ZORRO RIDES AGAIN (1937) Starring John Carroll, Helen Christian, Reed Howes,
Richard Alexander, Noah Beery, Duncan Renaldo, Robert Kortman and Jack Ingram.
Directed by William Witney and John English. Republic Pictures serial in 12 chapters.
Zorro Rides Again (Unrated, 1937) - Historically, this serial is one of the most
important in the Republic Pictures canon.
It was the first serial adaptation of Johnston McCulley's popular pulp fiction
character as well as the first chapterplay to be directed by the talented William
Witney-John English team.
Both VCI Home Entertainment and Image Entertainment have recently released this
12-chapter modern-day Western on DVD. VCI's is one of a three-disc, "Zorro's
Cliffhanger Collection" set.
The quality of both is just fair, and both versions suffer from the same problem. On
the source material for both transfers, the night scenes are much too dark, while
other scenes appear a bit muddy.
The sound on both are fine, but it is obvious that neither transfer comes from an
original source. Image and VCI have done their best with the materials at hand, but I
am afraid that neither as yet is the definitive DVD release of this fine serial.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be
reached by e-mail at bbloom@journalandcourier.com or at bob@bloomink.com.
Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal and Courier Web site:
www.jconline.com
Other reviews by Bloom can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site:
www.rottentomatoes.com or at the Internet Movie Database Web site:
www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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