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The Phantom Rider (Republic Serial)
''The Phantom Rider'' is a 1946 American Western film serial from Republic Pictures starring Robert Kent and Peggy Stewart. It was later re-released under the new title ''Ghost Riders of the West''. Plot summary Dr Jim Sterling attempts to create a police force on the Big Tree Indian Reservation. However, his efforts face sabotage, secretly directed by the apparently friendly Indian Agent Fred Carson, whose gang is currently able to rob stagecoaches wagons without opposition. In order to defeat his enemies, Sterling adopts the name and costume of the legendary "Phantom Rider". Cast * Robert Kent as Dr Jim Sterling and The Phantom Rider * Peggy Stewart as Doris Shannon, school teacher *LeRoy Mason as Fred Carson, villain secretly sabotaging the reservation to maintain his interests * George J. Lewis as Blue Feather, Sterling's sidekick *Kenne Duncan as Ben Brady *Hal Taliaferro as Nugget, miner * Chief Thundercloud as Chief Yellow Wolf *Tom London as Ceta *Roy Barcroft as The M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spencer Gordon Bennet
Spencer Gordon Bennet (January 5, 1893 – October 8, 1987) was an American film producer and director. Known as the "King of Serial Directors", he directed more film serials than any other director. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bennet first entered show business as a stunt man, when he answered a newspaper ad to jump from the Palisades of the Hudson River while wearing a suit for the serial film ''Hurricane Hutch'' (1921). The gig at that time paid $1 per foot he had to fall. He made his directorial debut in 1921's ''Behold the Man'' but made his serial directorial debut in 1925 with ''Sunken Silver''. He would keep making serials, as well as B-Western features, until the very end of the genre, directing the last two serials made in the United States, ''Blazing the Overland Trail'' (1956) and ''Perils of the Wilderness'' (1956). After the serials ended he directed a handful of features, his final directorial credit being 1965's ''The Bounty Killer'', which was also th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City and a movie ranch in Encino. It was best known for specializing in Westerns, serials, and B films emphasizing mystery and action. Republic was also notable for developing the careers of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. It was also responsible for the financing and distribution of a few A films directed by John Ford during the 1940s and early 1950s and one Shakespeare film, ''Macbeth'' (1948), directed by Orson Welles. Under Herbert J. Yates, Republic was considered a mini-major film studio. Company history Created in 1935 by Herbert J. Yates, a longtime investor in film (having invested in 20th Century Pictures at its founding in 1933) and owner of the film processing laboratory Consolidated Film Industries, Republic was initial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Steele (stuntman)
Tom Steele (born Thomas Skeoch, 12 June 1909 – 30 October 1990) was a stunt man and actor, best remembered for appearing in serials, especially those produced by Republic Pictures, in both capacities. Early life Born in Scotland, he was the son of a construction consulting engineer. Steele came to America with his family at an early age, settling in Northern California. A very skilled horseman, he played polo competitively as a young man and also worked for a time in a steel mill, which was the source of his professional name Tom "Steele." Steele was a student at Stanford University, where he had a football scholarship. Film career At the start of the Depression he relocated to Hollywood to become an actor, and made his film debut in 1930 in the Western '' The Lone Star Ranger''. But soon Steele, relying on his skill as a horseman (he had played polo professionally with the San Mateo Redcoats), changed to stunts for better money and regular work. Despite this he can be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ted Mapes
Ted Mapes (November 25, 1901 – September 9, 1984) was an American character actor, who was also a prolific stuntman and body double. Born on November 25, 1901, in St. Edward, Nebraska, he moved to Los Angeles in his mid-20s, and entered the film industry in 1929, first as a grip, and then as a stuntman and actor. He doubled for many famous actors, including Jimmy Stewart and Gary Cooper. His film and television career spanned forty years, during which time he appeared in hundreds of films and television shows, either as an actor, stuntman or body double. After his career in front of the camera ended in 1969, Mapes became an advocate for animal safety in films, working as an observer on sets for the American Humane Association. Early life Born John Tylor Mapes, he grew up on the farm and ranch owned by his father. In his mid-20s, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he worked for a moving company. When he was on a job taking John Barrymore's effects away from the Samuel Gol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cliff Lyons (actor)
Clifford William Lyons (1 July 1901 - 6 January 1974) was an American film actor, stuntman and second unit director, primarily of Westerns and particularly the films of John Ford and John Wayne. His Hollywood contemporaries were unanimous in describing him as “a driven taskmaster”. Biography Lyons, the son of Garrett Thomas Lyons and Wilhamena Johnson Lyons, was raised on a South Dakota farm, though his family lived for a time in Memphis, Tennessee, where he attended business school. An expert horseman, Lyons gave up the notion of a business career and opted for the rodeo arena instead, touring nationwide and eventually reaching Los Angeles at the age of 21. Accomplished cowboys were in great demand for western films, and Lyons found a home in that genre, working both as a stuntman and an actor. After only a couple of bit parts, he was signed by independent producer Bud Barsky to do seven inexpensive Westerns directed by Paul Hurst, with costar Al Hoxie (the younger brot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Graham (actor)
