| Zorro's Black Whip | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Spencer Gordon Bennet Wallace Grissel |
| Produced by | Ronald Davidson |
| Written by | Basil Dickey Jesse Duffy Grant Nelson Joseph Poland Ruth Roman Johnston McCulley (Original Zorro Novel) |
| Starring | Linda Stirling George J. Lewis Lucien Littlefield Francis McDonald |
| Cinematography | Bud Thackery |
| Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 16 December 1944 (serial)[1] 8 July 1957 (re-release)[1] |
| Running time | 12 chapters (182 minutes)[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $134,899 (negative cost: $145,251)[1] |
Zorro's Black Whip is a 1944 Republic Pictures film serial starring Linda Stirling. The film was made after the popular 1940 20th Century-Fox remake of The Mark of Zorro and Republic was unable to use the character himself, but still wanted to capitalize on it. However, and despite the title, Zorro does not feature in this serial. The hero(ine) is actually called The Black Whip throughout.
The serial is set in pre-statehood Idaho, and involves a fight to prevent and ensure statehood by the villains and heroes respectively.
Parts of this serial were reused as stock footage to pad out later serials such as Don Daredevil Rides Again (1951) and Man with the Steel Whip (1954) – despite the fact that both of those serials had male leads.
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In Zorro's Black Whip the word Zorro never occurs, but a female who behaves like Don Diego in Idaho fights a cabal of corrupt politicians as "The Black Whip" after her brother (the original Black Whip) is killed. Hammond, owner of the town's stagecoach line and a leading citizen, is secretly opposed to Idaho becoming a state, and conducts raids against citizens and settlers alike to prevent order. Randolph Meredith, owner of the town's newspaper, as the Black Whip, opposes this scheme, but one day he is killed after preventing yet another coup. Meredith's sister Barbara, expert with a bullwhip and pistol, dons Randolph's black costume and mask and becomes "The Black Whip" in her brother's place, dealing a blow to Hammond and his gang each time they perform some heinous act in their efforts to keep the town, and their power over it, unchanged. Aided by US government agent Vic Gordon, Barbara confronts Hammond in a final showdown just as the town votes on whether or not to accept statehood.
Linda Stirling as The Black Whip is quite obviously female but, even after a bout of wrestling, the villains do not realise they aren't fighting a man. Some reference is made to this in the script, however, when the villains are trying to determine who the Black Whip's secret identity could be:
Hammond: Barbara Meredith, she's the Black Whip! Baxter: She couldn't be! The Black Whip's got to be a man! He's outshot us, outrode us, and outfought us, stopped us at every turn!— Chapter Nine: Avalanche
The day is saved when Vic Gordon discovers Barbara's secret and removes her from suspicion by appearing in her costume. From this point on he, despite relinquishing the costume, tends to assume the hero role while Barbara becomes slightly more of a traditional damsel in distress.
The surnames of the two lead characters, Meredith and Gordon, are an in-joke referencing two earlier Republic serials. The character Nyoka the Jungle Girl and her father had the surname Meredith in Jungle Girl, but their last name was Gordon in the semi-sequel Perils of Nyoka.
This serial was put into production, with Linda Stirling as the main star, following the actress' popular performance in The Tiger Woman.[2] Zorro's Black Whip was budgeted at $134,899 although the final negative cost was $145,251 (a $10,352, or 7.7%, overspend). It was the cheapest Republic serial of 1944.[1] It was filmed between 29 July and 26 August 1944 under the working title The Black Whip.[1] The serial's production number was 1495.[1] Despite physically wrestling with her, the villains never realize that the very obviously female Black Whip is a woman.[3] Footage from this serial was reused in Don Daredevil Rides Again and Man with the Steel Whip.[4]
Special Effects by Republic's in-house team of the Lydecker brothers.
Zorro's Black Whip's official release date is 16 December 1944, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges.[1] The serial was re-released on 8 July 1957 between the similar re-releases of The Purple Monster Strikes and Radar Men from the Moon. The last original Republic serial release was King of the Carnival in 1955.[1]
This was one of two 12-chapter serials released in 1944, along with Linda Stirling's serial debute, The Tiger Woman. It had been Republic's standard pattern to produce two 12-chapter serials and two 15-chapter serials each year since 1938 but 1944 was the last year that occurred. In fact, Republic would only produce two more 15-chapter serials, Manhunt of Mystery Island and The Purple Monster Strikes, both in 1945 and both starring Linda Stirling.
| Preceded by Haunted Harbor (1944) |
Republic Serial Zorro's Black Whip (1944) |
Succeeded by Manhunt of Mystery Island (1945) |
| Preceded by Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) |
Zorro Serial Zorro's Black Whip (1944) |
Succeeded by Son of Zorro (1947) |
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