Man with the Steel Whip (1954)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Franklin Adreon

Writer:

Ronald Davidson (written by)

Release Date:

19 July 1954 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Tagline:

EXPLOSIVE ACTION! as "El Latigo" rides through the land of savagery and gleaming gold to deal out his kind of justice!

Plot:

Saloon owner Barnet (Mauritz Hugo) wants the Indian reservation land on which he knows there is gold...

Plot Keywords:

Indian | Indian Reservation | Rancher | Masquerade | Saloon Owner

Cast

Dick Simmons	...	Jerry Randall / El Latigo (as Richard Simmons)
Barbara Bestar	...	Nancy Cooper
Dale Van Sickel	...	Crane - Barnett Henchman
Mauritz Hugo	...	Barnett
Lane Bradford	...	Tosco
Pat Hogan	...	The Indian Chief [Chs. 1, 2, 7]
Roy Barcroft	...	Sheriff [Chs. 8, 10-12]
Stuart Randall	...	Harris
Edmund Cobb	...	Lee, Buckboard Driver [Chs. 2, 3]
I. Stanford Jolley	...	Sloane - Assayer, Ch. 12
Guy Teague	...	Price [Chs. 3, 4, 9, 11]
Alan Wells	...	Quivar [Chs. 1, 5-6]
Tom Steele	...	Tom - Henchman at Cascade Rocks, Ch. 4 / Henchman Gage - Ch. 8

Also Known As:

Man with a Whip (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

167 min (12 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16926)

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Republic Pictures

Trivia:

One of the few Republic serials that carried the same PCA number on every chapter, meaning it was one of the few in which every chapter was sent to the MPPDA office at the same time.

Stock footage rides again...and again...and again.

And this still comes off as one of the best in Republic's declining years, and having the voice and presence of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, in the form of Richard Simmons, didn't hurt it any, especially when compared to those with Harry Lauter or Myron Healy as the lead.

Most of the "El Latiago" riding scenes and cliffhangers featuring the character came from 1944's "Zorro's Black Whip", which means Linda Stirling's double in that serial, Babe De Freest, doubled Simmons (via stock footage) about as much as his assigned double on this serial, Tom Steele. With the exception of a couple of short instances (when footage from "The Painted Stallion" was utilized,) all the Indian attacks on wagon trains, wagon chases, town-street establishing shot, and Cavalry scenes came from 1943's "Daredevils of the West", especially in Chapter Two when that serial's doubles for Allan Lane, Kay Aldridge and Eddie Acuff occupy most of the running time.

Chapter 10 serves as this serials "cheater" chapter when Richard Simmmons catches Sheriff Roy Barcroft up on events (saloon fight) in Chapter One and earlier chapters.

All in all, this would have made a better serial to end Republic's string than the two that followed.