King of the Texas Rangers

William Nuelsen Witney was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the movie serials he co-directed with John English for Republic Pictures such as Daredevils of the Red Circle, Zorro's Fighting Legion and Drums of Fu Manchu. He directed many Westerns during his career,... and is credited with devising the modern system of filming movie fight sequences in a series of carefully choreographed shots, which he patterned after the musical sequences of American director Busby Berkeley. Prolific and pugnacious, Witney began directing while still in his 20s, and continued until 1982. Quentin Tarantino singles out Witney as one of his favorite directors, particularly for The Golden Stallion , a Roy Rogers vehicle. Witney also directed Master of the World starring Vincent Price and Charles Bronson.
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John English was an American film editor and film director. He is most famous for the film serials he co-directed with William Witney for Republic Pictures such as Zorro's Fighting Legion and Drums of Fu Manchu. He was credited variously as John W English, John English or Jack English. John... English was born in Cumberland in the United Kingdom but moved to Canada at an early age. He first worked as a film editor before getting a break into directing at Republic in 1935. For a period in the 1930s and 1940s, starting with Zorro Rides Again , he directed Movie Serials in partnership with William Witney. It was customary at the time for two directors to work on each serial, each working on alternate days. Witney customarily worked on the action scenes while English concentrated on character and story elements. Together they are regarded as having produced the best examples of the serial medium: "most notable of all were the directing talents of William Witney and John English.
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