Excellent, a Must See

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Lane Chandler (Tex Broderick), Blanche Mehaffey (a.k.a. Janet Morgan) (Jean Bennett), J.P. McGowan (Sheriff Jim Porter), Charles "Slim" Whitaker (Bowie Harris), Ben Corbett (Bud McClure), George S. (presumably for Sourdough) "Gabby" Hayes (Cactus Barnes), Tex Palmer (henchman), Herman Hack (barfly).Director: J.P. McGOWAN. Screenplay: Kaye Northrop. Story: J. Wesley Patterson. Photography: James Diamond. Film editor: Charles Henkel. Assistant director: Mack V. Wright. Sound recording: Corson Jowett. Production supervisor: Fred S. Hirsch. Producers: Nathan Hirsch, Fred S.Hirsch.Copyright 7 August 1935 by Empire Film Distributors, Inc. An H. & H. Production. Released by Kinematrade. No New York opening. No recorded U.S. release date. An entry in The Phantom Rider series. 6 reels. 56 minutes. (An Alpha DVD).SYNOPSIS: Wanted for cattle rustling, a fugitive is sheltered and nursed back to health by a sympathetic girl storekeeper, who is being romanced by the local sheriff.COMMENT: A little below the pacily inventive standard we expect of J.P. McGowan, though still of considerable interest, this one was obviously shot in haste (we recognise a few stock shots). The story is slight and the hero - fortunately he is off-camera for more than half the running time - rather limp. But J.P. McGowan is his usual strident self, even though he fails to throw his punches with the wild abandon he usually demanded of others. Miss Mehaffey makes a pretty spunky heroine, Ben Corbett has a small but straight role, and Hayes does an early "Gabby" impersonation, with many of the familiar mannerisms already off pat.

This is the second work of a projected series featuring Lane Chandler. Its direction and script are from J.P. McGowan, who also plays as a sheriff leading a posse in search of Tex Broderick (Chandler), a wrongly accused man, as well as a rival for Broderick's girl friend. This lady is billed as Janet Morgan, but in reality is erstwhile silent film star Blanche Mahaffey, making a comeback in sound pictures. Although Broderick is not guilty of any of the crimes for which he is accused, in fact is believed to be a much sought-after masked bandit, his ongoing persona as a robber, wanted for cattle rustling (from his own herd!) is not enough to avoid a discontinuance of what proved to be a lacklustre film series, the first of which entitled THE LONE BANDIT, was also helm ed by McGowan. Morgan, owner of a general store, gives shelter there to Broderick, wherein the latter is able to hide from the obstinate sheriff and his posse. She also gives sanctuary to an old gold prospector, performed by mushmouthed George "Gabby" Hayes, false teeth and all. Erstwhile Silent Era Wampas baby star Mahaffey is easily the most skilled player in evidence and her scenes stand out. There is a prevalence of stock shots for what is one of the least successful Alpha Video releases, one wherein are featured undue repetition of scenes. However, there is as well a solid performance from director McGowan, whose great popularity in his native Australia has remained great for years. During the late 1930s, Paramount Studios matched Chandler against another young Paramout contract player, Gary Cooper, and the latter was the Studio selection for further development. However, if luck had favoured Lane Chandler, who had good looks, and adequate charisma, as can be seen in this film, the latter may well have received Paramount's star treatment. Although flatly handled, the film is mildly interesting, a good deal of its appeal being to hard-core devotees of the Western genre, as well as for a large contingent of J.P. McGowan fans who will possibly enjoy his performance as a redoubtable sheriff attempting to corral Broderick.