Riders of Death Valley

Riders of Death Valley

A MILLION-DOLLAR SUPER SERIAL! With a thousand teeming thrills in 15 exciting chapters!

NR 1941 · 283 min · ★ 6.8 · Action, Western

The Saturday matinee crowd got two cowboy stars for the price of one in this lavishly budgeted western serial starring former singing cowboy Dick Foran and Buck Jones. The latter contributed deadpan humor to the proceedings, making Jones perhaps the highest paid B-western comedy relief in history. The two heroes defend the Death Valley borax miners from an outlaw gang headed by Wolf Reade. An extraordinarily strong cast -- for a serial, at least -- supported the stars, headed by Charles Bickford as Reade, Leo Carillo, Lon Chaney, Jr., and silent screen star Monte Blue. Leading lady Jeanne Kelly later changed her name to Jean Brooks and starred in the atmospheric RKO thriller The Seventh Victim (1943). Universal claimed to have spent $1 million on this serial and made sure to get their money's worth by endlessly recycling the action footage in serials and B-westerns for years to come.

Directed by Ford Beebe · Written by George H. Plympton

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Cast

Dick Foran Jim Benton
Leo Carrillo Pancho Lopez
Buck Jones Tombstone
Charles Bickford Wolf Reade
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams Borax Bill
Lon Chaney Jr. Henchman Butch
Noah Beery Jr. Smokey
Jean Brooks Mary Morgan (as Jeanne Kelly)
James Blaine Joseph Kirby
Monte Blue Rance Davis
Glenn Strange Tex, a Benton Rider
Roy Barcroft Henchman Dirk

Make it a double feature

5h 42m together

Riders of Death Valley

Riders of Black River

Both from Ford Beebe.

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