B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason Movies

In their first serial effort, newcomers Republic Pictures went with the tried and true: beloved animal trainer Clyde Beatty, who had earlier headlined the Mascot serial The Lost Jungle (1934). It is really Beatty, playing himself, who meets and saves Baru (Manuel King), "The Son of the Jungle," and his sister, Valerie, Goddess of Joba (Elaine Shepard). The latter is held captive by an evil High Priest (Lucien Prival), who has aligned himself with a couple of nasty white traders and a force of winged bat-men. In the 15th and final chapter, "The Prophecy of Gorn," the jungle city of Joba -- High Priest, evil traders, ferocious bat-men and all -- is swallowed up by a gigantic stock footage earthquake. Nat Levine, who had merged his serial empire, Mascot Pictures, into the new Republic, produced with his usual keen sense of economy, and the serial was co-directed by the veteran B. Reeves Eason and former film editor Joseph Kane. Darkest Africa was also released in an edited feature version, Batmen of Africa, and re-issued in 1949 under the new rather cumbersome title King of the Jungleland. The proud owner of a gorilla suit that would see jungle-film duty well into the television era, Ray "Crash" Corrigan appeared both in and out of his suit in this serial, billed, rather modestly, as "Ray Benard." Corrigan was to star in Republic's second serial, Undersea Kingdom (1936). Manuel King, Beatty's young and rather pudgy sidekick, was actually somewhat of a rival who billed himself, probably with some accuracy, as "The World's Youngest Wild Animal Trainer." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Of the many film versions of Alfred Lord Tennyson's narrative poem, 1936's Charge of the Light Brigade has the least relationship to the facts concerning the famous 19th century British military blunder in the Crimea. Reflecting the popularity of 1935's Lives of A Bengal Lancer, the film uses the climactic charge as the culmination of events which begin in British India. Errol Flynn and Patric Knowles are cast as cavalry officers who are also brothers; both love Olivia De Havilland, but it is Knowles who wins out (this should tip us off that the rest of the film is pure fantasy). Indian potentate C. Henry Gordon, angered that the British government has cut off his subsidy, stages a revolt against the English settlements. Ordered on maneuvers, Flynn is unable to bring rescue troops to the besieged fort commanded by De Havilland's father. Gordon supervises the slaughter of every man, woman and child at the fort, then leaves India in the company of his Russian advisors. Flynn and his fellow Light Brigade lancers are then transferred to the Crimea--where, as luck would have it, Gordon is now ensconced with the Russians. Thirsting for revenge, Flynn falsifies an official order so that he and the Light Brigade can battle Gordon and his allies at Balaclava (thus are Britons Lord Cardigan and Lord Ragan, the actual instigators of the doomed charge, exonerated). As passages from the Tennyson poem are superimposed on the action, Flynn leads a suicidal charge against the Russians; he manages to kill the treacherous Gordon before being slain himself. Its dozens of historical inaccuracies aside, The Charge of the Light Brigade is rousing entertainment. Animal lovers be warned, however: several horses were killed during the climactic charge, a fact that compelled Hollywood (under the auspices of the ASPCA) to install safer and more stringent standards concerning the treatment of animals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

