Reviews (1)

Gene Autry "Ride Ranger Ride"
Gene is a Texas Ranger working undercover as a scout for the Army. He's trying to stop the Comanches from looting a wagon train loaded down with ammunition. This is a well balanced plot, Smily Burnette as Forg and Kay Hughes as the love interest show the humor and softness for which Gene Autry Movies are Famious. As well old stars such as Max Terhune and Monte Blue provide the action. Champion the wounder horse makes riding look easy and very fast. Two and 1/2 Stars for this Republic Feature released in 1936, It should run 63m. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Interesting as a cultural history of the 1930's
A Great Depression morality tale, wherein the outlaws are really good boys who love their mother, and the capitalists and banker are really black-hearted crooks who prey on the innocent. I'd give it one star for its sheer tedium but a very youthful Roy and Trigger look terrific and who doesn't like Gabby Hayes? As usual in these old oaters, the horseriding is spectacular. Roy has one love song, while playing the pump organ. The movie inspired me to look up the history of the James gang to find out what they were actually like. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Great, Beef-cake Extravangza!
I'll shamefully confess that although I've always been an addict of Republic's fabulous serials, I brought this one primarily because of its exploitation of the macho male hero. Ray "Crash" Corrigan is simply fascinating to watch in all of his virile glory. This Adonis should have been one of the great stars but Samuel Goldwyn turned him down as the lead in his big-budget production of "The Hurricane" because he was too muscular! So, we got Jon Hall instead--who wasn't bad looking at all--but Crash was bigger and more muscular and moved with stunning beauty. Some of the other warriors in this serial are very easy on the eye, too, especially the one that Crash saves from death. If Crash had only come along when Italian muscle men epics were in vogue, he would have been the biggest of them all. So would Buster Crabbe, another stunning male beauty who was relegated to the backwaters of Poverty Row because he was considered a "physical" star--as adverse to the skinny types who prevailed through the 30s and 40s.

Whips Flash Gordon any day.
My favourite Republic serial - it's way over-the-top, bordering on camp in places and loads of fun! Superb stunts and effects for the time, non-stop action and a huge supporting cast of extras playing soldiers in chariots. What must the budget have been like for these things?
Also first class music. Listen closely and there's a bit of Liszt thrown in!

A little cheating, but spectacular.
Special effects and set decorations make this definitely one of the best serials of all time. I do give it 4 stars rather than 5, because of the cheating in a couple of chapters. Especially one of the great chapter endings ever, Chapter 8, only to discover the cheating at the beginning of Chapter 9. Also a little more than usual carelessness...Corrigan is bare headed at the beginning of one sequence and is suddenly wearing the cumbersome helmet...A chariot and team of horses unexplainably is waiting right by where they need it... But hey, don't you expect a bit of that in serials?

It's the spectacle, developing plot, good acting that make this an important serial for your collection. Lots of familiar names in this one including Lon Chaney Jr., William Farnum, Monte Blue (as the villain), Smiley Burnette as the comic relief, Lee Van Atta as the feisty kid.

This definitely should be in your basic serial collection.

Crash Corrigan vs. Unga Khan
While it is true that there are better serials, this one is a fine sampling of early Republic chapter-plays.

Professor Norton has discovered the lost city of Atlantis, and learns that it is the source of mysterious deadly earthquakes. Naval hero Ray "Crash" Corrigan and his reporter girlfriend Diana join Norton in his rocket powered submarine to investigate the mystery at the bottom of the sea.

Along for the ride is young Billy, Norton's son, who idolizes the dashing and heroic Crash.

When they arrive in the undersea city, Norton and Diana are quickly captured by Unga Khan, evil ruler of Atlantis. Khan uses his Transforming Ray to weaken Norton's mind and make him Khan's slave! His plan is to have Norton build rockets powerful enough to lift his war tower to the surface of the sea, so Khan can capture the world with his atom guns.

Corrigan eventually earns the trust of the Atlaneans in the Sacred City, and tries to rescue Norton and his sweetheart.

The co-director of the serial, 'Breezy' Reeves Eason, served as second unit director on the silent epic "Ben-Hur" (1925), most notibly on the famous chariot sequence. No wonder this serial is full of chariot chases and races!

Lon Chaney plays one of Unga Khan's henchmen, as Captain of the Black Robes. Smiley Burnette is along as unecessary and annoying comedy relief. The youngster who plays Billy also played Junior in some of the Dick Tracy movies.

There is some silliness with the costumes; Sharad, the leader of the Sacred City, looks like a low-rent Bishop, and Crash's helmet looks like it came from a hood ornament. Crash's costume is kind of silly-looking, too, with fish-scale shorts. The bad guys wear lightning bolts on their heads, which actually look pretty good for soldiers in an atom-powered army.

