Phantom Rider

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Movie
German title Phantom Rider
Gold ducats of the ghost
Original title The Phantom Empire
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1935
length 245 minutes
Rod
Director Otto Brower
B. Reeves Eason
script Nat Levine
production Nat Levine
music Hugo Riesenfeld
camera Ernest Miller
William Nobles
cut Earl Turner
Walter Thompson
occupation

The Phantom Empire is a US -amerikanisches Serial the Mascot Pictures in 12 chapters from 1935 with the country singer Gene Autry in the lead role. It is the first Western - science fiction film of movie history . In 1940, a 71-minute feature film was assembled from the film material under the title Radio Ranch . In West Germany on July 25, 1952, a film compilation was shown under the title Phantom-Reiter , about which no further information is available, but which is presumably identical to Radio Ranch . Another alternative German title is Gold Ducat of the Ghost .

action

Gene Autry runs a radio ranch in Texas with the teenagers Frankie and Betsy Baxter and some cronies . With their country songs broadcast on their own radio station, they attract tourists who can go on vacation to the ranch. Frankie and Betsy run the club the Junior Thunder Riders . They wear fantastic costumes with pot helmets and capes. They named themselves after the mysterious Thunder Riders , who appear all of a sudden and then disappear again without a trace.

Professor Beetson suspects under the Ranch a radium - Mine and tries Autry by a murder accusation (he is said to have killed Father Baxter) to discredit, to exploit undisturbed to the mineral.

20,000 feet below the ranch is the Murania underground realm, ruled by Queen Tika. The Muranians are descendants of the mythical kingdom of Mu and fled the surface of the earth 100,000 years ago to survive underground during the Ice Age. The Muran technique is sophisticated. There are robots and turbo lifts ; Dead can be revived. With the help of Muran television technology , Tika followed the processes on the surface of the earth. She wants to protect her realm and has Autry kidnapped by her Thunder Riders in order to end the unrest on the surface. Tika abhors the superficial surface world with its noise and dangerous sports like car racing. However, Autry is freed by Tika's Chancellor Argo, who is planning a revolt against the Queen. On his escape, Autry reaches Murania's missile chamber and launches a missile that hits Beetson's plane , but he survives.

Autry is captured again by the queen's soldiers, but helps Tika in the fight against Argo, who uses robots and death rays to try not only to overthrow the queen, but also to conquer the world. The death ray destroys Murania, but Autry and some friends who have come to his aid manage to escape the chaos at the last moment. The peace-loving Queen Tika goes under with her kingdom. Autry and his friends succeed in convicting Beetsons as a murderer and Autry plays country music again at the Radio Ranch.

chapter

  1. The Singing Cowboy
  2. The Thunder Riders
  3. The Lighting Chamber
  4. Phantom Broadcast
  5. Beneath the Earth
  6. Disaster from the Skies
  7. From Death to Life
  8. Jaws of Jeopardy
  9. Prisoner of the Ray
  10. The rebellion
  11. A queen in chains
  12. The End of Murania

Related songs by Autry in the serial

  1. Uncle Noah's Ark
  2. That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine
  3. I'm Oscar, I'm Pete
  4. No need to worry
  5. Uncle Henry
  6. I'm Getting a Moon's Eye View of the World
  7. My Cross Eyed Gal
  8. Just come on back

Quotes

"Nobody is dead in Murania until unless we do not wish to revive him."

- Queen Tika

"To the rescue!"

- Motto of the Junior Thunder Riders

criticism

“... The unthinkable, this is where it becomes event! "Phantom Rider" is the first SF western in history, and the film shows everything it has: a stupid plot, an incompetent cast ... a hair-raising logic; Robots that look as if Fritzchen had created them with the help of his stable construction kit, sinister villains, swelling breasts, courageous swordsmen and sword-wielding soldiers who - incidentally - can also use death rays. And everything is meant very seriously. Still: Don't miss it when it runs somewhere! "

- Hahn / Jansen, Lexicon of Science Fiction Films , p. 688

"... From just about every adult critical point of view, it is an atrocious piece of juvenile filmmaking. But, of course, movie serials were never meant to be judged by critical adults. For what makes Citizen Kane great makes serials laughable. On the other hand, for sheer lunacy, innocence and zany charm, there are few serials that can top the "The Phantom Empire" ... "

- Davis, Classic Cliffhangers , p. 115.

Lore

The series is available as a DVD edition. a. in the sampler Television Classics - Classic Sci-Fi TV , which was produced by Millcreek Entertainment in 2010.

Trivia

Dorothy Christy played Stan Laurel's wife in the 1933 comedy Die Wüstensöhne .

See also

literature

  • Chapter: The Phantom Empire , in: Hank Davis: Classic Cliffhangers. Volume 1 1914-1940 , Baltimore, MD (Luminary Press) 2007, pp. 115-118. ISBN 978-1-887664-76-9
  • Entry: Phantom-Reiter , in: Ronald M. Hahn / Volker Jansen: Lexicon of Science Fiction Films. 2000 films from 1902 to today , vol. 2, 7th edition Munich (Heyne) 1997, p. 688. ISBN 3-453-11860-X

Web links