Fred Graham (October 26, 1908 – October 10, 1979) was an American actor and stuntman who performed in films from the 1930s to the 1970s. Graham was a semiprofessional baseball player. Graham entered the film business in 1928. He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild. He appeared in ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' (1935)."Obituaries". ''Variety''. Nov 7, 1979. 297, 1; Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive. Pg. 98. Via Proquest. He broke his ankle while working as Basil Rathbone's stunt double on ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). Graham coordinated stunts of John Wayne, with whom he made 26 films; Errol Flynn; and Ward Bond. He played small roles in two Alfred Hitchcock films, notably ''Vertigo'', as the Police Officer who falls to his death in its famous opening scene while trying to help James Stewart. He continued working in films until the 1970s. Graham moved to Arizona in 1963. He was in charge of the Arizona Governor's Office for Motion Picture D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Prosser
Hugh Prosser (March 2, 1907 – November 8, 1952) was a Hollywood actor who appeared in over 90 films between 1936 and 1953. A native of Illinois, Prosser was a versatile supporting performer particularly adept at playing unscrupulous villains, but also satisfactory in character roles and the occasional sympathetic part. Also very prolific on early television shows, he played bit parts in some renowned films but excelled both in B-movies and several cliffhanger serials. Prosser was killed in an automobile accident near Gallup, New Mexico at the age of 52. An Associated Press story about his accident gave his age as 46. Selected filmography Film * ''The Millionaire Kid'' (1936) - Henchman (uncredited) * ''Blockade'' (1938) - Minor Role (uncredited) * ''Come On, Leathernecks!'' (1938) - Marine (uncredited) * ''Flying G-Men'' (1939, Serial) - Stokes (uncredited) * ''The Night Riders'' (1939) - Federal Man (uncredited) * ''Bachelor Mother'' (1939) - Merlin's Chauffeur (uncredi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monte Hale
Monte Hale (born Samuel Buren Ely June 8, 1919 – March 29, 2009) was an American B-Western film star and country musician. Biography Sometimes reported to have been born in San Angelo, Texas, Hale was actually born in Ada, Oklahoma but grew up in Shawnee, Oklahoma, attending Washington Grade School and Shawnee High School. (Texas birthplace reportedly sounded better for the movies). After working as a laborer at various jobs in Ada and Enid OK Herod Ely settled in Shawnee and became an evangelist with the Church of God. His oldest son, Buren, was known to use his musical talent during his father's services. The boy had gathered pecans and picked cotton to earn money to buy his first guitar. Soon he was singing and playing the guitar wherever he could find an audience. His parents had divorced and both had remarried with youngest brother Bobby going with his mother. In 1934 16-year-old Buren left home as many boys did during the Depressions. He headed for Houston and found wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom London
Tom London (born Leonard T. Clapman; August 24, 1889 – December 5, 1963) was an American actor who played frequently in B-Westerns. According to ''The Guinness Book of Movie Records'', London is credited with appearing in the most films in the history of Hollywood, according to the 2001 book ''Film Facts'', which says that the performer who played in the most films was "Tom London, who made his first of over 2,000 appearances in '' The Great Train Robbery, 1903''. He used his birth name in films until 1924. Life and career Born in Louisville, Kentucky, London got his start in movies as a props man in Chicago, Illinois. His debut was in 1915 in the Western ''Lone Larry'', performing under his own name. The first film in which he was billed under his new name was ''Winds of Chance'', a World War I film, in which he played "Sgt. Rock". London was a trick rider and roper, and used his trick skills in scores of Westerns. In the silent-film era, he often played villainous roles, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of the position of Indian agent in 1793 under the Second Trade and Intercourse Act (or the Nonintercourse Act). This required land sales by or from Indians to be federally licensed and permitted. The legislation also authorized the president of the United States to "appoint such persons, from time to time, as temporary agents to reside among the Indians," and guide them into acculturation of American society by changing their agricultural practices and domestic activities. Eventually, the U.S. government ceased using the word "temporary" in the Indian agent's job title. History, 1800–1840s From the close of the 18th century to nearly 1869, Congress maintained the position that it was legally responsible for the protection of Indians from no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identities because of the consequences of their actions and to avoid invoking legal and organizational requirements for addressing sabotage. Etymology The English word derives from the French word , meaning to "bungle, botch, wreck or sabotage"; it was originally used to refer to labour disputes, in which workers wearing wooden shoes called interrupted production through different means. A false etymology, popular but incorrect account of the origin of the term's present meaning is the story that poor workers in the Belgian city of Liège would throw a wooden into the machines to disrupt production. One of the first appearances of and in French literature is in the of d'Hautel, edited in 1808. In it the literal definition is to 'make nois ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Reservation
An Indian reservation is an area of land held and governed by a federally recognized Native American tribal nation whose government is accountable to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs and not to the state government in which it is located. Some of the country's 574 federally recognized tribes govern more than one of the 326 Indian reservations in the United States, while some share reservations, and others have no reservation at all. Historical piecemeal land allocations under the Dawes Act facilitated sales to non–Native Americans, resulting in some reservations becoming severely fragmented, with pieces of tribal and privately held land being treated as separate enclaves. This jumble of private and public real estate creates significant administrative, political and legal difficulties. The total area of all reservations is , approximately 2.3% of the total area of the United States and about the size of the state of Idaho. While most reservations are small c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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