The Volkites are the coolest thing about the serial. They are the original walking trash can robots, similar to the ones that appear in the Captain Proton segments of Star Trek Voyager.

The real question is why Unga Khan has all of the technology, while the Sacred City has none. And why does Khan attack with horses and archers, when he has technology like the Volkites, atom guns, and aircraft. And let's not even ask why a domed city under the sea can have day and night.

The Roan print is great, as usual. They include lobby art and the serial's history with production notes. The interactive menus are nice, too. Each chapter is shown in a "reflecting plate" (what the bad guys call their TV communicator screens).

Atlantis or Bust!
A worthy competitor to Universal's "Flash Gordon", which
preceded it in theatres by about two months, "Undersea
Kingdom" begins with strange earthquakes on the ocean floor that
draw the attention of kindly but doddering old Professor
Norton. Norton finds a statue down there and immediately decides that
the long-lost continent of Atlantis is to blame for the trouble. He
puts together an expedition that consists of himself, a naval officer
named "Crash" Corrigan portrayed, interestingly enough, by
"Crash" Corrigan in a role he was evidently born to play, and a
handsome crew of sailors, misfits, stowaways and ...a liberated
lady-type reporter.

Well, to make 12 episodes short, Atlantis is
indeed to blame for the seaquakes, as the nefarious Unga Khan seeks to
overthrow Sharad, High Priest of the Sacred City. Or something. They
all look alike and the only real way to tell the difference between
any of them is that (a) they all wear different silly hats, and (b)
one of 'em looks just like Lon Chaney, Jr. In fact, it IS Lon
Chaney, Jr., who, the narrative would've told us if it had been
pertinent, was hiding out at the bottom of the ocean because there's
no full moon down there. Although, believe it or not, there's clouds
and dust and horses. Don't ask.

Unga Khan is ready for the outside
interlopers, however. He unleashes a plethora of perilous devices to
entrap/enslave/murder our heroes (depending on the chapter), including
a giant magnet to capture the submarine, an army of Volkites,
mechanical men who resemble port-o-potties with legs, and a death-ray
gun that looks like a vacuum cleaner and probably is. Best of all is a
particularly nasty-looking tank, to which Crash finds himself chained
and helpless as the machine is about to ram the wall of the Sacred
City. In the chapterplay's best moment, Crash stoically shouts, "Go
ahead and ram!" rather than divulge whatever bit of information
Khan is after... I kind of fell asleep in that chapter.

Well, lots
more really exciting stuff happens, although I can't remember what
just now. Suffice to say that virtue triumphs in the end. As it always
does. Except in politics.

The supporting cast is fine, particularly
Monte Blue as Khan and C. Montague Shaw as Norton. As mentioned, the
silly hats are delightful; really, no kidding, you are going to come
away from this serial remembering the hats which adorn virtually every
head. Unless you were admiring all the really muscular guys wearing
short skirts, but that's none of my business. Oh, and the shoes are
really stylish and snazzy, too.


... Read more

Reviews (1)

Interesting as a cultural history of the 1930's
A Great Depression morality tale, wherein the outlaws are really good boys who love their mother, and the capitalists and banker are really black-hearted crooks who prey on the innocent. I'd give it one star for its sheer tedium but a very youthful Roy and Trigger look terrific and who doesn't like Gabby Hayes? As usual in these old oaters, the horseriding is spectacular. Roy has one love song, while playing the pump organ. The movie inspired me to look up the history of the James gang to find out what they were actually like. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Gene Autry western introducing Leonard Sly (Roy Rogers)
This is one of my favorites to watch over and over. Gene plays a local sheriff who arrests the Okeff brothers for robbing a bus. Many people I know point to this movie as Gene giving Roy Rogers his start. Roy is listed as Leonard Sly, his real name. He appears with Bob Nolan, the song writer for the Sons of The Pioneers, and the rest of the group as the O'keff brothers. The real plot involves Eastern crooks that are looking for a girl who witnessed a shooting. It is a must have for a Roy Rogers or Gene Autry collector. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Interesting as a cultural history of the 1930's
A Great Depression morality tale, wherein the outlaws are really good boys who love their mother, and the capitalists and banker are really black-hearted crooks who prey on the innocent. I'd give it one star for its sheer tedium but a very youthful Roy and Trigger look terrific and who doesn't like Gabby Hayes? As usual in these old oaters, the horseriding is spectacular. Roy has one love song, while playing the pump organ. The movie inspired me to look up the history of the James gang to find out what they were actually like. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Gene Autry Western!!
Gene Autry tries to stop a land dealing swindler selling worthless land until gold is discovered.It's a great western!! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Gene Autry western introducing Leonard Sly (Roy Rogers)
This is one of my favorites to watch over and over. Gene plays a local sheriff who arrests the Okeff brothers for robbing a bus. Many people I know point to this movie as Gene giving Roy Rogers his start. Roy is listed as Leonard Sly, his real name. He appears with Bob Nolan, the song writer for the Sons of The Pioneers, and the rest of the group as the O'keff brothers. The real plot involves Eastern crooks that are looking for a girl who witnessed a shooting. It is a must have for a Roy Rogers or Gene Autry collector. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

