The Red Rider

The second of Buck Jones' five serials for Universal, and the 23rd of Universal's sound era films, falling between "The Vanishing Shadow" and "Tailspin Tommy." This one is primarily about the efforts of lawman "Red" Davidson(Buck Jones)to save his friend "Silent" Slade (Grant Withers)from being hanged for a crime he didn't commit. It has the usual cliff-hanger endings and is padded far beyond the limits of W.C. Tuttle's original pulp-magazine story, "The Redhead from Sun Dog", in order to get 15 chapters out of what is basically a 60-minute feature-length plot. But, being based on a story by one of the better western writers of the era, it is also filled with fleshed-out characters far from the one-dimension type found in most serials of the time, and not at all in those of the 40's and 50's.

Both Jones and Withers are furnished with love interests---the lovely Marion Shilling as "Marie Maxwell" for Jones, and Margaret La Marr as "Joan McKee" for Withers,whose second-lead (and 2nd-billed)role is close to that, in importance, of the role played by Jones.

As usual, with Universal and (sometimes) Columbia serials, this one is more episodic in nature--- new plot lines get resolved within the basic plot--than those made by Republic. The latter made the best in terms of action, stunts, photography, special effects and over-all "look" of the total serial but, aside from the first and concluding chapter, everything that came in the in-between chapters looked the same.

One of the better Universal western serials with a strong cast. Jones plays a sheriff whose friend played by Grant Withers,is wrongfully framed for murder. Jones lets Withers escape,resigns from his job and goes to assist in finding the real killer .Lots of fast action and plausible cliff hangers. Edmund Cobb is very good as Jones pal. Walter Miller is outstanding as the head heavy. Lew Landers directs.Red Rider is unusual in that it spends much of its time developing the characters. Jones is perfect as the easy going hero.Fifteen chapters of exciting western action.Jones was a well known western star and the Universals showcased his talent.There's a bit of everything here that a serial lover would want.Comedy, drama and most of all,hard riding action is combined to make The Red Rider a most enjoyable chapterplay. Eight stars out of ten.