In King of the Texas Rangers you’ve got cowboys and horses, cars, boats, and planes, all set in contemporary times. It’s a “modern” western set in 1941 when war raged in Europe and America was preparing its defenses for the inevitable war looming on the horizon.
Starring in this serial is “Slingin’ Sammy” Baugh, the Washington Redskins legendary quarterback, in his dramatic debut. And his dramatic farewell, at the same time. Yep, he only did one movie, and it was a serial.
As our story opens, “Slingin'” Tom King is a college football quarterback (Okay, we can’t award any points for originality here). Texas Ranger Captain T.J. King, Tom’s father, has some vital information about saboteurs. But they murder him before he can deliver it. Tom leaves college and joins up with the Texas Rangers to avenge the death of his father and finish the job the old man started.
The saboteurs are headed by a military leader referred to as “Excellency.” His headquarters are in the gondola of a large dirigible. He speaks in English with a marked German accent. His henchmen greet him with a suspiciously familiar stiff-arm salute and exchange the salutation For the Cause. This guy is about as close to a Nazi as you can get without coming right out and saying Heil Hitler. But the U.S. hadn’t entered World War II yet, so Republic carefully danced around the identity of the saboteur’s country of origin.
These villains are out to cripple American defenses. They are sabotaging American oil properties in Mexico, and now they are expanding, preparing to move into the Texas oil fields. When things get too hot, they high-tail it back to Mexico where the Texas Rangers can’t follow. But young Tom isn’t about to allow his father’s murderers go free. He removes his Ranger badge, and follows them anyway. Across the boarder in a small cow town, he meets Lt. Pedro Garcia of the Mexican Rurales (played by Duncan Renaldo). The two team up to fight the sinister forces from overseas, on both sides of the border.
Cliffhangers
Chapter two has a terrific cliffhanger ending that I don’t think I’ve seen used in any other serial. And that fact alone would make it unique, since stock cliffhanger footage was reused with great regularity. In this one, Tom King is atop a freight car as the train enters a long tunnel. The villains set off an explosion at one end of the tunnel, blocking the rear of the train. Then they set off another one at the other end of the tunnel, sealing both ends. Rocks and debris rain down on Tom and the rushing train. How can he possibly escape without some sort of a cheat in the next chapter?
Well, as it turns out, the cave-in looming before the speeding train isn’t quite as bad as it was made to appear at the end of chapter two. At the beginning of chapter three we see Tom King jump down into the cab of the locomotive and thrust open the throttle wide, ramming their way through the falling rock. It may be a bit of a cheat, but nothing nearly so blatant as Crash Corrigan’s “Go ahead and ram!” scene from Undersea Kingdom.
The resolution to chapter three is a definite cheat, however. At the end of chapter three we very clearly see Tom and Professor Nelson crouch down in the back of the speedboat before it hits the rocks. But in chapter four, they do exactly the opposite. Instead of crouching down, they jump out. I know we’ve seen this same type of cliffhanger resolution in other serials as well, but that doesn’t make it any more acceptable. Cheat!
Chapter four ends with that old chestnut, the hero knocked out laying in the bottom of the mine car, as it careens down the tunnel track, out the mouth of the mountain, and falls to a crash far below. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen that footage used in Republic serials. Where did it originate, anyway? Could this 1941 serial have been its debut? Anyone?
Most of the other cliffhangers aren’t too original. There’s the perennial favorite, in which our protagonist is trapped beneath the falling debris of a terrific explosion. But as seems typical of this old chestnut, the beginning of the next chapter finds the stalwart hero staggering to his feet unhurt. These guys had grit, yes sirree!
A dirigible chase
Most of the action takes place in and around the south Texas cowtown of Bordertown and the Boca Grande area. After the usual Republic quota of fist fights, gun fights, aerial fights, car chases, speedboat chases, airplane chases and horseback chases, the serial winds up with an exciting dirigible chase! Yes, you read that right. A dirigible chase. Sort of a “tortise and hare” kind of thing.
It’s most exciting climax when you see Tom King and his faithful sidekick Pedro Garcia fly their biplane toward a collision with the mighty lighter-than-air balloon. Crash Corrigan would have been proud as they took his advice to “go ahead and ram.”
Favorite Republic serial villain Roy Barcroft appears in this serial, as henchman Ross. But he bites the bullet in chapter seven, and goes to that big barroom brawl in the sky. Having one of the bad guys die in the middle of a serial is unusual. Usually, they wait until the last chapter, or at least the next-to-the-last chapter, before buying the farm. But in King of the Texas Rangers, not only is Barcroft’s character killed off early, Lynch, another baddie, is killed off in chapter 10. Yep, they’re dropping like flies!
The theme music for this serial was unusually catchy. It had kind of a “college football” feel to it, with “galloping horseback riders” mixed in. Many of Republic’s serial themes weren’t really too melodic, but this one was. A nice job by Cy Feuer, who is credited with the original score.
As with many Republic serials, this was originally released by the studio on VHS tape and laserdisc. But, unfortunately, no studio release on DVD. Some years back I did a meticulous transfer of the pristine laserdisc to DVD, and carefully watched the final result… and enjoyed every chapter. You can find this serial on YouTube, and you should.
Usually I find western serials somewhat boring. Zorro serials, of course, are the exception. But this non-Zorro entry wasn’t bad at all. That fact has nothing to do with Slingin’ Sammy Baugh’s acting ability… or the lack thereof. No, he’s pretty stiff. But there’s tons of action, some pretty good special effects and the “defending democracy against foreign saboteurs” angle, all of which made this much more enjoyable than I was expecting.
Also in the cast, as seen on the poster, is Neil Hamilton as one of the saboteurs. Hamilton, a silent movie veteran, is best-known as Commissioner Gordon in the campy 60s Batman TV series.
I always liked him, as an actor, no matter what role he played. And his characters played both sides of the aisle, crimewise.
Saw this one when I was a kid. After reading this, I’ll have to treasure-hunt it on youtube. Thanks, John!
I never saw this one as a youngster. Actually, it wasn’t all that many years ago. Saw it on an 80″ high def TV, from a laserdisc (remember those?) source. Not nearly as good as seeing it on an actual movie screen, though. I envy you!