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Product Description

This double-sided DVD contains all 13 chapters and the original theatrical trailer.

Review

"Mystery of the Riverboat", while ending each chapter with a cliffhanger, is more episodic in nature than the usual Universal serial and somewhat similar to Universal's 1934 "Tailspin Tommy" in that aspect as some plot lines are completed as a story within the overall story. Plus, while some serials often contained a title song or motif throughout, this one has six songs scattered around and about performed by either Marion Martin - and we have no idea if she was dubbed or did her own warbling - and former Three Mesquiteer and future head Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd, who did his own. The overly-plotted (for juvenile Saturday matinee audiences to keep up with over a period of 13 weeks) story finds three Louisiana families, the Langtrys, Perrins and Duvals, as co-owners of swamp land in the Louisiana bayou country. Unaware that the property contains rich "nitrolene" deposits, they are considering an offer from speculator Herman Einreich (Ian Wolfe), who is well aware of the secret, having killed the scientist who discovered it and stolen his geological maps and notes. He boards a river boat, "The Morning Glory", heading for Duval's Landing. Others on the boat are the skipper, Captain Ethan Perrin (Oscar O'Shea), his daughter Jenny (Marjory Clements, before somebody decided she didn't know how to spell her own billing name and changed it for her); Steve Langtry (Robert Lowery); Rudolph Toller (Lyle Talbot); Bruno Bloch (Anthony Warde) and Louis Shaber (Joe Devlin) who represent a foreign faction also interested in the land; and a bearded man named Clayton (Arthur Hohl), who is really the disinherited renegade son of the Duvals, Paul Duval, who thinks his brother Jean (Earle Hodgins) has cheated him out of his share of the Duval estate and going home to get even. With the aid of Bastite (Francis McDonald), "Clayton" murders Einreich, steals his maps and almost kills Steve and Jenny, who are saved by Napoleon (Mantan Moreland), ship steward and Steve's friend. The Toller gan --Les Adams, imdb.com

Product details

Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches; 2.93 Ounces
Director ‏ : ‎ Lewis D. Collins, Ray Taylor
Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC
Run time ‏ : ‎ 3 hours and 38 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ March 27, 2007
Actors ‏ : ‎ Robert Lowery, Mantan Moreland, Lyle Talbot, Eddie Quillan, Marion Martin
Studio ‏ : ‎ Hermitage Hill Media
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000NQDN3M
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #387,226 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #19,871 in Mystery & Thrillers (Movies & TV)

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Readsalot

Mantan Moreland is here!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

Searching for "old time" style b/w mysteries on VHS, I am pleased to find this set. The tapes, 2 in package, arrived sooner than expected and were safely wrapped. I'm running this VHS tape on an almost 30-year old player, so I don't know if peculiarities are in the tape on on the player. It's great to see Mantan Moreland again. I have some of his Charlie Chan appearances. He was so talented but rarely showed us all he could do.

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Mae West

Entertaining viewing

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 15, 2019

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This was a gift to someone that enjoys old movies

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

excellent the serial was well acted.well paced and a very good cast.

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B. Daffey

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

A bit of Saturday afternoon matinee nostalgia

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 26, 2016

good shape

A Boatload of Bad Guys in the Louisiana Swamps, Two DVD's

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 20, 2014

"The Mystery of the Riverboat," directed by Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins and released in 1944, has many faults common to Universal's serials of the time, but a good cast and the Louisiana setting help in maintaining interest through its 13 chapters.

The story, written by Ande Lamb, involves swampland near Duval's Landing, where deposits of a high-energy fuel, "Nitrolene," have been discovered by a scientist, Dr. Hartman (Byron Foulger), who signs an agreement with developer Herman Einrich (Ian Wolfe). After getting the map locating the deposits, Einrich has Hartman killed by his henchman, Cassard (Dick Curtis), and departs for Duval's Landing on the riverboat "Morning Glory." The riverboat's captain, Ethan Perrin (Oscar O'Shea) is one of the landowners involved, and a young attorney, Steve Langtry (Robert Lowery) is investigating Einrich's offer for his father's land. But three speculators, Rudolph Toller (Lyle Talbot) and his underlings Bruno Bloch and Louis Schaber (Anthony Warde and Joe Devlin) are on the "Morning Glory" trying to get Einrich's map. They are aided by one of the riverboat's entertainers, singer Celeste Eltree (Marion Martin). There's also a "mystery man" called Clayton (Arthur Hohl) and his Cajun associate, Batiste (Francis MacDonald) who are clearly up to no good. Helping Steve Langtry are the Captain's daughter, Jenny (Marjory Clements), the riverboat's Steward, Napoleon (Mantan Moreland) and entertainer Jug Jenks (Eddie Quillan), the latter two also providing some mostly-restrained comic relief. In a minor role is Jimmie Dodd, future Mouseketeer, who sings a couple songs but otherwise has the good sense to stay out of the plot, which is already bogged down with too many characters.