On Queen Tika's orders, a lifeless Gene Autry) is brought to Murania's Radium Reviving Room, the queen (Dorothy Christy) hoping that the crooner may disclose the identity of the traitor among her officers. But before the reconstituted Autry can spill the beans, Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman) destroys Murania's main power line and the entire city is thrust into darkness. Escaping Argo's henchmen in the ensuing confusion, our hero battles his way to the surface elevator -- playfully getting slapped on the butt by one of the top-hatted worker robots along the way -- but as chapter seven reaches its conclusion, Autry finds himself cornered once again by Queen Tika's Thunder Guard. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Gene Autry manages to extricate himself from his latest peril, Douglas Fairbanks style, and fights his way to the surface and freedom. Reunited with Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy (Betsy Ross King), Gene realizes that he will never manage to get back to Radio Ranch in time for his daily broadcast. Unless, that is, he hijacks Professor Beetson's (J. Frank Glendon) airplane at gunpoint. But even an airplane isn't fast enough and with Frankie's help, Gene is connected to the radio broadcast via wireless to perform "I'm Getting a Moon's Eye View of the World" for a presumably enraptured listening audience. Our hero finishes the song just as Queen Tika's (Dorothy Christy) interference ray destroys the plane's instruments. The pilot bails out and the rudderless aircraft plummets to earth. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Although the Thunder Riders sever his rope, Gene Autry manages to grab hold of a tree limb, climb to safety and return to Radio Ranch in time to join Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) for a hearty rendition of Burnette's "I'm Oscar; I'm Pete". The Ranch performers then reenact a stage robbery for the listening audience but nasty Professor Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) has tampered with Gene's rifle and the crooner's partner, Baxter, is killed. Accused by Beetson of murder, Gene manages to escape but is followed from the air by the sheriff. Queen Tika of Murania (Dorothy Christy) watches everything on her surface television and orders the Thunder Riders to capture Autry and shoot down the plane carrying the sheriff and stowaways Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy (Betsy Ross King). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Seconds before his automobile crashes over a cliff, Gene Autry is saved by Frankie (Frankie Darro), Betsy (Betsy Ross King) and the Junior Thunder Riders. Still wanted for the murder of his Radio Ranch partner, Gene is forced to broadcast from Frankie's secret laboratory in the barn. Meanwhile, down below in Murania Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) is troubled by the rebellious Lord Argo (Wheeler Oakman), who is eager to blow up Radio Ranch once and for all. Finishing his broadcast with a rendition of "Uncle Henry", Gene manages to escape before Professor Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) and his men break down the door to the laboratory but spilled gunpowder creates an explosion in the getaway tunnel. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In the opening chapter of the Mascot serial The Phantom Empire, a stagecoach is held up for its content -- musical instruments. One of the "outlaws," a bashful young man, removes a fake mustache to address his radio audience: "Yes folks, it's Gene Autry making another raid on your time with his 'Radio Riders,' broadcasting from Radio Ranch." After a rendition of Smiley Burnette's "Uncle Noah's Ark", the airwaves are given over to teenagers Frankie (Frankie Darro) and Betsy Baxter (Betsy Ross King), who relay the story of how they founded the "Thunder Riders' Club" for kids. Out riding in the desert one day, Frankie and Betsy spotted a group of strangely garbed horsemen who seemingly disappeared without a trace. Using old buckets as headgear, the kids' reenact the encounter and invite boys and girls to form their own groups and come visit a real radio show being produced. Unbeknownst to Gene and his radio performers, however, there is radium in them thar hills, and not only that; the ranch may also be situated on top of a secret treasure trove, the underground world of Murania, a "Scientific City" inhabited 100,000 years ago by people fleeing an ice age glacier. Professors Beetson (J. Frank Glendon) and Cooper (Edward Peil, Sr.) are after both the radium and the treasure and the former make a couple of unsuccessful attempts at Autry's life. The villains trace the radium to a place known as The Garden of Life, a development that greatly endangers the lives of the Muranian people 25,000 feet below. Their ruler, Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy), decrees the entrance to the Garden of Life be destroyed for good and the capture of Gene Autry, less the area be overrun by radio fans. Alerted to danger by the sound of the Thunder Riders, Frankie and Betsy discover a lost Gene in the desert. "Say, we have a broadcast at 2 o'clock," the rustic crooner exclaims. "If we miss it, we'll lose our contract!" Climbing down from the Garden of Life plateau, Gene, Frankie and Betsy can only watch as their rope is torn asunder by the Riders. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Despite the deadly radium beam, Frankie Baxter (Frankie Darro) manages to pull the lever that opens the surface entrance to Murania, allowing Gene Autry and sidekicks Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (William Moore) entry to the underground empire. Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy) finally learns of Count Argo's treachery from Gene but the warning comes too late: Argo (Wheeler Oakman) is about to assume control over the entire palace and most of the empire. Knocked unconscious in the ensuing mayhem, Gene lands on a moving conveyor belt and is in grave danger of being incinerated by one of the Muranian worker robots. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

After Rex the Wonder Horse escapes the capture of some evil horse thieves, he teams up with his pal Rinty (a smart German Shepherd) to avoid recapture. ~ All Movie Guide

Its the US Marines against the pirates in this spliced-together adventure serial. The Marines are trying to set up a landing field on a Pacific island. Unfortunately, Halfway Island is the lair of the "Tiger Shark," a modern day pirate, and he is unwilling to share. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the first of two proposed serials for Mascot Pictures, Western hero Ken Maynard goes up against a murderous fiend known as "the Rattler." Wearing a strange disguise consisting of eye glasses, a fake nose, and crepe-hair mustache, the Rattler, aka "the Menace of the Mountain," attempts to control the mountain -- and its hidden gold -- from a secret cave filled with strange electronic gadgets. Maynard is Ken Williams, a young cowboy coming to the aid of Jane Corwin (Verna Hillie), whose railroad worker father (Lafe McKee) was the Rattler's first victim. Just as in a previous Mascot serial, The Hurricane Express (1932), the masked villain of Mystery Mountain uses a seemingly endless supply of rubber masks that enables him to perform his skullduggery disguised as almost every member of the cast. He is finally brought to ground in chapter 12, "The Judgment of Tarzan" ("Tarzan" being Maynard's faithful steed), and is revealed to be supposedly solid citizen Edward Earle. The denouement, of course, was a typical Mascot "cheat," the masked villain having up to that point been played by Edmund Cobb. Maynard, whom Mascot producer Nat Levine had gotten on the cheap at 10,000 dollars a week, proved almost not worth the trouble he created. The difficult star demanded that the serial be filmed at his old stomping grounds, Universal City, and kept changing the script and direction to suit himself. Although Mystery Mountain proved the most successful Mascot serial up to that time, Levine had had enough of the obstinate Maynard and replaced him with newcomer Gene Autry in The Phantom Empire (1935). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Action expert "Breezy" Eason called the shots on this quickie comedy-melodrama. Frank Albertson stars as the publicity man for a Poverty Row studio. Thrown off the lot because of his drunken insolence, the PR man plans a comeback by convincing a foreign director (John Davidson) to film the life story of a notorious gangster. A stickler for realism, the director insists that a genuine gangster be engaged to play the leading role. The publicity man engages the services of a tough-looking bit player (Jose Crespo), only to discover that he's actually hired the crook whose life is about to be immortalized on celluloid! All ends happily when the PR man's renegade production makes a major star out of his sweetheart (June Clyde). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Action specialist B. Reeves Eason cools his jets as director of Behind Jury Doors. William Collier Jr. plays a hotshot reporter assigned to cover the murder trial of a prominent doctor. Once he meets the doc's pretty daughter Helen Chandler, Collier vows to prove the defendant's innocence. Problem is, someone on the jury has been bribed...maybe. Behind Jury Doors was one of the more polished productions to emerge from poverty-row Mayfair Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide