Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More gunsmoke than I've ever seen, November 15, 2005
That's right, there's more gunsmoke per shootout, and there are a lot of them, in this serial than I've ever seen. Looks great. Lots of good riding scenes and there are a lot of wagon chases, too. All those things make for a great western serial. Johnny is younger and more enthusiastic than I've seen him before. I love his gloves. I had a pair almost like them when I was a kid - I slept with them under the pillow the first night. He rescues the gal practically every ten minutes, it seems. Yet at other times, Joyce Compton plays her as one spunky lady. She rides right into the thick of trouble when the man she loves is in danger. And she can saddle a horse, too. No clinging vine, this lady.
Raymond Hatton and Walter Miller really add interest as Johnny's sidekicks. Drinking and gambling are their interests respectively, and they pursue them whenever possible, at least until Johnny has another job for them, which seems to happen whenever they start to drink and gamble. Being a sidekick is a tough job. Harry Woods is not just a bad guy. There is a scene where he emotes to the loss of one of his cohorts - a nice touch. Usually bad guys are just bad guys, you know?
As in a lot of the early westerns, things look real, not slick and Hollywoody as in a lot of later ones. All the buildings are made of logs, in both Red Dog (the rustler hang-out) and Nugget.
I really enjoyed this one. Well worth it.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Johnny Mack Brown B-Western Series ... Rustlers of Red Dog (1935) ... Universal 12 Chapter Serial", September 8, 2005
VCI Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Nat Levine present "Rustlers of Red Dog" (1935) (digitally remastered), 12 Chapters of vintage serial loaded with action sequences -This was the first of four serials that Johnny Mack Brown made for Universal in the 30s...large scale Indian attacks and constant raids by badmen rustlers loaded with non-stop action and boasts a cast of thousands...as always life threatening chapters with overturned wagons and mine explosions....can Johnny Mack, Hatton and Miller stop one of the best B-Western villains, Harry Woods from terrorizing poor helpless Joyce Compton and her gold...some great fisticuffs between Johnny Mack and Woods that keeps a wrangler wanting to jump in and start swinging...B-Western fans keep a look out for old time players Edmund Cobb, Bud Osborne, Iron Eyes Cody and Hal Taliaferro...can't make a good Western without those veterans --- take note of the first four chapters with a great trio "Three Musketeers of the Old West" Brown, Miller and Hatton...there is a great deal of entertainment here for the cliffhanger fans out there.
Under director Louis Friedlander with screenplay by Basil Dickey and Nathaniel Eddy...the cast include a very young Johnny Mack Brown (Jack Wood), Joyce Compton (Mary Lee), Raymond Hatton (Laramie), Walter Miller ("Deacon"), Harry Woods (Rocky - boss & leader), Fred MacKaye (Snakey), William Desmond (Ira Dale - Wagonmaster), Charles K. French (Tom Lee), Lafe Mckee (Bob Lee), Chief Thundercloud (Chief Grey Wolf), Edmund Cobb (Buck the henchman), Jim Thorpe (Chief Scarface)...another great serial provided by Universal Pictures during their heyday in the early '30s...the trio fight their way across the plains and mountains protecting settlers from Indian attacks, rustlers and men on the wrong side of the law...only three courageous men stand in their way and Johnny Mack Brown is leading the pack.
CHAPTER TITLES:
1. Hostile Redskins
2. Flaming Arrows
3. Thundering Hoofs
4. Attack at Dawn
5. Buried Alive
6. Flames of Vengeance
7. Into the Depths
8. Paths of Peril
9. The Snake Strikes
10.Riding Wild
11.The Rustler's Clash
12.Law and Order
SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIOS:
1. Johnny Mack Brown
Birth Date: 9/01/1904 - Dothan, Alabama
Died: 11/14/1974 - Woodland Hills, California (cardiac condition)
Bobby J. Copeland's book on "Johnny Mack Brown: Up Close & Personal" is chuck full of answers to all the questions his fans had from early on...when you went to see him on the big screen, you got exactly what the marquee said...plenty of thrills, adventure and loaded with action...Johnny Mack was a natural for the western, his riding abilities and fight scenes were of the the same caliber as Buck Jones and Bob Steele...Johnny Mack sets the saddle better than Duke Wayne...seems Johnny got better with the more films he made and the scripts were always top notch...he was one of the best-liked people in films, what you saw on the screen is what he really was, a great human being...pickup your copy from Amazon or Empire Publishing both have this in stock.
If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western double features by Johnny Mack Brown:
JOHNNY MACK BROWN WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURES:
Vol. 1 Bad Man from Red Butte/Rawhide Ramgers (VCI#8348
Vol. 2 Raiders of San Joaquin/Law of the Range (VCI #7226)
Vol. 3 Pony Post/Ragtime Cowboy Joe (VCI #7238)
Vol. 4 Branded A Coward/Rogue of the Range (VCI #7244)
Vol. 5 Guns in the Dark/Partner of the Trail (VCI #7260)
Vol. 6 Bar Z Bad Men/Between Men (VCI #7282)
Vol. 7 Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie/Lone Star Trail (VCI#7308)
Vol. 8 Crooked Trail/Boot Hill Brigade (VCI#7309)
If you're into vintage serials as I am, why not pick up a copy of the following titles from VCI Home Video:
VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS:
1. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don "Red" Barry)
2. Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Bobby Jordan)
3. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe)
4. Captain Midnight (Dave O'Brien)
5. Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (Judd Holdren & I. Stanford Jolley)
6. Dick Tracy's G-Men (Ralph Byrd)
7. Don Winslow of the Navy (Don Terry)
8. Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (Don Terry)
9. Drums of Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon)
10.Fighting Kit Carson (Johnny Mack Brown)
11.Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Buster Crabbe)
12.The Green Archer (Victory Jory)
13.Jungle Girl (Frances Gifford)
14.Jungle Jim (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton)
15.The Lost City (Kane Richmond, William Stage Boyd & George Gabby Hayes)
16.Lost City of the Jungle (Russell Hayden & Keye Luke)
17.Mandrake the Magician (Warren Hull & Dick Curtis)
18.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr)
19.The Painted Stallion (Ray "Crash" Corrigan)
20.The Phantom (Tom Tyler)
21.The Return of Chandu (Bela Lugosi)
22.Riders of Death Valley (Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo & Buck Jones)
23.Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon)
24.Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke)
25.Sky Raiders (Donald Woods & Billy Halop)
26.Undersea Kingdom (Ray "Crash" Corrigan)
27.Winners of the West (Dick Foran, Harry Woods, Roy Barcroft & Charles Stevens)
28.Zane Greys "King of the Royal Mounted" (Allan "Rocky" Lane)
29.Zorro's Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling)
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 240 mins on DVD ~ VCI Home Video ~ (6/21/2005)
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DVD ~ Johnny Mack Brown
DVD ~ William Elliott
DVD ~ Bob Baker
DVD ~ Rex Lease
DVD ~ Don 'Red' Barry