There aren't as many fist fights and car chases as would be seen in a Republic serial, but the unusual use of musical and other entertainment on the riverboat helps set the mood and pads out the action in the first few chapters, giving the somewhat complicated plot time to unfold. We get the usual supply of stock footage and recycled cliffhangers, some providing amusement for those familiar with Universal's serials. An out-of-control taxi with our hero unconscious inside, crossing several busy streets as it rolls backwards down a steep hill toward the waterfront is less believable in a town in the Louisiana swamps than when it was Seattle in "Don Winslow of the Coast Guard." And when the levee breaks, the citizens of this same town get on their horses to escape before the flood waters rush past the "Red Gulch Saloon," a scene that was not new when used in "Flaming Frontiers" in 1938. Steve Langtry survives unhurt from several cliffhangers without any rational explanation; he's as invincible as the Green Hornet. And yes, we get some footage of the "Black Beauty" in a chapter where Miss Perrin borrows a "hopped-up" car. But none of this seriously affects the plot, which, if often a little weak in logic, moves along without the odd "detours" seen in the later chapters of many Universal serials of the era.

Both of the DVD's currently listed on Amazon were sourced from 16mm reduction prints likely made for non-theatrical purposes such as television. Scratches and dirt flecks are plentiful, many of them seem to be from the negative used to make the copies, a common problem with existing prints of Universal serials, but at least these are not further corrupted with redone titles from later distributors.

The Serial Squadron's edition is now supplied on two single-layer DVD-R discs instead of the "flippie" used when it was sold through Hermitage Hill Media. The image is fairly sharp and has a somewhat less foggy look than VCI's, with good control of black level and contrast, and "matted" to show more of the frame. The opening credits all include the correct MPPDA certificate numbers for the chapters to which they are attached, though these were spliced into the Chapter One credits, with 10281 appearing briefly before and after the correct number, likely done when the reduction prints were made. But while the Serial Squadron's image is a little better than VCI's, their sound processing leaves a lot to be desired. The "hiss" has been effectively removed by filtering the high frequencies, but they also removed the sound of the "Nitrolene" burning in Chapter One, and most of the low frequencies have been cut. The peaked-up mid-range makes the dialogue quite clear, but at the expense of other sounds and with a tinny, echoy "megaphone" quality, which also increases the distortion. A few chapters have a noticeable "gurgle" when the sound is at low levels, likely due to noise blanking. Worse examples exist, but this kind of processing can hardly be considered an improvement, given the effect on the music. The Serial Squadron includes the original theatrical trailer as an "extra" feature, the picture decent enough but the audio is badly distorted, though this time from the film, not the fault of the video transfer.

VCI's edtion, # 7409 is a bare-bones release in their "Vault Classics" series, with no "extra" features and issued on a double-layer DVD-R disc, a type which should work on most modern players, especially if the instruction manual lists "DVD-R DL" and "DVD+R DL" as compatible disc types. The print source is similar to the one used for their VHS release, # 1702, only they replaced all the opening credits with the relatively scratch-free set from Chapter Three, with MPPDA number 10283, not an especially critical issue given the corrupt nature of the reduction prints. The image is slightly too large for the frame, slightly trimming the edges of the opening "recap" text and credits. Otherwise, while a bit murkier, the sharpness is nearly as good as the Serial Squadron's, with most details clear enough, fewer scratches and dirt flecks, and correction of some black level issues seen in the VHS tape. The sound is similar to that of the VHS tape, a little noisy, with some high-frequency "hiss" but the flatter frequency response and lack of processing artifacts make it generally preferable to the Serial Squadron's.

I like the framing and image treatment by the Serial Squadron, and the dialogue is clear in their edition, but since the source prints used for both DVD's were far from pristine I'd rather watch VCI's transfer and hear sound that supports the musical content and is free of "noise reduction" artifacts. But either edition gives a decent representation of the serial, and as with any of them it is best watched with a day or more between the chapters.

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"The King of Serials...VCI Entertainment ~ The Mystery of the Riverboat (1944)"

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 14, 2005

VCI Entertainment and Universal Pictures present "The Mystery of the Riverboat" (1944) (Dolby digitally remastered), with 13 Chapters of vintage serial episodes loaded with action sequences...story line takes us into an adventure on "The Morning Glory" a Riverboat that will survive fires, explosions from a boiler, broken levee with floods, plus shanty boats up and down the Mississippi being run down...who really owns the swamp land in the bayou, is it the Duvals, Langtrys or Perrins, perhaps all three...what is the name of the rich deposits that everyone is fighting over...can Robert Lowery stay out of the Mississippi Mud long enough to get dry and put the pieces together....is there a map involved if so who has it now...the ships steward Mantan Moreland saves the day more than once in the 13 chapters...whenever there's trouble the entertainment by Marion Martin and Jimmy Dodds never seem to falter, the show must go...will the cajun boat people stand for anymore shenanigans...how many more times will Robert Lowery find himself in the water...can Lyle Talbot be the brains behind the cliffhanger episodes searching for "nitrolene" by the way watch for some wonderful character actors from Serials and B-Westerns Dick Curtis, Earle Hodgins, Anthony Warde, Francis McDonald, Eddie Waller and Tom Steele (famous stuntman), these veterans add a nice touch for any series...as usual the Universal stunt people have their work cut out for them....don't leave the theater until the final chapter is over and done with "The Boomerang"....just remember double thrills, chills, mystery and suspense...hitting the bull's eye with excitement...don't miss a single spine thrilling episode..return next week to this local theater for another episode of action and adventure that will keep you thrilled until the next chapter.

