Jeff Stewart (George Turner) is an officer who is returning home after the Civil War to get back to working his ranch. When he gets home to Box County he learns that since he left things have drastically changed. With most of the able-bodied men fighting in the war the county has been vulnerable to crooked politicians. They took over the county, raising taxes and levying toll fees for use of the county throughways to the point where many of them couldn’t pay the exorbitant taxes and fees and so lost their horses, cattle or even their ranches.
The main crooks are Judge Hyde (Ernie Adams), Sheriff Moody (Ed Cassidy) and a hired henchman named Boyd (Roy Barcroft). Along with a bunch of minions on the payroll they have gotten rich while everyone else is broke. The head of the organization is a mysterious man they refer to as the Chief. On Stewart’s side is the local postmistress, Kate Wells (Peggy Stewart) and Stewart’s loyal servant Pancho (Stanley Price).
Stewart tries to work through the law to change things but with so many people in power against him he finds himself with a target on his back. To compensate he is forced to resurrect his ancestor on his mother’s side, Zorro. As the masked man he is able to fight fire with fire when the Chief sends his hoods after the helpless. Stewart plans to open up a new trail through a different county to avoid the Box County tolls. The work is hampered every step of the way by the powers in place. Stewart also believes that the crooked politicians fixed the election to gain their power. Unless Stewart and Zorro can come up with proof of their fraud, they will continue to have a stranglehold on the county.
“Son of Zorro” was released in 1947 and was directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet and Fred C. Brannon. It is a thirteen chapter Republic film serial and a superhero adventure film. It was the 43rd of the 66 serials produced by Republic. It is also the 4th in a series of five serials based on the Zorro character. The other serials were: “Zorro Rides Again” 1939, “Zorro's Fighting Legion” 1939, “Zorro's Black Whip” 1944 and “Ghost of Zorro” 1949.
Zorro is not exactly the son of the original Zorro but is related to him through his mother. The storyline of the serial is good. Instead of one plot running through thirteen chapters there are several that are raised consecutively. It helps to keep the story fresh. There are a whole lot of fist fights throughout to keep the action going. A lot of the cliffhangers are good. Some were really original but there were a couple that looked a little familiar from previous Zorro serials. The footage was new but the cliffhanger idea was used before. The rapport between the Stewart character and the Kate Wells character was also good. They respected each other and worked well together as a team trying to outwit the bad guys and overcome adversity. The characters were intelligent and capable. Altogether it was a fun and really well done serial.
The special effects were done by the Lydecker brothers. It is one of fourteen Republic serials that were edited into a TV series. The series was broadcast as six 26 ½ minute episodes.
CHAPTER TITLES: 1. Outlaw Country; 2. The Deadly Millstone; 3. Fugitive From Injustice; 4. Buried Alive; 5. Water Trap; 6. Volley Of Death; 7. The Fatal Records; 8. Third Degree; 9. Shoot To Kill; 10. Den Of The Beast; 11. The Devil's Trap; 12. Blazing Walls; 13. Checkmate.