SADDLE ACES OF THE CINEMA

SADDLE ACES OF THE CINEMA. Buck Rainey. A. S. Barnes; 1980.

In this very interesting volume, Rainey looks back at the cowboy heroes of yesteryear, from the silent era to the mid-fifties when television took over from the B movie westerns that proliferated before the "boob tube" became ascendant. The book is much more interesting than I first imagined, because Rainey's prose is quite good and he unearths a lot of interesting information on these mostly forgotten movie stars. The names of Tom Mix and Gene Autry [The Phantom Empire]  and a couple of others may be familiar to the casual reader, and we've also got the likes of Ken Maynard, Hoot Gibson, Rex Bell, Harry Carey [The Vanishing Legion], Buck Jones, Jack Holt [Holt of the Secret Service] and others. Many of these gentlemen went on to successful careers as character actors in westerns, serials and other genres. The book is packed with black and white illustrations, a complete list of each actor's film credits, as well as lots of biographical information. If nothing else the book makes it clear how fleeting fame can be, but each man had many, many devoted fans in their day.

Verdict: For western fans and film enthusiasts. ***. 

MANHATTAN MERRY-GO-ROUND

MANHATTAN MERRY-GO-ROUND (1937). Director: Charles Reisner.

Jerry Hart (Phil Regan) sings in a Manhattan nightclub on a revolving platform or "merry-go-round." His fiancee is Ann Rogers (Ann Dvorak), who is a secretary for a music business. Said business is taken over by hood Tony Gordoni (Leo Carrillo), who wants to sign the temperamental opera diva "Charlizzini" (Tamara Geva) to a recording contract. Gordoni forces Jerry to charm and romance "Charlie" and stay attendant on her even as Ann waits at the altar and is jilted. Will Ann ever forgive Jerry? Phil Regan [We're in the Money] was a handsome and popular crooner of the period who never quite made it in pictures, probably because his contract was with Monogram and Republic and not MGM. But he was "dreamy" looking, had a very nice voice, and was a competent enough actor, being adept and pleasing in Manhattan Merry-Go-Round. Ann Dvorak [Out of the Blue] is completely wasted in this, but Geva manages to be somewhat amusing as the diva, even if you begin to wish someone would shoot her. Regan manages to sing an aria from "Martha" not too shabbily, but the film's musical highlight may be Cab Calloway's rendition of "I Want to Make Rhythm." Other "artists" in the film are singing cowboy Gene Autry [Phantom Empire] and Kay Thompson and Her Girls, who are utterly lacking in distinction. The real Joe DiMaggio has a cameo as himself, but is mistaken for a radio singer and tries to warble a tune. A male supporting character practices hand-kissing with Phil Regan, which prompts some raised eyebrows from lady passersby.

Verdict: Another mediocre Republic musical with some interesting players. **.

THE PHANTOM EMPIRE

Autry with the evil queen

THE PHANTOM EMPIRE (1935) Directors: B. Reeves Eason; Otto Brower.

Gene Autry (radio singer Gene Autry) is host of a radio show with songs and dramatic serials called Radio Ranch, because it is, well, broadcast from a ranch. A group of "archaeologists" headed by Professor Beetson (Frank Glendon) suspect that there's radium on the property adjacent to the ranch, as well as the remains of a lost civilization, and want to get rid of Autry and his gang so they can proceed with their investigations; to this end they frame Autry for the murder of his partner. Frankie (Frankie Darro) and his sister Betsy (Betsy King Ross ), the children of the murdered man, are members of a teen group they call "Junior Thunder Riders" after some mysterious horsemen they encountered only once (who do indeed make a thunderous clamor when they ride); wouldn't you know these horsemen are actually called Thunder Riders in the underground world they come from, Murania, which is enclosed in a vast cavern 25,000 miles below the earth -- that can be reached by a elevator tube! Murania is ruled by a horrible queen Tika (Dorothy Christy), who seems to think her society is so much nicer and more advanced than the surface world, but is constantly ordering her slave-like soldiers put to death and even tries to kill Frankie and Betsy, two children, with a missile! (Better she should kill off the Thunder Riders, who apparently ride through the surface desert periodically and could easily lead people to the hidden entrance to Murania.) In the meantime, Murania's Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman), who is supposed to kill off those who displease the queen in a lightning chamber, actually saves them so they can join his revolution, although he isn't much nicer than the queen.

The feature-length version of Phantom Empire was frequently shown on television when I was a boy and I have to say I didn't like it much even then. One can say it has a loopy charm, but whatever its assets it simply isn't very good. Autry isn't an especially dynamic leading man for an adventure sci-fi serial -- hard to believe that once upon a time he was a tremendous star --  although Christy, who was excellent as Stan Laurel's wife in Sons of the Desert, is at least somewhat forceful as the evil queen. Frankie Darro was always okay in this stuff, but while Betsy is cute, she was really a specialty horse rider and not an actress. The two morons Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) are tiresome. The serial doesn't do much with the whole idea of what should be a fascinating underground city, and a sequence in which a disintegration weapon goes wild isn't very memorable (certainly not like a similar scene in Atlantis, the Lost Continent.) Watching Murania kind of melt is a mild sort of fun, however. Mascot made much, much better serials than this.

Verdict: Everyone should see this once and then completely forget it. **.