The Galloping Ghost (1931)

A gambling ring run out of the Mogul Taxi company is intent on fixing college football games. Football star Harold "Red" Grange is a target for the gamblers, whose thugs try to eliminate ... See full summary »

Director:

B. Reeves Eason

Writers:

Helmer Walton Bergman (story), Ford Beebe (story),

Stars:

Harold 'Red' Grange, Dorothy Gulliver, Tom Dugan

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harold 'Red' Grange	...	'Red' Grange
Dorothy Gulliver	...	Barbara Courtland
Tom Dugan	...	Jerry - Stuttering Cabbie
Gwen Lee	...	Irene Courtland
Ralph Bushman	...	'Buddy' Courtland (as Francis X. Bushman Jr.)
Theodore Lorch	...	The Crippled Stranger
Walter Miller	...	George Elton
Edward Hearn	...	Clay College Coach Harlow
Ernie Adams	...	Brady - Henchman (as Ernie S. Adams)
Tom London	...	Mullins - Henchman
Frank Brownlee	...	Tom - Cab Company Dispatcher
Edward Peil Sr.	...	Coach of Baxter Team (as Edward Peil)
Joseph P. Mack	...	Lefty, Henchman (as Joe Mack)
Stepin Fetchit	...	Baxter College Locker Room Attendant
Dick Dickinson	...	Mogul Taxi Clerk-Bribed Foorball Player Byrns [Chs. 6-7, 9]

Storyline

A gambling ring run out of the Mogul Taxi company is intent on fixing college football games. Football star Harold "Red" Grange is a target for the gamblers, whose thugs try to eliminate Grange from playing. Grange's buddy Buddy is himself vulnerable to blackmail, since he has broken team rules by marrying. The crooks use all their wiles to keep Grange and Buddy from leading their team to victory.

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Plot Keywords:

game | football | gambler | college | serial | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Crime | Sport

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1931 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Clay College, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mascot Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

226 min 226 min (12 chapters)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Disney Film Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of "Red Grange" is played by the real life Harold 'Red' Grange who, more than 75 years later, remains one of the most famous names in the history of football. The title of this serial was taken from Grange's famous nickname, "The Galloping Ghost."

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Crazy Credits

At the beginning of each chapter, the name Harold Grange fades out to be replaced by "Red" Grange.

User Reviews

Pretty bad

There are a couple of things about this serial that I really liked. One, the old vehicles and planes. Two, the street scenes of Los Angeles and a couple of scenes from football games in a bygone era.

The story is silly, never in the least convincing. The action is way, way over the top; Grange et al. flail clumsily at each other in every chapter, sometimes several times. And all sorts of horrible things happen to Grange, without him having a smudge on his suit, a scratch on his face, or even a sore knuckle from fighting. The dialog is so stiff that I winced several times. And worst of all is the acting, if it can be called that. Grange was a great football player, by all accounts, for the University of Illinois and in the NFL, but he couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. He and Babe Ruth, another poor actor in movies, should have stuck with sport.

The segues between episodes are narrated, rather than written as in most other serials. And are these segues bad! They begin each chapter after the first. Each episode ends with a villainous laugh by a man who is described as a "cripple." That was actually rather good.

This doesn't leave us with much--except the old cars, planes, trolleys, and the long ago street scenes.