THE PHANTOM RIDER (1936)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

From the standpoint of all inattentive juvenile serial-watchers in 1936, PHANTOM RIDER was probably more satisfactory than FLASH GORDON. If a kid didn't want to pay that much attention to what was going on, or even be tied down to watching every episode of a chapterplay to keep up with developments, RIDER would be perfect. It would be easy to miss two or three episodes at a time and not really notice any difference. Even if you missed the conclusion of the serial's only memorable cliffhanger, you could probably figure out what happened. In said cliffhanger, the hero and his girlfriend hide from the villains in a closet, but by coincidence the bad guys take it into their heads to hold a markmanship contest by shooting at a wanted poster, which they hang-- on the door of the closet. (Unsurprising spoiler: the good guys save themselves by ducking really low.)

So once again we're in the Old West, and vile villains are trying to drive all the settlers out of a valley because the railroad's planning to buy up all the property from the lucky owners. Delaney, secret head of an outlaw gang, wants to be the only lucky fellow. A state ranger named Buck Grant (Buck Jones) investigates, but for unstated reasons he decides that he'll dress up in an all-white duster, hat and mask and chase down outlaws under the name of the Phantom Rider. As the Rider routs outlaws and they try to uncover his true identity, there's lots of horse-riding, a lot of shooting in which almost no one gets hit, and nearly no fistfights involving either the Rider or his alter ego. In other words, this is the most slackly plotted serial in my experience.

Two elements made RIDER bearable though. In contrast to most serials, there's a consistent romantic subplot between Grant and lady rancher Mary (Marla Shelton). This was a surprise since most serials, particularly western serials, avoid romance like the plague, and so do most B-westerns of the era. The frequent use of romance put me more in mind of a feature film of the period.

RIDER's other plus was an emphasis on oddball comic dialogue. In the serial's most memorable moment, Grant draws on two outlaws and forces them to toss away their guns. Then he tells them it's time for a game called "dog eat dog." What's the game, you ask? Well, not that big a deal: he forces them to take off their trousers, and then he tosses their pantalones up into a high tree. It's not a great scene, but it was diverting.

Still, only for serial completists.