''Riders of Death Valley'' is a 1941 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

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. It was a high budget serial with an all-star cast led by

Dick Foran John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures. Early years Foran was born in Flemington, New Jer ...

and

Buck Jones Buck Jones (born Charles Frederick Gebhart; December 12, 1891 – November 30, 1942) was an American actor, known for his work in many popular Western movies. In his early film appearances, he was credited as Charles Jones. Early life, milita ...

Ford Beebe Ford Beebe (November 26, 1888 – November 26, 1978) was a screenwriter and director. He entered the film business as a writer around 1916 and over the next 60 years wrote and/or directed almost 200 films. He specialized in B-movies – mostly ...

and Ray Taylor directed. It also features Lon Chaney Jr. in a supporting role as a villainous henchman as well as

Noah Beery Jr. Noah Lindsey Beery (August 10, 1913 – November 1, 1994) was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Be ...

Charles Bickford Charles Ambrose Bickford (January 1, 1891 – November 9, 1967) was an American actor known for supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), '' The F ...

Guinn "Big Boy" Williams Guinn Terrell Williams Jr. (April 26, 1899 – June 6, 1962) was an American actor who appeared in memorable westerns such as '' Dodge City'' (1939), ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), and '' The Comancheros'' (1961). He was nicknamed "Big Boy" ...

Monte Blue Gerard Montgomery Blue (January 11, 1887 – February 18, 1963) was an American film actor who began his career as a romantic lead in the silent era; and for decades after the advent of sound, he continued to perform as a supporting player ...

, Roy Barcroft, Richard Alexander and

Glenn Strange George Glenn Strange (August 16, 1899 – September 20, 1973) was an American actor who mostly appeared in Western films and was billed as Glenn Strange. He is best remembered for playing Frankenstein's monster in three Universal films d ...

Plot

The villainous Wolf Reade and his gang set out to discover the location of a lost mine and lay claim to it.

Cast

as Jim Benton, vigilante hero. *

Leo Carrillo Leopoldo Antonio Carrillo (; August 6, 1880 – September 10, 1961), known professionally as Leo Carrillo, was an American actor, vaudevillian, political cartoonist, and conservationist. He was best known for playing Pancho in the television ...

as Pancho Lopez *

as "Tombstone" *

as "Wolf" Reade, villain hired by Kirby and Davis *

as Bill "Borax Bill" *

Lon Chaney, Jr. Creighton Tull Chaney (February10, 1906 – July12, 1973), known by his stage name Lon Chaney Jr., was an American actor known for playing Larry Talbot in the film '' The Wolf Man'' (1941) and its various crossovers, Count Alucard (Dra ...

as Butch, one of Reade's henchmen. *

Noah Beery, Jr. Noah Lindsey Beery (August 10, 1913 – November 1, 1994) was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, ...

as "Smokey" *

Jean Brooks Jean Brooks (born Ruby Matilda Kelly; December 23, 1915November 25, 1963) was an American film actress and singer who appeared in over thirty films. Though she never achieved major stardom in Hollywood, she had several prominent roles in the ea ...

as Mary Morgan * James Blaine as Joseph Kirby, one of the mastermind villains. *

as Rance Davis, the other mastermind villain. *

as "Tex", a Benton Rider. *

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 Re ...

as Dirk, one of Reade's henchmen. *

Jack Rockwell Jack Rockwell Trowbridge (October 6, 1890 – November 10, 1947) was an American film actor who was born in Mexico. He appeared in over 250 movies, mostly Westerns, between 1927 and 1947. Rockwell's older brother was character actor Charles ...

as "Trigger", one of Reade's henchmen. *

Ethan Laidlaw Ethan Allen Laidlaw (November 25, 1899 – May 25, 1963) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 350 films and made more than 500 appearances on television, mainly uncredited in Westerns, between 1923 and 1962. Laidlaw was bor ...

as "Rusty", one of Reade's henchmen. * Richard Alexander as Pete Grump, one of Reade's henchmen.

Production

''Riders of Death Valley'' was Universal's "all-star, high-budget western cliffhanger." It provided a lot of stock footage for later serials.

Stunts

Jack Casey John "Jack" Casey (June 1, 1935 - February 24, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served one four-year term in the New Jersey Senate, where he represented the 7th Legislative District from 1994 to 1998. Casey also served in th ...

* Leroy Johnson *

Gil Perkins Gilbert Vincent Perkins (24 August 1907 – 28 March 1999) was an Australian film and television actor. Early life As a teenager, Perkins was a trackman and an athlete. He ran away from home at a young age and joined the crew of a Norw ...

Ken Terrell Kenneth Jones Terrell (April 29, 1904 – March 8, 1966) was an American western and action film actor and stuntman best known for playing Joe Marcelli in the 1956 film ''Indestructible Man ''Indestructible Man'' is a 1956 American cri ...

doubling George J. Lewis *

Duke York Duke York ( Charles Everest Sinsabaugh; October 17, 1908January 24, 1952), was an American film actor and stuntman who appeared in nearly 160 films between 1932 and 1952. He was also known as Duke Owl. Early years The son of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd ...

Chapter titles

# Death Marks the Trail # The Menacing Herd # The Plunge of Peril # Flaming Fury # The Avalanche of Doom # Blood and Gold # Death Rides the Storm # Descending Doom # Death Holds the Reins # Devouring Flames # The Fatal Blast # Thundering Doom # Bridge of Disaster # A Fight to the Death # The Harvest of Hate _Source:

References

External links

* * 1941 films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films Universal Pictures film serials Films directed by Ford Beebe Films directed by Ray Taylor 1941 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films Films with screenplays by George H. Plympton 1940s American films {{1940s-Western-film-stub