Customer Reviews

Zorro Cliffhanger Collection (1937-44) (3DVD)

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I recently bought this because I initially thought it was a well put together package. Unfortunately the poor quality presentation outweighs whatever perceived bargain there was in price. For those of you out there who also notice such things, the problems are:

First, Passport has seen fit to put a logo in the bottom corner throughout each chapterplay. It reads THE ZORRO CLIFFHANGER COLLECTION in yellow, and is there every second.

Second, the opening credits of "Zorro's Fighting Legion" are incomplete. They start a second or two into the song, so instead of hearing, "We ride..." all you hear is "***Ride..." Not only that, the credits are missing from a few chapters as well.

Third, the image quality looks like they're taken from old VHS tapes. This might not bother some collectors out there, and more power to you, but I feel we've gone beyond poor quality copies of these titles by now.

OK, I know some people will say that for the price all those defects are worth it. All I'm saying is that if I knew how the product looked ahead of time, I would have gotten one of the other versions out there instead.

VCI Entertainment and Republic Pictures present three outstanding serials with 36 Chapters starting with "Zorro Rides Again" (1937)..."Zorro's Fighting Legion" (1939) and "Zorro's Black Whip" (1944) (Dolby digitally remastered), exciting Chapters of vintage serials loaded with thrilling drama and high adventure sequences....there is a great deal of entertainment here for the cliffhanger fans out there... It has more of everything with lots of action, hard riding chases and plenty of shootouts...Republic Pictures stuntman assistant director Yakima Canutt and his department of stunt people Tom Steele, Dale Van Sickel, Babe DeFreest, Helen Thurston, James Fawcett, Ted Mapes, Ken Terrell make every scene and episode a cliffhanger...each episode gets closer to the climatic ending, watch this and relive those thrilling yesteryears of the Saturday Matinee.

First up with Disc One is "Zorro Rides Again" (1937)...12 Chapters under director's John English and William Witney, producer Sol C. Siegel, with screenplay by Franklin Adreon, Johnston McCulley, Morgan Cox, Barry Shipman...the cast include John Carroll (James Vega/Zorro), Helen Christian (Joyce Andrews), Reed Howes (Phillip Andrews), Duncan Renaldo (Renaldo), Noah Beery (J.A. Marsden), Richard Alexander (Brad 'El Lobo' Dace), Bob Kortman ( Trelliger - Henchman), Jack Ingram (Carter - Henchman), Edmund Cobb (Time-bomb - Henchman), Tom London (O'Shea), Lane Chandler (Malloy)...one of the best serials that Republic Pictures produced during the '30s...loaded with six gun action, railroad explosions and airplanes...a winning combination as this formula worked very well...the musical scores are wonderful and John Carroll is great as the Zorro of today... the rest of the cast gives their all especially Duncan Renaldo (Cisco Kid of the '50s TV series) playing an older servant of the Vega family, when he was the same age of our hero John Carroll...after watching this DVD there is no doubt that Republic Pictures was the King of Serials.

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc One) (Zorro Rides Again)
1. Death from the Sky
2. The Fatal Minute
3. Juggernaut
4. Unmasked
5. Sky Pirate
6. The Fatal Shot
7. Burning Embers
8. Plunge of Peril
9. Tunnel of Terror
10.Trapped
11.Right of Way
12.Retribution

SPECIAL FEATURES: (Disc One)
VCI BIOS:
1. Reed Howes
2. Helen Christian
3. William Witney (Director)
4. John English (Director)
VCI SERIAL TRAILERS: (Disc One)
1. Zorro Rides Again (John Carroll)
2. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don "Red" Barry)

Disc Two and second the this triple bill is "Zorro's Fighting Legion" (1939), 12 episodes of the best of Zorro chapterplays with the great directing team of John English and William Witney, producer Hiram S. Brown Jr, screenplay by Franklin Adreon, Ronald Davidson, Morgan Cox, Barney A. Sarecky, Sol Shor...the cast include Reed Hadley (Don Diego Vega/Zorro), Sheila Darcy (Volita), William Corson (Ramon), Leander De Cordova (Gov. Felipe), Carleton Young (Benito Juarez), James Pierce (Moreno - Henchman), Guy D'Ennery (Don Francisco), John Merton (Commandante Manuel ), Charles King (Valdez - Henchman), Bud Geary (Dungeon thug), Reed Howes (Trooper), Clayton Moore (Fernando), Yakima Canutt (Trooper, also the ace stuntman coordinator of Republic)...the story line has our favorite legendary masked swordsman Zorro escaping a variety of deathtraps, including exploding barns, runaway elevators and avalanches...will Zorro thwart the evil leader Don Del Oro from taking over and ruling Mexico...who is this mystery villain that will keep us guessing until Chapter 12...awesome stuntwork, veteran villians and character actors abound...exciting screenplay with a catchy musical score that stays with you for days...don't pass this one up.

