"Mystery Mountain" is a movie serial. This is a very long movie (usually 3.5 to 4 hours in length) that has been split up into chapters (usually 12-15). Each week, the local theater would play one chapter and so viewers needed to come back week after week to see the entire story. Hallmarks of these sorts of films are lots of action, lots of cliffhangers (the episodes usually ended with a scene where it appeared the hero was killed...but is shown miraculously surviving in the next chapter) and not a lot of character development. They're usually fun...and a bit cheesy.
"Mystery Mountain" is a serial from Mascot Pictures...a studio that later merged to create Republic Pictures. It stars Ken Maynard, a big cowboy star of the 1930s who has mostly been forgotten today. Much of this, apparently, is because he was a thoroughly unpleasant person and shortly after achieving stardom, he alienated himself from nearly all the studios...which cut his career short.
The reason I watched the film was because it marks the second appearance by Gene Autry in a movie. However, he only appears at the end of chapter 6 and beginning of chapter 7. Interestingly, his partner in the scenes he's in is Smiley Burnett...the guy who went on to be Gene's sidekick in about half his films. Unfortunately, Gene and Smiley don't do a lot other than race about on a wagon....avoiding the henchmen of 'the Rattler' and accidentally shooting the hero, Ken Williams (Maynard) in the process. Talk about an inauspicious appearance by Autry and Burnett!
As for the story, a hidden villain (a trademark of nearly all the serials) is destroying transportation (mostly trains)...and no one knows why nor who this villain is. What is known is that he's evil and clever and special agent Williams really has his hands full trying to catch him and put his shenanigans to rest.
So is it any good? Well, if you are a die-hard Autry fan, possibly...though his appearance is pretty unexciting. After all, Ken Maynard was the star of the picture! But if you simply compare it to other serials of the day, it's better than average...with some neat stunts, a decent story and decent production values (many serials were done on the cheap...and it shows).
"Mystery Mountain" is a serial from Mascot Pictures...a studio that later merged to create Republic Pictures. It stars Ken Maynard, a big cowboy star of the 1930s who has mostly been forgotten today. Much of this, apparently, is because he was a thoroughly unpleasant person and shortly after achieving stardom, he alienated himself from nearly all the studios...which cut his career short.
The reason I watched the film was because it marks the second appearance by Gene Autry in a movie. However, he only appears at the end of chapter 6 and beginning of chapter 7. Interestingly, his partner in the scenes he's in is Smiley Burnett...the guy who went on to be Gene's sidekick in about half his films. Unfortunately, Gene and Smiley don't do a lot other than race about on a wagon....avoiding the henchmen of 'the Rattler' and accidentally shooting the hero, Ken Williams (Maynard) in the process. Talk about an inauspicious appearance by Autry and Burnett!
As for the story, a hidden villain (a trademark of nearly all the serials) is destroying transportation (mostly trains)...and no one knows why nor who this villain is. What is known is that he's evil and clever and special agent Williams really has his hands full trying to catch him and put his shenanigans to rest.
So is it any good? Well, if you are a die-hard Autry fan, possibly...though his appearance is pretty unexciting. After all, Ken Maynard was the star of the picture! But if you simply compare it to other serials of the day, it's better than average...with some neat stunts, a decent story and decent production values (many serials were done on the cheap...and it shows).