| The Painted Stallion | |
| Director: | Alan James Ray Taylor William Witney |
| Producer: | J. Laurence Wickland |
| Starring: | Ray "Crash" Corrigan Hoot Gibson LeRoy Mason Duncan Renaldo Sammy McKim Hal Taliaferro Jack Perrin Julia Thayer |
| Editing: | Edward Todd Helene Turner |
| Cinematography: | Edgar Lyons William Nobles |
| Music: | Raoul Kraushaar |
| Distributor: | Republic Pictures |
| Runtime: | 12 chapters (212 minutes (serial) 67 minutes (feature) 6 26½-minute episodes (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $102,157 (negative cost: $109,164) |
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.
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.
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. With her help Clark Stuart, along with historical characters, Kit Carson, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett work to defeat Dupray. Eventually, they assist the arrival of the United States Cavalry and the treaty is signed, leaving Stuart and the Rider to ride away together.
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.[1]
The Painted Stallions 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.
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.
On December 27, 2005, a Region 0 DVD of the serial was released by Alpha Video.[2]
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.[3] According to Cline, The Painted Stallion is an outstanding example of the Western "Covered Wagon" (wagon train based) subgenre.[4]
Source:[5]