The Lone Defender

Infobox Film
name = The Lone Defender


image_size =
caption = Poster for chapter five of the serial
director = Richard Thorpe
producer = Nat Levine
writer = William Presley Burt
Ben Cohen
Harry Fraser
narrator =
starring = Rin Tin Tin
Walter Miller
June Marlowe
Josef Swickard
Buzz Barton
Lee Shumway
music = Lee Zahler
cinematography = Benjamin Kline
editing = Wyndham Gittens
distributor = Mascot Pictures
released = 1930
runtime = 12 chapters (217 min)
country = USA
language = English
budget = $40,000 (estimated)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:29862
imdb_id = 0021083

"The Lone Defender" (1930) is a Mascot movie serial starring Rin Tin Tin. This was Mascot's first all sound serial (the second to have any sound at all, after the partial sound in "The King of the Kongo"). This was Rin Tin Tin's first serial at Mascot, after being dropped by Warner Bros. when they decided animal pictures would not work with "Talkies". He also starred in the later serial "The Lightning Warrior", which would be his last appearance. Mascot made a third serial, "The Adventures of Rex and Rinty", but that Rin Tin Tin was not the same dog.

The plot revolves around Rin Tin Tin as "Rinty" and a secret gold mine fought over by the criminal "The Cactus Kid" and the legitimate owners.

Material from this serial was edited into a feature film version and released under the same name in 1934.

Plot

Prospector "Juan Valdez" is murdered by "The Cactus Kid" and his gang in an attempt to discover the location of his gold mine. Valdez's dog "Rinty" witnesses the murder and can also lead the gang to the mine, making him the villain's target throughout the serial. In addition Rinty must help Valdez's daughter "Dolores" legitimately find and claim the mine while being blamed for the wolf attacking local livestock.

The mysterious figure of "Ramon" is constantly on hand, overhearing pieces of the villain's conversations. He appears to be another bandit but his actions seem to contradict that.

It is revealed during the course of the serial that Ramon is in fact "Marco Roberto", an agent of the Justice Department.

Cast

*Rin Tin Tin as "Rinty", Juan Valdez's dog
*Walter Miller as Marco Roberto, Justice Department Agent posing as the "Mysterious Figure", Ramon
*June Marlowe as Dolores Valdez, Juan Valdez's daughter
*Josef Swickard as Juan Valdez, Prospector who owns a secret gold mine
*Buzz Barton as Buzz, Ramon's sidekick
*Lee Shumway as Amos Harkey, aka the villainous "The Cactus Kid"
*Julia Bejarano as Maria, the Dueña
*Lafe McKee as Sheriff Billings
*Arthur Morrison as Limpy
*Frank Lanning as Burke, Prospector and Juan Valdez's partner
*Bob Kortman as Jenkins, one of the Cactus Kid's Henchmen
*Victor Metzetti as Red, one of the Cactus Kid's Henchmen
*Otto Metzetti as Red's Partner

Production

tunts

*Joe Bonomo
*Kermit Maynard
*Arthur Metzetti
*Victor Metzetti

Chapter titles

# Mystery of the Desert
# The Fugitive
# Jaws of Peril
# Trapped
# Circle of Death
# Surrounded by the Law
# The Ghost Speaks
# Brink of Destruction
# The Avalanche
# Fury of the Desert
# Cornered
# Vindicated_Source: [cite book
last = Cline
first = William C.
title = In the Nick of Time
origyear = 1984
publisher = McFarland & Company, Inc.
isbn = 078640471X
pages = pp. 202
chapter = Filmography ]

ee also

*List of film serials by year
*List of film serials by studio

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0021083|title=The Lone Defender
*amg title|id=1:29862|title=The Lone Defender
* [http://www.dspears.com/fio/f30.htm The Lone Defender article on a June Marlowe fansite]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Mascot Serial
before=The King of the Kongo (1929)
years=The Lone Defender (1930)
after=The Phantom of the West (1931)