A 12 part serial on DVD
Made in 1935
Starring: Gene Autrey, Frankie Darro
And Betsy King Ross
I’ve been told that Gene Autrey was a pivotal figure in the evolution of what would become Country and Western music. I have to accept that at face value because I don’t know any better. What I can tell you is that he is definitely not an actor.
So here’s the plot. Gene and his buddies have a place called Radio Ranch and, each day, Gene must appear on air to sing a song or lose the contract (and the ranch). A bunch of scientists come along and try to mess things up because beneath the ground where the ranch is situated lies the world’s biggest Radium deposit. Through murder and trickery, they try to keep Gene off the air.
Unknown to all is the existence of the ‘Scientific City Of Murania’ 20 000 feet below the surface. They have lived in secret since the Ice Age and certainly don’t want any cowboy singers stomping around in their dirty boots and dragging surface mud all over their nice clean city. They have the ‘Thunder Riders’ (A bunch of guys in capes and on horseback) to stop any intruders.
And so, as the plot progresses, our geetar playing, Stetson wearing, hero must battle baddies above and robots below – whilst always making it back to the ranch in every episode to sing a song with his musically inclined posse of cowboy friends.
The sound and vision are poor in quality and sometimes it gets less than poor. Noticable pixelisation and relics can be seen (indicating the transfer method of projection and re-recording on to digital video with a cheap camera). The plot (As you have probably surmised) is just ridiculous and the acting woeful.
And now, on to the Robots of Murania: In 1927 the wonderful Metropolis set a new standard in Robot Aesthetics. Fritz Lang blazed a trail of beauty through a jungle of confusion. The makers of The Phantom Empire drive a giant digger on to the trail and quickly veer off the road and bash through the undergrowth to create a path that goes positively nowhere. The robots in this one are so bad that they have to be seen to be believed.
So there you have it: a singing cowboy, advanced technology (that means a guy on horseback with a sword), ridiculous robots, and a good ol’ rootin tootin musical number that you can carry home in your head and sing to mamma as she bakes a fine apple pie.
Those were the days.
It all sounds so awful – and it is. But it has a kind of mesmeric quality that drags you back (or maybe it’s just me) to watch one more episode of this nonsense. Despite all its failings, it still manages to raise a smile from the viewer - and that can’t be all bad…..can it?
Made in 1935
Starring: Gene Autrey, Frankie Darro
And Betsy King Ross
I’ve been told that Gene Autrey was a pivotal figure in the evolution of what would become Country and Western music. I have to accept that at face value because I don’t know any better. What I can tell you is that he is definitely not an actor.
So here’s the plot. Gene and his buddies have a place called Radio Ranch and, each day, Gene must appear on air to sing a song or lose the contract (and the ranch). A bunch of scientists come along and try to mess things up because beneath the ground where the ranch is situated lies the world’s biggest Radium deposit. Through murder and trickery, they try to keep Gene off the air.
Unknown to all is the existence of the ‘Scientific City Of Murania’ 20 000 feet below the surface. They have lived in secret since the Ice Age and certainly don’t want any cowboy singers stomping around in their dirty boots and dragging surface mud all over their nice clean city. They have the ‘Thunder Riders’ (A bunch of guys in capes and on horseback) to stop any intruders.
And so, as the plot progresses, our geetar playing, Stetson wearing, hero must battle baddies above and robots below – whilst always making it back to the ranch in every episode to sing a song with his musically inclined posse of cowboy friends.
The sound and vision are poor in quality and sometimes it gets less than poor. Noticable pixelisation and relics can be seen (indicating the transfer method of projection and re-recording on to digital video with a cheap camera). The plot (As you have probably surmised) is just ridiculous and the acting woeful.
And now, on to the Robots of Murania: In 1927 the wonderful Metropolis set a new standard in Robot Aesthetics. Fritz Lang blazed a trail of beauty through a jungle of confusion. The makers of The Phantom Empire drive a giant digger on to the trail and quickly veer off the road and bash through the undergrowth to create a path that goes positively nowhere. The robots in this one are so bad that they have to be seen to be believed.
So there you have it: a singing cowboy, advanced technology (that means a guy on horseback with a sword), ridiculous robots, and a good ol’ rootin tootin musical number that you can carry home in your head and sing to mamma as she bakes a fine apple pie.
Those were the days.
It all sounds so awful – and it is. But it has a kind of mesmeric quality that drags you back (or maybe it’s just me) to watch one more episode of this nonsense. Despite all its failings, it still manages to raise a smile from the viewer - and that can’t be all bad…..can it?
