Gene Autry is a singing cowboy radio star who performs a daily show at 2:00 at his Radio Ranch, a family vacation resort. He and his band the Radio Riders play songs and perform short western dramas (which, even though the show is broadcast over the radio, they act out as though they could be seen by an audience). Autry's contract stipulates that he must broadcast every day or forfeit the show, in which case he would lose the ranch. A kids' fan club, called the Junior Thunder Riders, led by teenagers Frankie and Betsy, have meetings in a barn and adopt a slogan, "To the rescue!" which they cry out when they jump on their horses. Their name comes from a mythical group of horse riders who might still exist. Autry finds a small figure of a robed rider which is said to be an artifact of "antediluvian Americana" which may be evidence of the myth. Professor Beetson and his men arrive looking for the fabled lost city of Mu which is said to contain fabulous riches. Aware of Autry's contract, and wanting to empty out the ranch so his men can dig for Mu, Beetson kills Baxter, Autry's ranch partner, and frames Autry who goes on the run. Helped by Frankie and Betsy, Autry still manages to do his 2:00 broadcast each day from hiding. As it happens, Mu lies far beneath the Radio Ranch's land, is called Murania by its residents (forced underground thousands of years ago by glaciers) who are ruled by a strict queen, and its riches are huge deposits of radium which the Muranians have used to create wondrous inventions, including boxy (and rather clumsy) robots to perform manual chores. Queen Tika despises the world above and wants to keep Murania hidden at all costs—we see that the Muranians on horseback are the original Thunder Riders of myth, and they still ride when Murania is threatened. Autry is now sought by three parties: the professor and his men, the police, and Queen Tika who worries that the popularity of Radio Ranch will lead to her land being exposed.
The year before the first Flash Gordon serial came this forerunner, an amalgam of adventure, western, fantasy and sci-fi. Oddly, once it gets going, it works. Gene Autry (pictured above left) plays himself, a real-life singing cowboy radio star who would eventually appear in dozens of B-westerns and record many hit songs, including the holiday tunes "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Here Comes Santa Claus." In this, one of his earliest films, acting is not his strongest talent, but I was surprised how appealing he is: he's not bad looking, his persona is one of a likable everyday sort of fellow, and once the fisticuffs get going, he acquits himself nicely (probably with the help of a stunt double), though there are noticeably fewer fistfights here than in the average serial. His delivery occasionally verges on amateurish, with frequent over-enunciating of words and some pacing problems, but some of the other actors have the same problems, especially Dorothy Christy as Queen Tika. She artificially overacts like crazy but is effective once in a while. By far, the strongest actor here is Frankie Darro (as Frankie). Seventeen when he made this film, he was a very busy child actor, having appeared in over twenty movies before his appearance here. He’s handsome, can be both cocky and personable, and is a fine actor. It's said that his small stature (5 foot 3) was an impediment to leading man roles, and he was often cast as a jockey. His co-star, Betsy King Ross (Betsy), pictured with Darro at right, is not nearly as good, but to be fair, she only made three movies; she was better known as a horse riding champion and that talent is put to good use here. I enjoyed the antics of Smiley Burnette and Peter Potter (billed as William Moore) as Oscar and Pete, comic relief band members who wind up joining Autry and the kids in their adventures.
At four hours (12 chapters), this doesn't feel overly long, only getting repetitious in the last few chapters. The adventures take place in varied settings: at the ranch, in the surrounding desert, and in the underground land of Murania, effectively produced mostly with the use of miniatures and matte shots (see left). A form of television is used throughout as a way for Queen Tika to keep track of the outer world in general and Gene Autry in particular, though it's never explained where her dozens of cameras are located. Among the cliffhangers are a literal cliffhanger, a downed plane, and radium ray guns. Though Autry and the Junior Thunder Riders are the central heroes, our sympathies for other characters shift on occasion. The queen is over-the-top evil and wants to have Autry killed until she changes her mind (not due to romantic feelings but out of practicality). Her assistant Lord Argo is secretly fomenting a revolution, and is responsible for saving Autry from the Chamber of Death, but later becomes dangerous to all. (Autry's resurrection is an interesting scene; apparently he actually dies, and when the Reviving Machine brings him back, he spends several seconds babbling nonsensically in the Language of the Dead.) The boxy robots are unintentionally amusing until Oscar and Pete disguise themselves as robots and engage in some slapsticky humor. It’s pretty fun to see the Junior Thunder Riders yell their slogan in unison and take off for a rescue. There are a few songs, including a novelty number about the animals on Noah's Ark. The plotpoint about having to broadcast every day is downright silly, but does provide an occasional deadline that forces Autry to race against the clock. The print on the Alpha DVD I watched is not in great shape, but I have not heard of the existence of a restored print yet. Somewhat primitive but recommended for serials fans. [DVD]
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