The Painted Stallion

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The Painted Stallion
Directed by Alan James
Ray Taylor
William Witney
Produced by J. Laurence Wickland
Written by Morgan Cox
Ronald Davidson
Hal G. Evarts
Winston Miller
Barry Shipman
Starring Ray "Crash" Corrigan
Hoot Gibson
LeRoy Mason
Duncan Renaldo
Sammy McKim
Hal Taliaferro
Jack Perrin
Julia Thayer
Music by Raoul Kraushaar
Cinematography Edgar Lyons
William Nobles
Editing by Edward Todd
Helene Turner
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release date(s) 5 June 1937
11 February 1938
1950s
Running time 12 chapters (212 min)
Language English
Budget $102,157 (negative cost: $109,164)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Painted Stallion (1937) is a Republic Movie 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.

Contents

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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.

Spoilers end here.

Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Clark Stuart, government official with a trade treaty to be agreed with Mexico
Hoot Gibson as Walter Jamison, Leader of the Wagon train
LeRoy Mason as Alfredo Dupray, Spanish dictator determined to hold onto power
Duncan Renaldo as Zamorro, one of Dupray's henchmen
Sammy McKim as Young Christopher 'Kit' Carson, along as part of the wagon train
Hal Taliaferro as Jim Bowie, along as part of the wagon train
Jack Perrin as Davy Crockett, along as part of the wagon train
Oscar and Elmer as Oscar and Elmer, a comedy duo with the wagon train

Julia Thayer as The Rider, mysterious woman believed to be a Indian Spirit riding a Ghost Horse
Yakima Canutt as Tom, one of Dupray's henchmen
Matson Williams as Macklin, one of Dupray's henchmen undercover on the wagon train
Duke Taylor as Bill, one of Dupray's henchmen
Loren Riebe as Pedro, one of Dupray's henchmen
George DeNormand as Oldham, one of Dupray's henchmen undercover on the wagon train
Gordon De Main as Governor
Charles King as Bull Smith, one of Dupray's henchmen
Vinegar Roan as Pete, one of Dupray's henchmen

The serial was filmed between 10 February and 3 March 1937. It was initially released on 5 June 1937 (although the official release date this is more strictly the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exhanges). On 11 February 1938 a 67-minute film made from editing together material from the serial was released. In a similar fashion, in was also re-edited into a televison series of six 26½-minutes episodes in the early 1950s.

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. Trail to Empire (27 min 35s)
  2. Rider of the Stallion (17 min 6s)
  3. The Death Leap (18 min 05s)
  4. Avalanche (17 min 14s)
  5. Volley of Death (16 min 42s)
  6. Thundering Wheels (17 min 45s)
  7. Trail Treachery (16 min 9s)
  8. The Whistling Arrow (16 min 25s)
  9. The Fatal Message (16 min 24s)
  10. Ambush (15 min 59s)
  11. Tunnel of Terror (16 min 17s)
  12. Human Targets (16 min 48s)
Julia Thayer as the mysterious Rider
Julia Thayer as the mysterious Rider

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  1. Trail to Empire: Clark is shot from his horse and falls under the hoofs of attacking Indians.
  2. Rider of the Stallion: Clark is knocked unconcious while fording a river in a wagon, which begins to sink.
  3. The Death Leap: Escaping on horseback, Clark and the Rider are chased over a cliff into a lake.
  4. Avalanche: An explosion catches Clark in a landslide
  5. Volley of Death: Clark hides in a cupboard but has been seen - a firing squad opens fire.
  6. Thundering Wheels: Clark is in a burning wagon full of gunpowder as it falls over a cliff.
  7. Trail Treachery: Attempting to reign in a runaway stagecoach, Clark falls under their hooves.
  8. The Whistling Arrow: Clark falls into a trapdoor.
  9. The Fatal Message: Clark and Kit are caught in a burning building.
  10. Ambush: While jumping a ravine, Clark slips from the saddle and falls.
  11. Tunnel of Terror: Dupray's henchmen cause a landslide to fall on Jamison and the others.
Spoilers end here.

Stunts by:
Yakima Canutt as Clark Stuart & Alfredo Dupray (doubling Ray "Crash" Corrigan and LeRoy Mason)
Babe DeFreest as The Rider (doubling Julia Thayer)
Duke Taylor

Special Effects by the Lydecker brothers

    Preceded by
    Dick Tracy (1937)
    Republic Serial
    The Painted Stallion (1937)
    Succeeded by
    S.O.S. Coast Guard (1937)
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