Under director's Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins, two of the best in the Serial genre, associate producer Henry MacRae, original story Jack Foley, original story and adaption by Ande Lamb, screenplay by Maurice Tomragel, music score by Hans J. Salter, Frank Skinner, Milton Rosen...the cast include Robert Lowery (Steve Langtry), Eddie Quillan (Jug Jenks), Marion Martin (Celeste Eltree), Marjory Clements (Jenny Perrin), Mantan Moreland (Napoleon), Lyle Talbot (Rudolph Toller), Arthur Hohl (Paul Duval), Francis McDonald (Batiste), Oscar O'Shea (Captain Ethan Perrin), Eddy Waller (Charles Langtry), Anthony Warde (Bruno Bloch), Earle Hodgins (Jean Duval), Dick Curtis (Craig Cassard), Jack Cheatham (Policeman), Jimmie Dodd (Minstrel)...some of Universal's veteran stuntmen are John Daheim (stunt double for Robert Lowery), Carey Loftin (another stunt double for Robert Lowery), Eddie Parker (stunt double for Dick Curtis), Tom Steele (stunt double for Arthur Hohl).....back to the feature as Universal Pictures is always good till the last drop and this serial is no exception...there is a great deal of entertainment here for the cliffhanger fans out there...all courtesy of VCI Entertainment, who in my humble opinion is the best there is in restoring early serials and features.

CHAPTER TITLES:

1. The Tragic Crash

2. The Phantom Killer

3. The Flaming Inferno

4. The Brink of Doom

5. The Highway of Peril

6. The Fatal Plunge

7. Toll of the Storm

8. The Break in the Levee

9. Trapped in the Quicksands

10.Flaming Havoc

11.Electrocuted

12.Risking Death

13.The Boomerang

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. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe)

2. Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Bobby Jordan)

3. Drums of Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon)

4. Jungle Girl (Frances Gifford)

5. The Phantom (Tom Tyler)

6. Zane Greys "King of the Royal Mounted" (Allan "Rocky" Lane)

7. Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke)

8. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don "Red" Barry)

9. Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon)

10.Zorro's Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling)

11.Dick Tracy's G-Men (Ralph Byrd)

12.Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Buster Crabbe)

13.Jungle Jim (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton)

14.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr)

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure then this is the place for all of the above...check out another release from VCI Entertainment and Republic Pictures present "Dick Tracy" (1937) (Dolby digitally remastered), adapted from Chester Gould's famous comic strip with 15 Chapters of vintage serial episodes loaded with action sequences...story line involves a better than average serial....can Dick Tracy survive car and boat chases, airplane death cliffhanger scenes and zeppelin crashes with fisticuffs at every turn...who is the master criminal known as the "Lame One"..can Dick Tracy's brother Gordon be rescued after being kidnapped by the Spider's henchman, as Moloch is preparing a mind altering medical procedure.....get out there as they're going fast, this is the one you've been waiting for.

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "The Mystery of the Riverboat" (1944), the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '30s, '40s & '50s...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure from the "King of Serials" VCI...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 265 mins on 2 VHS ~ VCI Entertainment 1702 ~ (9/27/1990)

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Todd Moore

Another Fine Serial Squadron DVD

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 18, 2007

The Serial Squadron has done it again with this release of the 1944 Universal serial. While the print is not quite as good as their Tailspin Tommy In The Great Air Mystery, it's still the best print of this serial you're likely ever to see and far better than previous VHS versions.

The serial itself is fun and fairly interesting. Mantan Moreland is a highlight of it and Robert Lowry, who went on to play Batman in 1949, is always a fun serial hero to watch.

Both the movie and the DVD are very highly recommended. Here's hoping The Serial Squadron puts out more great DVDs just like this!

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Mystery of the Riverboat (Serial)

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Format	NTSC
Contributor	Arthur Hohl, Anthony Warde, Robert Lowery, Earle Hodgins, Marion Martin, Eddy Waller, Mantan Moreland, Ray Taylor, Marjorie Clements, Francis McDonald, Byron Foulger, Oscar O'Shea, Ian Wolfe, Lewis D. Collins, Eddie Quillan, Lyle Talbot See more
Runtime	3 hours and 38 minutes