Thoughts on ZORRO, Part 3: The Republic serials (spoilers)

Last time, I discussed the first sound/color Zorro movie, The Bold Caballero from 1936. The next Zorro screen production was just a year later, Republic’s 1937 serial Zorro Rides Again—no relation to the 1931 Johnston McCulley novel of that title, as it’s set in the then-present day. It features John Carroll as Zorro’s great-grandson James (the English equivalent of Diego) defending the Vega family’s railroad construction project, a joint US-Mexican effort, from being sabotaged by a gang working for Marsden, an American magnate played by Noah Beery (Sgt. Gonzales in the 1920 movie). Like many Republic serials, it’s co-directed by William Witney and John English, and features stunt work by the legendary Yakima Canutt. Like The Bold Caballero, it gives Zorro a full-face mask, though one that bares the neck and hooks over the ears. The serial updates but recapitulates the original formula, with James Vega called to Mexico by his uncle Don Manuel to defend the railroad company, but…