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc Two) (Zorro's Fighting Legion)
1. The Golden God
2. The Flaming "Z"
3. Descending Doom
4. The Bridge of Peril
5. The Decoy
6. Zorro to the Rescue
7. The Fugitive
8. Flowing Death
9. The Golden Arrow
10.Mystery Wagon
11.Face to Face
12.Unmasked

BIOS: (Disc Two)
1. Reed Hadley
2. Sheila Darcy
3. John English (Director)
4. William Witney (Director)

VCI Promos: (Disc Two)
1. Stories of the Century (featuring Jim Davis - based on official newspaper files & records)
2. I Married Joan (Joan Davis & Jim Backus)
3. Terry & the Pirates (TV Series)
4. My Little Margie (Gale Storm as Margie & Charles Farrell as Vern)

Disc Three and the final feature of this triple bill is "Zorro's Black Whip" (1940), another great directorial team of Spencer Gordon Bennet and Wallace Grissell, producer Ronald Davidson, screenplay by Basil Dickey, Jesse Duffy, Johnston McCulley, Grant Nelson, Joseph F. Poland... the cast include Linda Stirling (Barbara Meredith - The Black Whip), George J. Lewis (Vic Gordon), Francis McDonald (Dan Hammond), Lucien Littlefield (Tenpoint Jackson), Wally Wales (aka Hal Taliaferro - is Baxter), John Merton (Ed Harris - Henchman), Tom London (Commissioner James Bradley), Jack Kirk (Marshal Wetherby), Jay Kirby (Randolph Meredith), Tom Steele (Ed - Henchman, also double for Wally Wales stuntman), Dale Van Sickel (Rock, also double for George J. Lewis), Helen Thurston (stunt double) and Babe DeFreest (double for Linda Stirling stunt woman)...the plot goes something like this will Idaho become a state of the union or can Hammond stop this with violence and bloodshed...after Randolph Meredith is killed will his sister Barbara take up "The Black Whip"...can government agent Vic Gordon shut down the efforts of Hammond and be of service to "The Black Whip"... a few behind the scenes info with leading the call for justice is serial queen Linda Stirling (Tiger Woman 1944), Mexican born George J. Lewis was picked for the male lead (who mainly play villians throughout his film and television career) and Francis MacDonald who appeared in numerous Hopalong Cassidy, Red Ryder and Rocky Lane films as an outlaw, sheriff, banker and Indian...in any Republic Serial it's always nice to have second unit direction by stunt-man extraordinaireYakima Canutt...this is the type of Saturday Matinee serials I ran to the local theater to see everyweek and came home with the neighborhood kids and played out "Zorro's Black Whip" the rest of the week...gotta love it!

CHAPTER TITLES: (Disc Three) (Zorro's Black Whip)
1. The Masked Avenger
2. Tomb of Terror
3. Mob Murder
4. Detour to Death
5. Take Off That Mask!
6. Fatal Gold
7. Wolf Pack
8. The Invisible Victim
9. Avalanche
10.Fangs of Doom
11.Flaming Juggernaut
12.Trail of Tyranny

BIOS: (Disc Three)
1. Linda Stirling
2. George J. Lewis
3. Spencer Gordon Bennet (Director)
4. Wallace Grissell (Director)

VCI CliffHanger Promo: (Disc Three)
1. Zorro's Black Whip (Linda Stirling & George J. Lewis) (Previews & Coming Attractions)
2. S.O.S. Coast Guard (Ralph Byrd as Lieut. Terry Kent, Bela Lugosi as Boroff and Richard Alexander as Thorg)

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s vintage serial days...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch serial from VCI...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 603 mins on 3 DVD's ~ VCI Entertainment 8342 ~ (12/16/2003)

I'm not sure why people think this was colorized. It's all black and white serials. These may not be the best movies ever made, but it's an interesting complement to the more familiar faces of Zorro, like Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power, Guy Williams, and Antonio Banderas. Not a bad deal, really.

