"The Vigilante" - The 1947 Movie Serial Quiz

Answer: Greg Sanders

In a rare move, Columbia Pictures didn't change the real name of the Vigilante from his comic book incarnation. They did make him a government agent of non-descript rank, and his sidekick went from being a young Chinese lad in the comics to a nearly middle-aged white guy on film.

Ralph Byrd played the Vigilante adequately, though most people who see it remember more of his roles in previous serials (such as "S.O.S. Coast Guard")and his movie and television work as Dick Tracy than his performance in this serial.

The Vigilante's name is now often also spelled as "Greg Saunders", which is how it was pronounced in the serial.

Answer: Stuff

George Offerman, Jr. portrayed Stuff. Unlike the comic book feature, where Stuff known as "The Chinatown Kid", the serial version of Stuff was a white guy pushing thirty if he was a day. This Stuff did seem to have most of the wits of your average child, getting himself into as many predicaments as you would think the hero's girlfriend would.

Answer: The Prairie Troubadour

Just like in the comic books, Greg Sanders was a music star, and he was filming a movie during many of the chapters of this serial. While not credited, Ralph Byrd may have actually done his own singing in this serial, as he worked as a song-and-dance man for many years.

Answer: The Tears of Blood

Prince Hamil (Robert Barron) had brought in this treasure without taking it through customs. The Tears of Blood were 100 perfectly matched blood red pearls, upon which there had been a curse for 1000 years. He discovered that his aide Hassan had been stealing them and was selling them to George Pierce.

The Tears of Blood were to be delivered to Pierce with the five Aravanian horses that Hamil was giving away. Hamil prevented this transaction by giving the horses to four other people (Captain Reilly, Betty Winslow, Tex Cooper and Greg) as well as Pierce.

Answer: Horseshoes

Each horseshoe on each of the five Aravanian horses contained five of the Tears of Blood. George Pierce (played by the wonderful Lyle Talbot) strove to get all of them, so he could use the priceless pearls for his own ends.

Answer: X-1

One of the big flaws in this serial is that you pretty much know who X-1 is by the end of the second chapter. The bad guy's headquarters was in a secret room in one of the other character's business establishment. It shouldn't have been very hard to guess that, just perhaps, that character had a bit more to do with things than he let on to our heroes.

Answer: Bongo

Bongo, who was also afraid of the dark, was one of the main attractions of a small carnival in which Betty Winslow (Ramsay Ames) was billed as "Queen of the Rodeo". Poor Bongo was, naturally, used to menace Betty, but the Vigilante was able to extricate her from his paws in time.

Pop Gunn, pal of both Betty and Greg, ran a shooting gallery there as well.

Answer: Placerita

Like most serials of the period, "The Vigilante" used the beautiful landscapes of the southern California hills as its backdrop. The director didn't use very many of the standard locations from the Bronson Caverns region, which have been seen in countless westerns, serials and low-budget flicks over the years.

The good pace at which most of the action scenes ran kept the viewers from really noticing a lot of the background, until the cliffhangers anyway.

Answer: Prince Hamil

Prince Hamil, upon discovering the collected Tears of Blood in the hidden room of X-1, poured a caustic chemical on them. He dissolved the pearls so that their terrible curse would finally end. Hamil later helped the Vigilante defeat X-1, who was finally revealed to be George Pierce.

Answer: The Secret of the Skyroom

"The Secret of the Skyroom" was the hidden room in George Pierce's nightclub from which the shrouded figure of X-1 gave orders to his operatives. Naturally, this was a dead giveaway as to who X-1 really was, but what the heck? Even if I know who the villain is, I'll sit through fifteen chapters of Ralph Byrd and Lyle Talbot.