KING OF THE FOREST RANGERS

Larry Thompson and Helen Talbot

KING OF THE FOREST RANGERS (12 chapter Republic serial/1946). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Fred C. Brannon.

Professor Carver (Stuart Hamblen) discovers that there might be a treasure in the woods when he discovers an old Indian rug and a transparent map that can be fitted over it. He begins to buy up the property of the people in the woods, and uses force if they don't comply. His chief enforcer is the utterly nasty Spear (Anthony Warde), who isn't above killing and torturing anyone who gets in his way. Chief among his opponents are good guy Steve King (Larry Thompson) of the Forest Rangers and his staff, as well as the pretty and feisty Marion (Helen Talbot), who is handy with a pistol. The fisticuffs in this serial are amazing, with a let's-smash-all-the-furniture fight scene at least twice in every exciting episode, all ably choreographed by Tom Steele, who also plays one of the bad guys. Notable cliffhangers include: King engulfed in flames in an old cellar; a fight on a plane that ends in a crash; a platform of spikes crashing down on King; Marion about to be fed via conveyor belt into a pulp grinder; and King and Marion trapped in a pit where Spear and his cohorts throw flaming branches down at them, causing a conflagration. Larry Thompson is a likable and efficient hero; Helen Talbot is an attractive and equally likable second lead; and Anthony Warde [Roaring City] is completely convincing as the truly evil and loathsome Spear. Mort Glickman [King of the Mounties] has contributed some memorable theme music. This was really the only lead role for Larry Thompson, who did mostly uncredited small parts in various features.

Verdict: Really snappy and fast-paced Republic serial. ***. 

KING OF THE MOUNTIES

One good-lookin' mountie: Allan Lane as Sgt. King

KING OF THE MOUNTIES (12 chapter Republic serial/1942). Director: William Witney.

In this sequel to King of the Royal Mounted, Sgt. Dave King (again Allan Lane) and his cohorts are up against a triumvirate of Axis baddies: Admiral Yamata (Abner Biberman) of Japan; Marshal von Horst (William Marshall) of Germany; and Count Baroni of Italy (Nestor Paiva of Tarantula). This gruesome threesome is behind numerous deadly acts of sabotage on Canadian soil, targeting such as oil fields, munition factories and the like, and employing such devices as a spiffy-looking flying Falcon ship. They use an active volcano [!] as their headquarters. Their plans for an Axis invasion of Canada are threatened by an invention called the Brent Airplane Detector; when the inventor is killed, his daughter Carol (Peggy Drake) carries on in his efforts to keep the device out of the determined enemies' hands. The three main bad guys are aided in their efforts by the traitor Harper (Douglass Dumbrille) and his associate Pierre (Duncan Renaldo). The wonderful Jay Novello shows up in a beard and engages in some of the lively fisticuffs that are sprinkled all through the serial. King makes some amazing death-defying leaps as well. Highlights include the remote control torpedo hidden beneath a phony haystack, and King's fight with a Japanese soldier in the cockpit of an out-of-control spitfire. Mort Glickman's music is also effective. This is a bit better than King of the Royal Mounted due to its somewhat more interesting storyline. Director Witney keeps things moving and at a high-excitement level throughout. NOTE: Much of the sound and some of the picture of this serial have been lost. You can find cheap copies of this with the missing parts, or buy a more expensive DVD from Serial Squadron which adds sub-titles to the parts without a soundtrack.

Verdict: Snappy stuff. ***.