Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Many critics regard chapter 7 as the best of the serial. Personally, I prefer number 8, though I must admit 7 runs it close for thrills with Merton's brilliantly edited stagecoach escape and chase. 7 ends right in the middle of Canutt's famous under-the-coach stunt. 8 has the stunt complete, plus a marvelous sequence with Ramon trapped in a blazing jail by a wonderfully vicious peg-legged turnkey. 9 is the economy episode, most of it consisting of footage from chapters 1 and 2 featuring Merton, plus a bit of Cobb from chapter 3. The tie-in council conference is all directed by English in his usual lackluster style, including would you believe the cliffhanger itself. 10 is certainly an improvement, as we get back to a bit of Witney action and Lydecker miniature work. 11 is one of the best. The ceremonial cave atmosphere is creepy enough, while the cliffhanger is a real humdinger. 12 has the longest introductory reprise of any of the episodes. The final unmasking of Don Del Oro is reasonably exciting. Zorro also unmasks, would you believe? And for the heroine yet! For someone who receives billing right after Hadley, Miss Darcy has certainly had an easy time. She figures briefly in but four or five of the twelve episodes. Very briefly. She seems a very nice girl too. Never mind. The serial is wound up to all our satisfactions by the re-appearance of Carleton Young's Juarez and a few rousing bars of "We Ride". One or two odd lapses in continuity (the mission that is blown up at the end of an early ep is magically restored much later on) plus a few of the usual cliffhanging "cheat" shots would not have worried the serial's original Saturday matinee fans. Nor would the generally no more than passable acting; nor some unintentionally risible examples of corny, cliched, amateurish, explaining-the-obvious dialogue. Full of energy and gusto, Zorro's Fighting Legion deserves its number one choice among many critics as the best serial ever made. It's not my favorite (that's Jungle Girl), but it certainly rates in my Top Ten.

There have been a lot of Zorro films made over the decades, but it's a shame that one of the best is probably one of the least seen.Zorro's Fighting Legion is a bit different from other Zorro films. First off, it's a Republic serial in 12 chapters. And this time, Zorro is not played by a top studio star like Douglas Fairbanks, Tyrone Power or Antonio Banderas but instead by workman-like actor Reed Hadley. While Hadley does not cast as strong a presence over the proceedings as those other, he does an adequate job, helped by the fact that he is not the sole hero here; as the title implies, he has a fighting legion to call upon.Another big difference is that the setting isn't California. The story here take place in central Mexico in 1824 where a man posing as a living god incites the indigenous Indian population and a band of outlaws to aid him in his plan to overthrow the newly established Mexican Republic. Something, Zorro, and a handful of followers plan to do anything they can to stop.Don't get me wrong, there is at least one incredibly cheesy moment per episode, from corny "twang" bow sound effects to ludicrous acting. But overall, this represents one of the best Republic serials of all time, and probably the best Zorro one.The plot is stronger than most serials and never becomes incomprehensible or meandering., and there's lots of great action - fans of the Indiana Jones movies will notice MANY bits borrowed from this serial.

Sitting on the front porch of his Burbank home, Ted Mapes told me that he and Reed Hadley wore the exact same size in every item of clothing except hat.Ted, one of the greatest of the stunt men, said that every time Zorro put on his mask, he was the one on the screen.That was a little bit of an exaggeration: There were times that Zorro was obviously Reed Hadley, but in the stunts we can be satisfied it was Ted at work.And what stunts! "Zorro's Fighting Legion" is, as witness the comments here, one of the greatest of serials. It is exciting and generally very well made.Reed Hadley was a fine actor, and, as someone else commented, he made a very good fop.But, admittedly, it is the action that makes this movie so great.And what else could we expect, with direction by that excellent team, Witney and English, with great music from the amazingly prolific William Lava (the listing here says he was uncredited, but that is incorrect; those other composers listed here were indeed uncredited, and I don't know if they did write any of the music -- it sounds like Lava), and with villainy from, among others, the great Charles King, and with dozens of bit parts?Also noteworthy was a villain played by the radio Tarzan, Jim Pierce, who was Edgar Rice Burroughs' son-in-law. (I urge you to read his mini-bio.) There is one chapter that slows things down depressingly, but, heck, it's only a few minutes long (maybe 20) and when you wade through it, well, you're back to the excitement.Turner Classic Movies deserves a great big THANK YOU for presenting this excellent serial, and we should ask TCM to bring us more.And we should thank everyone involved that we get to see it as a chapter-play, or serial, and not as a re-cut feature.

As serials go "Zorro's Fighting Legion" is one of the best action serials of the 1930s. Made in a period when the studios could still field a large cast, this one has wall to wall action throughout its 12 chapters.In 1824 the President of the newly formed Republic of Mexico Benito Juarez (Carleton Young) is trying to put his new country on a solid financial footing. To that end, he has arranged to have rich gold shipments forwarded to the capitol from the local San Mendolita mine.Members of the local council plot to steal the shipments on behalf of Don-del-Oro a gold armored god, who with the aid of the local Yaqui tribe, hopes to install himself as the ruler of Mexico. Opposing him is Don Francisco (Guy D'Ennery) who forms a legion of locals to aid Juarez. When Don Franciso is murdered by Don-del-Oro's men, a stranger, the fopish Don Diego (Reed Hadley) arrives in town. Diego aka Zorro takes over the legion with the help of his friends Ramon (William Corson) and Juan (Budd Buster). The token heroine of the piece is Ramon's sister Volita (Sheila D'Arcy).Both Diego and Ramon hold seats on the local ruling Counsil. It soon becomes apparent that some of the other members of the Council are in league with Don-del-Oro. First there is the Chairman of the Council (Leander de Cordova), the head of the militia Manuel (John Merton), Chief Justice Pablo (C. Montague Shaw) and Gonzolez (Edmund Cobb). Zorro suspects that one of these men is Don-del-Oro, but which one?What follows are several hair raising escapes by Zorro and his confederates from the followers of Don-del-Oro. We have the ever present collapsing rope bridge, the deep chasm between two cliffs over which only Zorro can jump to safety, and the usual assortment of explosions, fires and coaches and wagons crashing or going over the cliff. Hats off here to Republic's fine team of stunt men lead by the legendary Yakima Canutt and the Yrigoyens, Bill and Joe. Canutt performs his signature stunt jumping on a team of runaway horses and then falling beneath the coach which he repeated in other films including John Ford's "Stagecoach" the same year.Anyway, Zorro finally unmasks the false god Don-del-Oro and restores peace to the valley before riding off into the sunset in Chapter 12.Others in the cast include Jim Pierce, Curley Dresden and Charlie King as Don-del-Oro's hence men and if you look closely you may spot bits by future serial star and Lone Ranger Clayton Moore and stuntman Canutt in bits. "Big" Jim Pierce by the way, may be best remembered for playing Tarzan in 1927's "Tarzan and the Golden Liom" (1927) and for his marriage to Joan Burroughs the daughter of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs.Thoroughly enjoyable.