I always like to salute the Best Actor in a movie, no matter how trite or inept that movie might be. In this one, it's a toss between the player who enacts the svelte, vampish Ruth of the first chapter or "White Cloud". I suspect Ruth is played by writer/producer Flora E. Douglas (which makes a certain amount of sense), but as I'm not sure of this, I'll have to give the nod to "White Cloud". Not a handsome horse, true, but what a performer! As for the other cast members, it must be admitted that Miss Mehaffey improves as the plot progresses, and that Buzz Barton proves a bit of a revelation by Chapter Three too. In fact his scenes with "White Cloud" are not only admirably handled but evidence considerable skill.
Robert Frazer makes a more than fair fist of the adventurer and it's also good to see that ever-reliable heavy, Charles King, in the saddle. King's role is so important that in the cliffhanger for Episode Six, it is King rather than the hero who is in peril! That's certainly a switch. Name me one other serial in which the villain is dangling on the edge of instant death at the hanger while the hero is under no threat at all! In a later variation, "White Cloud" figures as the potential victim at the fade-out of Episode Eight.
There's always one undersized apple in the barrel, and in this photoplay, Al Ferguson proves a total loss. He's supposed to play a French Canadian named Jean Gregg. Not only does stolid, loud-mouthed Al consistently mispronounce his own name, half the time he forgets his accent as well!
Moving on to the technical credits, Carl Krusada is one writer who knows the value of a cliché. While his fast-moving plot provides a fair share of serial thrillslike his introduction of a real bear in Chapters Two and Fourhis dialogue is so peppered with trite assertions, even our halfway competent principals are often defeated.
The directors are not exactly good hands at directing dialogue, that's for sure. Unfortunately, although they seem to have eyes for picturesque locations, their handling of action spots often strikes the viewer as equally inept. Some quite daring stuntwork in Chapter Three is blunted by inept camera angles. Other action is often so confusingly staged, it's difficult to follow. Murky photography doesn't help either.
All the same, despite the fact that the whole idea has since been done to death, I like the device of installing a mystery trooper as a masked goodie. Of course his identity will probably come as no surprise, but certainly his playing the organ in Ghost City is a welcomely novel touch.
Robert Frazer makes a more than fair fist of the adventurer and it's also good to see that ever-reliable heavy, Charles King, in the saddle. King's role is so important that in the cliffhanger for Episode Six, it is King rather than the hero who is in peril! That's certainly a switch. Name me one other serial in which the villain is dangling on the edge of instant death at the hanger while the hero is under no threat at all! In a later variation, "White Cloud" figures as the potential victim at the fade-out of Episode Eight.
There's always one undersized apple in the barrel, and in this photoplay, Al Ferguson proves a total loss. He's supposed to play a French Canadian named Jean Gregg. Not only does stolid, loud-mouthed Al consistently mispronounce his own name, half the time he forgets his accent as well!
Moving on to the technical credits, Carl Krusada is one writer who knows the value of a cliché. While his fast-moving plot provides a fair share of serial thrillslike his introduction of a real bear in Chapters Two and Fourhis dialogue is so peppered with trite assertions, even our halfway competent principals are often defeated.
The directors are not exactly good hands at directing dialogue, that's for sure. Unfortunately, although they seem to have eyes for picturesque locations, their handling of action spots often strikes the viewer as equally inept. Some quite daring stuntwork in Chapter Three is blunted by inept camera angles. Other action is often so confusingly staged, it's difficult to follow. Murky photography doesn't help either.
All the same, despite the fact that the whole idea has since been done to death, I like the device of installing a mystery trooper as a masked goodie. Of course his identity will probably come as no surprise, but certainly his playing the organ in Ghost City is a welcomely novel touch.
