Contra a Quinta Coluna

Even though the Dick Tracy serials, Capt. Marvel, both Batmans, and Superman were very enjoyable, you cannot beat this movie for continuous unique action scenes and storylines that were made up just for this serial and not just using up "stock shots" made for other serials. If I were to pick one serial to be the very best one I would have to pick this one.

A cynic might say this is King of the Royal Mounted in the Texas oil fields, but it has its own atmosphere. Sammy Baugh does not attempt to overstep either his role or his acting ability and comes across as well as any of Republic's western stars. He is surrounded by pros, especially the bad guys, and has the ever popular Duncan Renaldo as a right hand man. There is an ample mixture of horses, roadsters, l930s air planes, speedboats, even a Zeppelin and a heroine who is her own man, a professional working girl, a trait for which Republic's B action movies are only now receiving credit. As with many other Republic westerns and serials, the soundtrack music rang in my head all these years and was just as I remembered it.The trick is to tell the Fords, GM and Chryslers apart.

Shortly after the conclusion of the 1940 NFL season, Republic executive Bill Saal (Texas Christian University alum)called Washington Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh (Texas Christian University alum)at his ranch near Rotan, Texas about the prospects of Baugh starring in a Republic serial; A telephone conversation that led to one of the best overall serials Republic Pictures Corporation produced in their valley of the cliffhangers.

Republic assigned five writers to this serial and each writer was given a specific chapter to work on: Norman S. Hall on Chapter 1 (The Fifth Column Strikes) and Chapter 6 (Double Danger); Joseph Poland (and billed as such)on Chapter 2 (Dead End), Chapter 7 (Death Takes the Witness) and Chapter 11 (Trail of Death); William Lively on Chapter 3 (Man Hunt)and Chapter 8 (Counterfeit Trail); Ronald Davidson on Chapter 4 (Trapped), Chapter 9 (Ambush)and Chapter 12 (Code of the Rangers), and Joseph O'Donnell was given Chapter 5 (Test Flight) and Chapter 10 (Sky Raiders.) Based on the order of chapter numbers (1-2-3-4-5) one might assume (if one was given to making assumptions and there are ones who do) that such was the writer's order on the screen credits...but one would assume (as assumers often do) incorrectly. Republic, as they most often did, credited the writers in (nearly) alpha order on the screen credits ( Davidson, Hall, Lively, Poland and O'Donnell, and gave each an Original Screen Play (not a typo and not written as one word--- Screenplay) credit.

The October, 1941 release of this serial pre-dated The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and FDR's Declaration of War against the Axis powers by more than two months (and most of the writing assignments carry April, 1941 dates), and is just one of the many "watch-out"/preparation films and serials Hollywood produced circa 1938-December 7, 1941. Truly, taken in context of the time and era and limitations of serial budgets (and judged against serials and not "Citizen Kane",) "King of the Texas Rangers" ranks high as a great example of serial-making at its best.

In the 1930s into the 1950s, Sammy Baugh was one of the top NFL players. He was a great quarterback but also a great punter AND played defensive back! And, because he was a superstars on the field, it's not surprising that Republic would star him in a movie serial. And, it's not like there wasn't some precident, as Babe Ruth had made a few films and Lou Gehrig made a B-western.

When the story begins, youn learn that Tom (Baugh) is a huge football star. However, he quits the sport when his father is murdered and Tom joins the Texas Rangers...the state police force, not the baseball team! The trail to his father's killers leads to a weird group run by a (what else?!) unknown figure referred to as 'His Excellency'. And why does His Excellency want his minions to do....blow up oil fields in the US and Mexico in order to hinder the US defenses, as WWII was raging in Europe and the US would soon enter the fray. Along the way, Tom gets help from a Mexican Federal Police officer (Duncan Renaldo) and a woman who seems to get kidnapped a lot.

So is this any good? Well, for a movie serial it's much better than average. While Baugh is not exactly a natural before the camera, he's not terrible and is big and athletic enough to be convincing. Additionally, the quality of the writing and supporting cast is better than usual. According to IMDB, the serial was quite successful and the studio wanted Baugh to do more, though he declined in order to keep playing ball. Well worth seeing...particularly if you want to see a Hall of Famer play actor.

In a recorded interview late in his life, Sammy Baugh said of "King of the Texas Rangers" "I wasn't very good."

Wrong: He did have trouble enunciating his dialogue, but I have heard even Jimmy Cagney and Humphrey Bogart sounding as if they were drunk or perhaps had badly fitting dentures, but he looked so relaxed and comfortable, and handled the action scenes so convincingly, one would think he'd been acting all his life.

It really is a shame he never made another movie or serial.

Acting honors went to Duncan Renaldo. Not only was he one great cowboy, he just looked and sounded as perfect for his role as anyone could.

Their female lead, Pauline Moore, was a lovely and more than capable actress. She played a weekly newspaper gal who was feisty enough to have been a good Lois Lane, and her character here was not any shrinking violet.

Her "Sally Crane" threw that proverbial monkey wrench into the bad guys' aims often enough to save the out-numbered or ambushed heroes. Why she wasn't busier, why she didn't have many more roles, I can't understand.

Perhaps the very best aspect of this great serial is the stunt work, especially the extraordinary fight scenes, particularly in Chapter 2.

There is a long list of stunt men in this excellent serial, including Kermit Maynard, who also had a part as one of the Texas Rangers, and David Sharpe, and so many other of the iconic stunt men who made movies like this so immensely watchable.

The only major flaw is Baugh's enunciation. There are some editing and script supervision flaws, especially in Chapter 4, but, phooey and heck, never mind them. They are cast immediately into total insignificance in light of the action and the story itself.

This is, as other reviewers have said, one of the very greatest of all the great serials. Hey, it's from Republic, directed by Witney and English, so what else should we expect?

I highly recommend "King of the Texas Rangers," and there's a good copy at YouTube.