The Valley of Vanishing Men (1942)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Spencer Gordon Bennet

Writers:

Harry L. Fraser (original screenplay) &
Lewis Clay (original screenplay) ...

Release Date:

12 December 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Hair-trigger, hair-raising adventure thundering to rib-tickling history!

Plot:

Wild Bill Tolliver and Missouri Benson ride into the territory of New Mexico to search for Bill's father...

Plot Keywords:

Mexican | Mine | Mexico | Missouri | Renegade

Cast

Bill Elliott	...	Wild Bill Tolliver
Slim Summerville	...	Missouri Benson
Carmen Morales	...	Consuelo Ramirez
Kenneth MacDonald	...	Jonathan Kincaid
Jack Ingram	...	Henchman Butler
George Chesebro	...	Henchman Taggart
John Shay	...	Henchman Mullins
Tom London	...	Henchman Slater
Arno Frey	...	Colonel Engler
Lane Chandler	...	Major Stacy Roberts
Roy Barcroft	...	Deputy Jed 'Luke' Lucas

Runtime:

USA:280 min (15 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8151-8152-8153-8154-8155-8156-8157-8158-8159-8160-8161-8162-8163-8164-8165) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The climax (cliff-hanger) for chapter 10, "Death Strikes at Seven", is stock footage from Columbia's Phantom Gold (1938) western, also produced by Larry Darmour Productions.

Wild Bill's Last Columbia Ride

Following the Civil War, Wild Bill Tolliver goes in search of his father, a geologist who has gone missing. He discovers that his father's disappearance is tied in with the activities of Jonathan Kincaid, a renegade who is plotting with aides of Emperor Maximillian to overthrow Benito Juarez from power in Mexico. Teaming up with his buddy, Missouri Benson, Tolliver must help friends such as Consuela Ramirez (who is trying to aid Juarez' cause) and stop Kincaid's army from raiding towns and driving out settlers & putting them in slave labor in Kincaid's gold mine. Simple plot but since its a Spencer Bennet serial you know its loaded with action and this serial is no exception but also look for interesting touches by Bennet added on. Rumor had it that Columbia forced Elliott to do this serial (a genre Elliott did not enjoy) due to his signing a new contract w/ Republic, but this does not give off in another solid Elliott performance. MacDonald gives off his best serial performance as the slick and cunning Kincaid using his stoic delivery to great advantage. Some may find Summerville annoying as the generic comic relief, but his antics managed to grow on me. Morales is hardly used to advantage in the serial. The serial does start off slow & generic in my opinion, but the action hardly lets up after chapter 5 and chapter 14 gives a great cliffhanger (with an excellent resolution). Rating, based on serials, 8.5.