As far as the classic serials go this is one of the best. I'm a huge fan of the classic serials from the 30's and 40's. Being so I was excited to see that VCI had released three of the Zorro movies on DVD. I had previously purchased their copy of the Phantom on DVD and while the transfer is not perfect it would be hard to find a company that takes this much care in trying to preserve these often forgotten and neglected classics. The Zorro trilogy is no different.

Zorro (which was a major influence on the Indiana Jones movies and it shows) is pure, classic adventure. Lots of stunts and fight sequences mark a very exciting series. And unlike some of the fight sequences from the early serials these aren't just guys flailing their arms back and forth until they end up in some sort of wrestling move fight. With Zorro's Fighting Legion being the best of the bunch and Zorro's Black Whip being the least. It's too bad they also didn't include The Ghost of Zorro in the set. These movies are the true precursor to the action movie of the today. If you want a true action/adventure film classic then you can't get much better than these.

Passport Video and Koch Entertainment Distribution presents "THE ZORRO CLIFFHANGER COLLECTION" ---Three outstanding serials with 36 Chapters starting with "ZORRO RIDES AGAIN" (1937)..."ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION" (1939) and "ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP" (1944) (Dolby digitally remastered), exciting Chapters of vintage serials loaded with thrilling drama and high adventure sequences....there is a great deal of entertainment here for the cliffhanger fans out there... It has more of everything with lots of action, hard riding chases and plenty of shootouts --- Republic Pictures stuntman assistant director Yakima Canutt and his department of stunt people Tom Steele, Dale Van Sickel, Babe DeFreest, Helen Thurston, James Fawcett, Ted Mapes, Ken Terrell make every scene and episode a cliffhanger...each episode gets closer to the climatic ending, watch this and relive those thrilling yesteryears of the Saturday Matinee --- Original theatrical trailers of all three serials, plus bonus exclusive interview with Linda Stirling, star of Zorro's Black Whip!

First up is "Zorro Rides Again" (1937)...12 Chapters under director's John English and William Witney, producer Sol C. Siegel, with screenplay by Franklin Adreon, Johnston McCulley, Morgan Cox, Barry Shipman...the cast include John Carroll (James Vega/Zorro), Helen Christian (Joyce Andrews), Reed Howes (Phillip Andrews), Duncan Renaldo (Renaldo), Noah Beery (J.A. Marsden), Richard Alexander (Brad 'El Lobo' Dace), Bob Kortman ( Trelliger - Henchman), Jack Ingram (Carter - Henchman), Edmund Cobb (Time-bomb - Henchman), Tom London (O'Shea), Lane Chandler (Malloy)...one of the best serials that Republic Pictures produced during the '30s...loaded with six gun action, railroad explosions and airplanes...a winning combination as this formula worked very well...the musical scores are wonderful and John Carroll is great as the Zorro of today... the rest of the cast gives their all especially Duncan Renaldo (Cisco Kid of the '50s TV series) playing an older servant of the Vega family, when he was the same age of our hero John Carroll...after watching this DVD there is no doubt that Republic Pictures was the King of Serials.

CHAPTER TITLES: (Zorro Rides Again)
1. Death from the Sky
2. The Fatal Minute
3. Juggernaut
4. Unmasked
5. Sky Pirate
6. The Fatal Shot
7. Burning Embers
8. Plunge of Peril
9. Tunnel of Terror
10.Trapped
11.Right of Way
12.Retribution

