Riders of Death Valley (1941)

I love this movie so much

Admirable film.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Directors: FORD BEEBE, RAY TAYLOR. Screenplay: George Plympton, Sherman L. Lowe, Basil Dickey, Jack O'Donnell. Story: Oliver Drake. Photography: Jerome Ash and William A. Sickner. Supervising film editor: Saul A. Goodkind. Film editors: Joseph Gluck, Louis Sackin, Alvin Todd. Music director: Charles Previn. Dialogue director: Jacques Jaccard. Stunts: Leroy Johnson. Associate producer: Henry MacRae.Individual chapters copyright on various dates from 6 March 1941 to 21 April 1941 by Universal Pictures Co., Inc. U.S. release: 1 July 1941. Each chapter consists of two reels. Total running time: 283 minutes.Chapter titles: (1) Death Marks the Trail; (2) Menacing Herd; (3) Plunge of Peril; (4) Flaming Fury; (5) Avalanche of Doom; (6) Blood and Gold; (7) Death Rides the Storm; (8) Descending Doom; (9) Death Holds the Reins; (10) Devouring Flames; (11) Fatal Blast; (12) Thundering Doom; (13) The Bridge of Disaster; (14) A Fight to the Death; (15) The Harvest of Hate. SYNOPSIS: An old prospector discovers a lost gold mine which he deeds to his niece, Mary Morgan. Jim Benton and his riders offer to help Mary locate the mine and then work it for their mutual profit. A gang of outlaws in cahoots with two crooked saloon owners have other ideas.COMMENT: Despite assembling a colorful cast headed by two of our favorite cowboy heroes (Dick Foran and Buck Jones), who are pitted against two of the wickedest heavies in the business (Charles Bickford and Chaney Junior), this turns out to be a tame, lack- luster, repetitious serial with slender plot ideas and cumbersome comic relief. It's hard to believe that experienced writers like the five gentlemen credited here were unable to exercise their collective imagination and could come up with nothing more exciting than this disappointing charade. The chapter titles themselves indicate the general poverty of their invention. "Death" figures no less four times, "Doom" three times, and "Flaming/Flames" almost twice! It's particularly sad to see a fine talent like Buck Jones wasted in what amounts to a straw man supporting role with no fiber at all. What's worse, the action often grinds to a halt to allow that classic ham, Leo Carillo, leave to ham away with his phony but totally "unfunny" Mexican impersonation.It's hard to pick out a view-able yet representative chapter. Admittedly, two or three in which the action gets stuck in a mine are particularly boring, but the others plumb the depths of mediocrity and scale no heights at all. Just try the first and the last. They will give you a good idea of the quality of the serial as a whole. The "first million-dollar serial," Universal proudly proclaimed at the time of its initial release. Well, it may have cost a packet in players, extras and locations, but any Mascot effort you name delivers at least ten times the thrills and excitements. True, "Riders" does boast a great theme song. That's just the trouble. The credits promise bags of gold but deliver only a few drops of gloss.

This was my first western serial. I was seven years old in 1941.The thing I remember most was the chapter where Buck Jones knocks off the bad guys with a rifle while riding in a racing stagecoach. Our small town theater held special Saturday matinees that showed a feature, western, cartoon and serial chapter. It was mostly for kids like me.I don't recall too many adults there.This was also the year that my love affair for serials began. When I view it today, I find it has lost a lot of its charm. Charles Bickford and Lon Chaney Jr. made top notch bad guys. The location shooting and score are still exciting, but otherwise ,the fifteen chapters are pretty much standard for a serial that called itself " The million dollar serial". For old times sake, I rate it seven out of ten stars.

With a cast of Western B movie royalty this was billed as "The million dollar serial." Its also an hour long programmer stretched to an ungodly length.Dick Foran, Leo Castillo, Lon Chaney, Noah Beery Jr, Buck Jones and several others are brought together to tell the story of bunch of cowboys fighting to find and maintain a lost gold mine. Its a typical tale thats been told a thousand times before in an hour long movie, only this time its being told in way that lasts five times that. It doesn't need it.To be honest the cast almost makes this worth watching, however the pacing and story line of the first 8 or 9 chapters is what I call the "40 years in the wilderness". Its a long haul where not much really happens. To be certain watching on a chapter by chapter basis this works better than trying to do it in one sitting, but at the same time the rewards beyond the great cast are minimal. Lets face it its just really dull.For western fans or fans of the stars only.

The town of Panamint is being controlled by Kirby and Blake who are trying to drive out all the prospectors so they can obtain all their land, but are opposed by the Riders of Death Valley, a group led by Jim Benton opposed to the oppression caused by Kirby and Blake. An old prospector, Chuckawalla Charlie, leaves one half of a claim on a gold mine, The Lost Aztec, which is richer than any other mine discovered. The mine is shared also with Charlie's niece Mary, who goes searching for the mine (based on Charlie's map) with Jim and the rest of the riders. Blake sends Wolfe Reade and his outlaws to get the map giving the location of the mine, but after Jim, Mary, and the riders find it, Blake & Kirby get Wolfe to sabotage their efforts of getting the lode mined, smeltered, and assayed, while Kirby tries obtains the bank note Jim took out to pay for the work on the mine, while also framing Jim and Tombstone (fellow rider) of the murder of the banker. This "million dollar serial" is just advertising and nowhere near the effort Universal put into Flash Gordon, but for B western fans this serial is a treat. Foran makes a good hero, but I would have rather seen Buck Jones assume his role rather than be regulated to a sidekick. Blaine and Blue are okay as Kirby and Blake, but the screenplay could have just merged the two characters into one. Bickford is great as Wolfe playing the role with a nastiness that should be in every western and serial. The serial seems a bit too involved at times as well. Rating, based on serials, 7.