''The Phantom Rider'' is a 1946 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

from

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 an ...

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 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 ...

. However, his efforts face

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 identitie ...

, secretly directed by the apparently friendly

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 t ...

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 LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fir ...

as Fred Carson, villain secretly sabotaging the reservation to maintain his interests * George J. Lewis as Blue Feather, Sterling's sidekick *

Kenne Duncan Kenne Duncan (February 17, 1903 – February 5, 1972) was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor. Hyped professionally as "The Meanest Man in the Movies," the vast majority of his over 250 appearances on camera were Westerns, but ...

as Ben Brady *

Hal Taliaferro Floyd Taliaferro Alderson (November 13, 1895 – February 10, 1980) was an American film actor who specialized in westerns. After serving in the Great War, he began his career in the era of silent films, when he frequently used the name Wally ...

as Nugget, miner * Chief Thundercloud as Chief Yellow Wolf *

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 ...

as Ceta *

Roy Barcroft Roy Barcroft (born Howard Harold Ravenscroft; September 7, 1902 – November 28, 1969) was an American character actor famous for playing villains in B-Westerns and other genres. From 1937 to 1957, he appeared in more than 300 films for R ...

as The Marshal * Monte Hale as Cass *

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 villa ...

as Keeler

Production

''The Phantom Rider'' was budgeted at $140,207 although the final

negative cost Negative cost is the net expense to produce and shoot a film, excluding such expenditures as distribution and promotion. Low-budget movies, for example ''The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural h ...

was $138,925 (a $1,282, or 0.9%, under spend). It was filmed between 25 July and 22 August 1945. The serial's production number was 1499.

Stunts

*Wayne Burson *Tommy Coats * Fred Graham *

Cliff Lyons Cliff Lyons (born 19 October 1961) is an indigenous Australian former international rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A Clive Churchill Medalllist and two-time Dally M Medallist, he made 309 first-grade appearances wit ...

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 fi ...

*Eddie Parker *Post Park (coach) * Tom Steele (fights) *Duke Taylor (horseback) *

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. ...

(horseback) *Henry Wills (horseback) *Bill Yrigoyen (horseback/fights) *Joe Yrigoyen (horseback/fights)

Special effects

All special effects by the

Lydecker brothers Howard and Theodore Lydecker, always known—and billed—as such, were Howard "Babe" Lydecker (June 8, 1911 – September 26, 1969) and Theodore Lydecker (November 7, 1908 – May 25, 1990), a special effects team primarily working as contract s ...

Release

Theatrical

''The Phantom Riders official release date is 26 January 1946, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. The serial was re-released on 11 October 1954, under the new title ''Ghost Riders of the West'', between the first runs of ''

Man with the Steel Whip ''Man with the Steel Whip'' is a 1954 Republic Western serial film. It uses considerable stock footage from the previous Republic serials "Zorro's Black Whip", "The Painted Stallion" and "Daredevils of the West." Plot Saloon owner Barnett wants ...

'' and ''

Panther Girl of the Kongo ''Panther Girl of the Kongo'' is a 1955 Republic movie serial that contains a great deal of stock footage from the 1941 Republic serial ''Jungle Girl''. This was the penultimate of Republic's 66 serial films. Plot Mad scientist Dr. Morgan wants ...

''.

Chapter titles

# The Avenging Spirit (20min) # Flaming Ambush (13min 20s) # Hoofs of Doom ic(13min 20s) # Murder Masquerade (13min 20s) # Flying Fury (13min 20s) # Blazing Peril (13min 20s) # Gauntlet of Guns (13min 20s) # Behind the Mask (13min 20s) - a re-cap chapter # The Captive Chief (13min 20s) # Beasts at Bay (13min 20s) # The Death House (13min 20s) # The Last Stand (13min 20s) _Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phantom Rider, The 1946 films 1946 Western (genre) films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Republic Pictures film serials Films directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet Films directed by Fred C. Brannon American Western (genre) films 1940s American films