BEST show i'd seen in a long time!!!!!!!
I THOUGHT BILLY THE KID WAS A VERY GOOD SHOW IT'S ONE OF THOSE KINDS OF SHOWS WHERE YOUR SAYING " WHAT'S GUNNA HAPPEN NEXT" AND IT GETS YOU ALL EXITED ! ! ! ! ! ! ! I REALLY THOUGHT IT WAS AN EXLENT SHOW ! ! ! ! !

Great Roy Rogers & Smiley Burnette film,songs,music,action
I enjoyed the interaction of the two actors, and Roy playing a duel role was interesting/well done. I appreciate watching Smiley play the different instruments and doing a duet with Roy. Film was well staged and enjoyable. The film had enough action and the musical interludes were placed well, flowed with the action instead of being thrown in. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

BEST show i'd seen in a long time!!!!!!!
I THOUGHT BILLY THE KID WAS A VERY GOOD SHOW IT'S ONE OF THOSE KINDS OF SHOWS WHERE YOUR SAYING " WHAT'S GUNNA HAPPEN NEXT" AND IT GETS YOU ALL EXITED ! ! ! ! ! ! ! I REALLY THOUGHT IT WAS AN EXLENT SHOW ! ! ! ! !

Great Roy Rogers & Smiley Burnette film,songs,music,action
I enjoyed the interaction of the two actors, and Roy playing a duel role was interesting/well done. I appreciate watching Smiley play the different instruments and doing a duet with Roy. Film was well staged and enjoyable. The film had enough action and the musical interludes were placed well, flowed with the action instead of being thrown in. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Be Forewarned
Be forewarned....the very opening of the movie on this DVD has been truncated. The source for these transfers is evidently a program hosted by Roy and Dale in their later years. While I have no problem with the DVD's containing the intros, I did not pay for a movie that is not in its entirety...COMPLETE opening credits and all.

Secondly, the source is not good either. Roan Group did a much better job with their Roy Roger movie transfers.

In spite of being "Authorized by the Roy Rogers Estate"...which made me assume this a safe purchase....these Happy Trails Theatre DVD's are anything BUT high quality. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Still Public Cowboy #1
In this movie, Gene Autry plays Deputy to William Farnum. The show is about a meat packing company who uses trucks, short wave radios and airplanes to rustle cattle. It seems that with all the modern technology, an old fashioned sheriff has a hard time catching these rustlers and a Detective agency from the East is called in, but then thanks to his loyal deputies Gene Autry and Frog Millhouse, the sheriff's department succeeds in capturing the cattle rustlers. This movie has good music, a love story, great comedy from Smiley Burnette and plenty of action. All in all, a great western in the unique style of most Autry Westerns. A Western with automobiles, airplanes and plenty of modern know how. Even though a early movie in the career of Autry, it shows a star at his best!! Highly recommended by this Autry collector, because Gene Autry was considered a Public Cowboy #1 on screen and off, from the beginning of his career to the day he left us on October 3rd, 1998!!

Bad News for Bad Men!
Deputy Gene Autry rides to the rescue when modern rustlers use airplanes, short wave radios, and refrigerator trucks to ply their trade. Cowboys and 1937 technology result in an ersatz era that only exists in Hollywood fiction. Occasional chuckles are a side effect. The leading citizens consider Gene's friend and mentor, old Sheriff Doniphan, outdated. They hire a team of modern detectives. Hot on the trail, the detectives' car is stuck in a stream, and their teargas grenades explode accidentally. Gene and his cowboy pals ride through a teargas fog to bypass this obstacle in pursuit of the crooks. Surrealism abounds. Gene does a fair amount of singing, but lengthy musical numbers are thankfully absent. As comic sidekicks go, Smiley Burnette leaves one yearning for Gabby Hayes. The story includes cliff-hanging action and light humor. The outbursts of violence are bloodless enough to be "G" rated. B movie meister, Joseph Kane, directed this little flick. Nobody made Westerns like Republic. Great Saturday matinee fun. ;-) ... Read more