralph Byrd went on to portray the character again in two features and on television.
Spy Smasher is a 12-episode 1942 Republic serial film based on the Fawcett Comics character Spy Smasher which is now a part of DC Comics. It was the 25th of the 66 serials produced by Republic. The serial was directed by William Witney with Kane Richmond and Marguerite Chapman as the leads. The serial was Chapman's big break into a career in film and television. Spy Smasher is a very highly regarded serial. In 1966, a television film was made from the serial footage under the title Spy Smasher Returns.
Daredevils of the West is an American Western movie serial consisting of 12 chapters, released by Republic Pictures in 1943 starring Allan Lane and Kay Aldridge. 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.
Don Winslow of the Navy is a 1942 Universal Pictures Serial film based on the comic strip Don Winslow of the Navy by Commander Frank V. Martinek. It was theatrically released in January 1942.
