Son of Zorro is an underrated serial from an underrated period in Republic’s serial-producing history: the “Indian Summer” of 1946-1948, when decreased post-war budgets had forced the studio to cut down on the elaborate fight scenes that had been the Republic chapterplay trademark since about 1942–but had not yet forced Republic’s production team to build their serials entirely around recycled footage and ideas, or to reduce each entry’s cast of characters to a bare minimum. With the help of spunky local postmistress Kate Wells (Peggy Stewart) and family retainer Pancho (Stanley Price), this new Zorro sets out to clean up Box County, tangling repeatedly with Boyd’s gang and its principal backers, Judge Hyde (Ernie Adams), and Sheriff Moody (Ed Cassidy)–who are in turn backed by a mysterious secret boss. However, in order to protect the road project, he’s soon forced to resort to extra-legal means, taking on the identity of a distinguished ancestor of his–the masked avenger Zorro. Stewart at first tries to unseat the politicos through purely legal methods, laying plans to build an alternate road that will provide a tax-free shipping route artery for the citizenry. The grafters have placed an exorbitant toll on the region’s principal road and are using it to bleed the local miners and ranchers dry additionally, they are allowing a gang of outlaws led by one Boyd (Roy Barcroft) to use the county as a safe base of operations for raiding the surrounding counties. Lawyer Jeff Stewart (George Turner) returns to his Southwestern hometown in Box County after serving in the Civil War, only to discover that crooked politicians have taken control of the county during the absence of the area’s able-bodied men. Starring George Turner, Peggy Stewart, Roy Barcroft, Edward Cassidy, Ernie Adams, Stanley Price, Tom London, Edmund Cobb. The Files of Jerry Blake Movie Serial Reviews and Other Cliffhanging Material
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