Phantom Empire (Sp)

Buy This Item Phantom Empire (Sp) by Rhino / Wea  Available from Amazon  $9.98  on 8-31-2008     I have just received VCI's new digital tansfer of the wonderful 1930,s serial. It is almost as I remembered seeing the original 12 chapters in my hometown movie theater. The video quality and sound is so much better than the earlier VHS issue. <br />It was so much fun to relive those Saturdays of wonder and adventure. For those who never went to a Saturday matinee, this isan eye opener. The adventure was so far ahesd of it's time. It is truly amazing!! Reader Reviews VCI Entertainment presents "PHANTOM EMPIRE" (23 February 1935) (240 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when the "First Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time --- the Gene Autry series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s --- A classic by anybody's standard --- Combination of Western, Musical, Sci-Fi, Comedy and Adventure --- Truly imaginative --- Gene Autry's first starring vehicle -- It predates Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and all the other sci-fi Serials of the '30s and '40s --- Republic Pictures stuck to the sci-fi theme in most of their cliffhangers through to the end of their existence --- An inside joke appeared in Gene Autry's 1941 feature "Sierra Sue" wherein character actress Dorothy Christy, who plays Queen Tika in this serial, says to Autry "I have the feeling we have met somewhere before, maybe in another world" --- A true must see for film historians and fans of all ages. Under the production staff of: Otto Brower - Director B. Reeves "Breezy" Eason - Director Nat Levine - Producer H. Freedman - Screenwriter Gerald Geraghty - Screen Story / Screenwriter Maurice Geraghty - Screen Story Wallace MacDonald - Screen Story / Screenwriter John Rathmell - Screenwriter / Continuity Armand Schaefer - Supervisor/Manager / Screenwriter William Bradford - Cinematographer Ernest W. Miller - Cinematographer William Noble - Cinematographer William Nobles - Cinematographer Gene Autry - Songwriter Smiley Burnette - Songwriter Jimmy Long - Songwriter Lee Zahler - Composer (Music Score) Earl Turner - Editor Armand Shaeffer - Supervising Producer / Continuity Jack Coyle - Special Effects / Set Designer Mark D'Agostino - Set Designer Ralph M. DeLacey - Set Designer Iris Burns - Costume Designer Terry Kellum - Sound/Sound Designer Howard Lydecker - Special Effects Theodore Lydecker - Special Effects William Witney - First Assistant Director Our story line and plot, The Phantom Empire, starring Gene Autry the Singing Cowboy, was a 12 chapter 1935 Mascot serial that combined the western, musical, and science fiction genres --- This was Gene Autry's first starring role, playing himself as a singing cowboy --- Gene Autry plays a singing cowboy named Gene Autry, who runs Radio Ranch, a dude ranch from which he makes a daily live radio broadcast --- Gene has two kid sidekicks, Frankie Darro and Betsy King Ross, who lead a club, the "Junior Thunder Riders," in which the kids play at being armored knights of an unknown civilization, the mysterious Thunder Riders. The kids, dressing up in capes and water bucket helmets, play at riding "to the rescue!" --- A chance to be real heroes occurs when Betsy, Frankie and Gene are kidnapped by the real Thunder Riders, from the super scientific underground empire of Murania, complete with towering skyscrapers, robots, ray guns, elevators that extend miles from the surface, and an icy, evil blonde Queen, Tika. On the surface, a group of crooks plan to invade Murania and seize its mineral wealth, while in Murania, a group of revolutionaries plot to overthrow Queen Tika ----- some wonderful tunes, UNCLE NOAH'S ARK (Gene Autry) (Chapter 1), THAT SILVER HAIRED DADDY OF MINE (Gene Autry) (Chapter 1), I'M OSCAR, I'M PETE (Gene Autry) (Chapter 2), UNCLE HENRY'S VACATION (Gene Autry) (Chapter 4), I'M GETTING A MOON'S EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD (Gene Autry) (Chapter 8), UNCLE NOAH'S ARK (Gene Autry) (Chapter 12) - - - - - - some Autry fun facts, Gene always preferred his sponsor's product, Wrigley's Doublemint Gum, to smoking. the cast includes Gene Autry ... Gene Autry Frankie Darro ... Frankie Baxter Betsy King Ross ... Betsy Baxter Smiley Burnette ... Oscar (as Lester 'Smiley' Burnett) Dorothy Christy ... Queen Tika Wheeler Oakman ... Argo (Muranian High Chancellor) Charles K. French ... Mal Warner Richmond ... Rab J. Frank Glendon ... Professor Beetson (as Frank Glendon) Peter Potter ... Pete (as William Moore) Edward Peil