Main Cast: Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Hoot Gibson, Sammy McKim, LeRoy Mason, Jack Perrin
Release Year: 1937
Country: US
Run Time: 12ch minutes
Plot
Western favorites Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Hoot Gibson head the cast of the 12-chapter Republic serial The Painted Stallion. Corrigan plays American federal agent Steve Clark, on assignment in Santa Fe to draw up a trade agreement with the newly installed Mexican governor. Meanwhile, Walter Jamison (Hoot Gibson) leads a wagon train from Missouri, hoping to take advantage of the new agreement. Among Jamison's passenger are famed frontiersman Jim Bowie (Hal Taliaferro) and a very youthful Kit Carson (Sammy McKim). The destinies of all these personalities intersect when villainous ex-governor DuPrey (LeRoy Mason) schemes to undermine the treaty and take over the New Mexico territory for his own vile purposes. Somewhere along the way, Davy Crockett (Jack Perrin) joins the "good guys" in their efforts to thwart the despicable DuPrey. Years after the release of The Painted Stallion, film historian William K. Everson waxed rhapsodic over a particulary exciting chapter ending-then commented that he hoped never to see that particular ending again, just in case it proved to be less exciting than he remembered. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
J. Laurence Wickland - Associate Producer, Ray Taylor - Director, William Witney - Director, Alvin J. Neitz - Director, Murray Seldeen - Editor, Helene Turner - Editor, Edward Todd - Editor, Raoul Kraushaar - Musical Direction/Supervision, Edgar Lyons - Cinematographer, William Nobles - Cinematographer, Ronald Davidson - Screenwriter, Winston Miller - Screenwriter, Barry Shipman - Screenwriter, Morgan Cox - Screenwriter, Hal G. Evarts - Screenwriter, Murray Seldeen - Supervising Editor
The Painted Stallion (1937) is a RepublicMovie serial. It was the sixth Republic serial of the sixty-six made by that company. Western serials such as this made up a third of the serials from Republic, a studio that was also heavily involved in making B-Western feature films at the time.
This serial saw the directorial debut of William Witney who would become one of the star directors at Republic. It was not until Zorro Rides Again, later in 1937, that he first worked with his famous directorial partner, John English. Witney had been working as an editor on earlier serials but made the switch when another director became unable to work due to heavy drinking.
A wagon train travelling from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe means trouble for Alfredo Dupray, his authority from Spain will end with the arrival of a Mexican Governor. He plots to solve this by intercepting a trade agreement, to be negotiated by Clark Stuart on the wagon train, and disrupt US-Mexican relations.
Repeated attacks are thwarted, however, by the appearance of a mysterious Rider on a Painted Stallion who issues warnings with her whistling arrows. With her help Clark Stuart, along with historical characters, Kit Carson, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett work to defeat Dupray. Eventually, they assist the arrival of the US Cavalry and the treaty is signed, leaving Stuart and the Rider to ride away together.
The serial was filmed between 10 February and 3 March 1937.[1] The serial's production number was 421.[1]The Painted Stallion was budgeted for $102,157 but went over budget by $7007 (6.9%). The final cost of production was $109,164. This made the serial the cheapest republic serial of 1937 and the fourth cheapest of all Republic serials.[1]
The Painted Stallion's official release date is 5 June 1937, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1]
A 67-minute feature film version, created by editing the serial footage together, was released on 11 February 1938. It was one of fourteen feature films Republic made from their serials.[1]
Television
In the early 1950s, The Painted Stallion was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.[1]
Raymond Stedman describes Thyer as quiet yet impressive and William Nobles is noted for his sweeping camera work. Raoul Krausharr's musical score is a bridge between the "synthetic fusions" of earlier sound serials and the "creative scorings" of his successors at Republic.[3] According to Cline, The Painted Stallion is an outstanding example of the Western "Covered Wagon" (wagon train based) sub-genre.[4]
^Stedman, Raymond William. "4. Perilous Saturdays". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 109. ISBN9780806109275.
^Cline, William C.. "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. p. 38. ISBN078640471X.
^Cline, William C.. "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. p. 218. ISBN078640471X.
