THE PAINTED STALLION (1937) Ray Corrigan, Hoot Gibson & Jean Carmen | Western, Serial | B&W

The Painted Stallion is a 1937 American Western film serial from Republic Pictures. 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.

SYNOPSIS
The period is the 1820's and the first wagon train leaves Independence heading west to Santa Fe. In order to maintain his power, the ruthless Official at Santa Fe must not let them arrive and he sends out his men to stop them. The wagon train then has to endure repeated attacks but is aided by a mysterious rider that shoots singing arrows and rides a painted stallion.

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 Mexico–United States relations.

Repeated attacks are thwarted, however, by the appearance of a mysterious Rider on a Painted Stallion who issues warnings with her whistling arrows.

CAST & CREW
Ray "Crash" Corrigan as Clark Stuart
Hoot Gibson as Walter Jamison
LeRoy Mason as Alfredo Dupray
Julia Thayer as 'The Rider
Duncan Renaldo as Zamorro'
Sammy McKim as Young Christopher 'Kit' Carson,
Hal Taliaferro as Jim Bowie
Jack Perrin as Davy Crockett
Ed "Oscar" Platt and Lou Fulton as Oscar and Elmer
Yakima Canutt as Tom
Matson Williams as Macklin
Duke Taylor as 'Bill
Loren Riebe as Pedro
George DeNormand as Oldham
Gordon De Main as Governor
Charles King as Bull Smith
Vinegar Roan as Pete

Directed by Alan James, Ray Taylor, William Witney
Written by Morgan Cox, Ronald Davidson, Hal G. Evarts, Winston Miller, Barry Shipman
Produced by J. Laurence Wickland
Cinematography Edgar Lyons, William Nobles
Edited by Edward Todd, Helene Turner
Music by Raoul Kraushaar
Distributed by Republic Pictures
Release dates June 5, 1937 (U.S. serial), February 11, 1938 (U.S. feature)
Running time 12 chapters (212 minutes (serial), 67 minutes (feature)
6 26½-minute episodes (TV)
Language English
Budget $102,157 (negative cost: $109,164)

NOTES
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.

The serial was filmed between February 10 and March 3, 1937. The serial's production number was 421. 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. Portions of the film were shot in the Coachella Valley, California.

The Painted Stallion's official release date is 5 June 1937, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.

A 67-minute feature film version, created by editing the serial footage together, was released on 11 February 1938. It was one of fourteen feature films Republic made from their serials.

Television
In the early 1950s, The Painted Stallion was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes.

Critical reception
Raymond Stedman describes Thyer as quiet yet impressive and William Nobles is noted for his sweeping camera work. Raoul Krausharr's musical score is a bridge between the "synthetic fusions" of earlier sound serials and the "creative scorings" of his successors at Republic. According to Cline, The Painted Stallion is an outstanding example of the Western "Covered Wagon" (wagon train based) subgenre.

Chapter titles
Trail to Empire
Rider of the Stallion
The Death Leap
Avalanche
Volley of Death
Thundering Wheels
Trail Treachery
The Whistling Arrow
The Fatal Message
Ambush
Tunnel of Terror
Human Targets