Sr. ... Cooper (as Edward Piel, Sr.) Jack Carlyle ... Saunders Chuck Baldra ... Deputy Harry Blaeholder ... Fiddle Player, Radio Ranch Band Stanley Blystone ... Gaspar (television operator) Don Brodie ... Radio Technician Bob Burns ... Muranian citizen Fred Burns ... Muranian priest Lane Chandler ... Muranian guard Jim Corey ... Muranian Ray Corrigan ... Thunder Rider Jad Dees ... Guitar Player, Radio Ranch Band Frank Ellis ... Guard leader Henry Hall ... High Priest Aleth Hansen ... Mandolin Player, Radio Ranch Band The Beverly Hillbillies ... Radio Ranch Band Frankie Marvin ... Musician Wally Wales ... Thunder guard Wally West ... Muranian soldier 12 THRILLING CHAPTER TITLES: 1. The Singing Cowboy 2. The Thunder Riders 3. The Lightning Chamber 4. Phantom Broadcast 5. Beneath the Earth 6. Disaster From the Skies 7. From Death to Life 8. Jaws of Jeopardy 9. Prisoners of the Ray 10.The Rebellion 11.A Queen in Chains 12.The End of Murania BIOS: 1. Gene Autry Date of Birth: 29 September 1907 - Near Tioga, Texas Date of Death: 2 October 1998 - Studio City, Los Angeles, California 2. Frankie Darro Date of Birth: 22 December 1917 - Chicago, Illinois Date of Death: 25 December 1976 - Huntington Beach, California 3. Betsy King Ross Date of Birth: 14 March 1921 - St. Paul, Minnesota Date of Death: 4 October 1989 - Los Angeles, California 4. Smiley Burnette (aka: Lester Alvin Burnette) Date of Birth: 18 March 1911 - Summum, Illinois Date of Death: 16 February 1967 - Encino, California Special footnote, Orvon Gene Autry was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television --- Discovered by film producer Nat Levine in 1934, he and Burnette made their film debut for Mascot Pictures Corp. "In Old Santa Fe" as part of a singing cowboy quartet; he was then given the starring role by Levine in 1935 in the 12-part serial "The Phantom Empire" --- Shortly thereafter, Mascot was absorbed by the formation of Republic Pictures Corp. and Autry went along to make a further 44 films up to 1940, all B westerns in which he played under his own name, rode his horse Champion, had Burnette as his regular sidekick and had many opportunities to sing in each film --- Autry became the top Western star at the box-office by 1937, reaching his national peak of popularity from 1940 to 1942. His Gene Autry Flying "A" Ranch Rodeo show debuted in 1940 --- Gene Autry is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one in each of the five categories maintained by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce --- Radio, Films, Recordings, Television and Live Theater. SPECIAL FEATURES: 1.Gene Autry Movie: "Boots and Saddles" 2. Photo Gallery 3. Gene Autry Doe C Doe's "In Old Santa Fe" 4. "To the Rescue: The Story of the Phantom Empire" featurette by Clifford Weimer and narrated by Jonathan Webb 5. The Phantom Empire Trailer 6. VCI Serials Promo 7. Gene Autry Bio By Clifford Weimer Check out a new book from Empire Publishing - "GENE AUTRY WESTERNS" (Hardcover) - by author Boyd Magers, like no other book on Gene Autry --- all of Gene's Mascot, Republic and Columbia westerns included, as well as his half-hour TV Episodes --- each segment contains the release date on each film ... major production credits ... complete cast (including character played) ... all songs included, songwriter and who performed them in the film ... running time of each film ... dates of the filming ... bios on the cast and major players (Smiley, Pat Buttram, Cass County Boys, Herbert J. Yates, directors, leading ladies, songwriters and various heavies, etc.) ... locations that were used ... budgets and negative cost ... stunt people involved ... analysis and synopsis on each film ... notes and comments (including film and cast background info, salaries paid, working titles, etc) ... comments from Gene and many other cast members on each film ... theater exhibitors comments at the time of the films release ...this tribute was written from the heart and it shows. Hats off and thanks to Robert Blair and his staff at VCI Entertainment --- VCI was named in Variety and Hollywood Reporter as the first company to produce and release motion pictures directly to the home marketplace --- order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- VCI are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector -- looking forward to more Nostalgic Collections --- all my heroes have been cowboys! Total Time: 240 min on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment ~ (2/05/2008)

Phantom Empire (Sp) Available from Amazon Price: $9.98 Updated on 8-31-2008.

SPONSORED LINKS