This serial is so "long-lost" that it had not been seen in its entirety in 65 years. It exists only in the Republic archives at Brigham Young University. I had the great good fortune of seeing it on the big screen in its one and only showing on May 16-17, 2008, at the Serial Squadron's SerialFest in Newtown, PA. The sound in half of four of the twelve chapters is still missing, but it was shown with music from Republic's archives and a written explanation of what was going on when the dialogue was not audible--the action was pretty self-explanatory in any event. If the legal entanglements are ever cleared up, it may someday be restored properly for all to enjoy. The theater audience cheered wildly at the end of each and every chapter, and gave it a standing ovation at the very end.
This is simply the best Western serial I have ever seen. Allan Lane is at his very best, as is former model Kay Aldridge. Sidekick Eddie Acuff pretty much comes into his own here as one of the "daredevils." These weren't daredevils in the sense that the characters were in "Daredevils of the Red Circle," but I guess the title suggests that they dared to be brave enough to fight against heavy odds. The real daredevils in this movie were the stunt men whose work in the long and frequent fights represent some of the best stunt work ever shown in serials. The team of eight stunt men was headed by veteran Tom Steele, stunt double for Allan Lane, and Babe DeFreest, who stood in for Kay Aldridge.
Director John English almost always co-directed his serials with William Witney, but Witney was away in the Navy during World War II. The word has always been that Witney directed the fights and other tough scenes while English handled the scenes that involved a lot of talk. So it was a real eye-opener to discover that there have seldom been better fights in serials than there are in this one. Either English was a better action director than anyone gave him credit for, or an awful lot of Witney rubbed off on him over the years. I can see English saying to himself, "Now how would Bill have directed this scene?" He also did a great job with the cliffhangers, although I did spot one cheat where the hero clearly goes over a cliff and the resolution shows that he actually grabbed a rope that had not been there previously.
All in all, a great serial, right up there with the very best of all time.