Second on this triple bill is "Zorro's Fighting Legion" (1939), 12 episodes of the best of Zorro chapterplays with the great directing team of John English and William Witney, producer Hiram S. Brown Jr, screenplay by Franklin Adreon, Ronald Davidson, Morgan Cox, Barney A. Sarecky, Sol Shor...the cast include Reed Hadley (Don Diego Vega/Zorro), Sheila Darcy (Volita), William Corson (Ramon), Leander De Cordova (Gov. Felipe), Carleton Young (Benito Juarez), James Pierce (Moreno - Henchman), Guy D'Ennery (Don Francisco), John Merton (Commandante Manuel ), Charles King (Valdez - Henchman), Bud Geary (Dungeon thug), Reed Howes (Trooper), Clayton Moore (Fernando), Yakima Canutt (Trooper, also the ace stuntman coordinator of Republic)...the story line has our favorite legendary masked swordsman Zorro escaping a variety of deathtraps, including exploding barns, runaway elevators and avalanches...will Zorro thwart the evil leader Don Del Oro from taking over and ruling Mexico...who is this mystery villain that will keep us guessing until Chapter 12...awesome stuntwork, veteran villians and character actors abound...exciting screenplay with a catchy musical score that stays with you for days...don't pass this one up.

CHAPTER TITLES: (Zorro's Fighting Legion)
1. The Golden God
2. The Flaming "Z"
3. Descending Doom
4. The Bridge of Peril
5. The Decoy
6. Zorro to the Rescue
7. The Fugitive
8. Flowing Death
9. The Golden Arrow
10.Mystery Wagon
11.Face to Face
12.Unmasked

Final feature of this triple bill is "Zorro's Black Whip" (1940), another great directorial team of Spencer Gordon Bennet and Wallace Grissell, producer Ronald Davidson, screenplay by Basil Dickey, Jesse Duffy, Johnston McCulley, Grant Nelson, Joseph F. Poland... the cast include Linda Stirling (Barbara Meredith - The Black Whip), George J. Lewis (Vic Gordon), Francis McDonald (Dan Hammond), Lucien Littlefield (Tenpoint Jackson), Wally Wales (aka Hal Taliaferro - is Baxter), John Merton (Ed Harris - Henchman), Tom London (Commissioner James Bradley), Jack Kirk (Marshal Wetherby), Jay Kirby (Randolph Meredith), Tom Steele (Ed - Henchman, also double for Wally Wales stuntman), Dale Van Sickel (Rock, also double for George J. Lewis), Helen Thurston (stunt double) and Babe DeFreest (double for Linda Stirling stunt woman)...the plot goes something like this will Idaho become a state of the union or can Hammond stop this with violence and bloodshed...after Randolph Meredith is killed will his sister Barbara take up "The Black Whip"...can government agent Vic Gordon shut down the efforts of Hammond and be of service to "The Black Whip"... a few behind the scenes info with leading the call for justice is serial queen Linda Stirling (Tiger Woman 1944), Mexican born George J. Lewis was picked for the male lead (who mainly play villains throughout his film and television career) and Francis MacDonald who appeared in numerous Hopalong Cassidy, Red Ryder and Rocky Lane films as an outlaw, sheriff, banker and Indian...in any Republic Serial it's always nice to have second unit direction by stunt-man extraordinaireYakima Canutt...this is the type of Saturday Matinee serials I ran to the local theater to see every week and came home with the neighborhood kids and played out "Zorro's Black Whip" the rest of the week...gotta love it!

CHAPTER TITLES: (Zorro's Black Whip)
1. The Masked Avenger
2. Tomb of Terror
3. Mob Murder
4. Detour to Death
5. Take Off That Mask!
6. Fatal Gold
7. Wolf Pack
8. The Invisible Victim
9. Avalanche
10.Fangs of Doom
11.Flaming Juggernaut
12.Trail of Tyranny

BONUS:
Original Theatrical trailers of all three serials,
plus an exclusive interview with Linda Stirling,
star of "Zorro's Black Whip".

Great job by Passport Video --- looking forward to more Nostalgic Collections --- order your copy now from Amazon or Passport Video where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 700 mins on 5 DVD's ~ Passport Video ~ (1/10/2006)

Why haven't serial fans reviewed this collection yet? The format indicates color. Have these films been colorized?
ZORRO RIDES AGAIN(12/37; 12 chapters) DIR: William Witney & John English. John Carroll, Helen Christian, Duncan Renaldo, Noah Beery (Sr.), Yakima Canutt
ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION (12/39; 12 chapters) DIR: same as above. Reed Hadley, Sheila Darcy, William Corson, Leander de Cordova, C. Montague Shaw
ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP (12/44; 12 chapters) DIR: Spencer Bennet & Wallace Grissell. Linda Stirling, George J. Lewis, Lucien Littlefield, Francis McDonald, Hal Taliaferro, John Merton