Product Description

Studio: Gotham (dba Alpha) Release Date: 01/27/2004

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193869 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-01-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 57 minutes

Customer Reviews

"Tom Tyler Series ... Phantom of the Range (1936) ... Poverty Row"
Poverty Row Pictures presents "PHANTOM OF THE RANGE" (28 November 1936) (57 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Tom Tyler was an American actor in silent and sound motion pictures --- He was born Vincent Markowski, into a Polish-American family --- Tyler had a long career in film, stretching from the 1920s to the 1950s, and appeared in many films, most of them westerns such as John Ford's "Stagecoach" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" --- He occasionally took "civilian" roles in feature films (he's the boxing referee in Abbott and Costello's "Buck Privates"), but the biggest part of Tyler's screen career was spent making low-budget B-movie westerns for modest salaries --- Most of his budget westerns were made by Reliable Pictures for producers Bernard B. Ray and Harry S. Webb.

Larger studios cast the athletic Tyler in rugged roles --- In 1940, he was the Mummy "Kharis" in "The Mummy's Hand" --- In the first film adaptation of a comic-strip superhero, Tyler had the title role in the 1941 film serial "The Adventures of Captain Marvel", and starred as one of The Three Mesquiteers in Republic's series of western features.

In 1943, he starred in "The Phantom", based on Lee Falk's famous comic strip --- Tyler personified the role, looking especially striking in the character's familiar costume, and much of the serial's great success was due to Tyler himself. It was Tom Tyler's last major screen role --- One of my favorite serials is "The Phantom of the West" (1930), was billed as the "all talking serial" which is still available through Amazon or VCI Entertainment, great action plus harding riding and fighting scenes with Tom Tyler in the middle and riding in and out of danger.

There is little doubt that Tyler was a shy man most of his life, but he was also a man of inner confidence, willing to take on huge risks within his own abilities over and over again --- Tyler had a tremendous work ethic and enjoyed working hard for what he believed in --- from the weight room to learning his craft in acting --- Tom was a major "B-Western" cowboy star and while simultaneously working as a western hero, he was also a weight-lifting champion --- Tyler was once considered the strongest man in America, he won the national AAU weight-lifting championship in 1928 (he lifted 760 lbs.) and made the 1928 U.S. Olympic team.

Tyler was beset by rheumatoid arthritis in the later part of his career, and was limited to occasional supporting roles. Nearly destitute, he returned to live with his sister in the Detroit area, dying there of heart failure at the age of 50 in 1954 -- (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Under the production staff of:
Robert F. Hill - Director
Basil Dickey - Story and Screenplay
Sam Katzman - Producer
William Hyer - Cinematographer
Charles Henkel Jr - Film Editor
Ed W. Rote - Production Manager

Our story line and plot, A man has died leaving a fortune somewhere on his ranch --- Brandon (Forrest Taylor) and his cohorts think a map is hidden in a picture frame --- But when they bid on the picture at the auction, newcomer Jerry Lane (Tom Tyler) outbids them --- He also buys the ranch so they place their housekeeper there to get the picture --- And then to keep Jerry out of the way, they frame him for murder --- The trail to the treasure twists unexpectedly as the duo is aided by a mysterious (but musical) cockney butler, Eddie (Sammy Cohen) --- A sinister Mexican housekeeper, Perdita (Soldedad Jimenez from the 1930 The Cat Creeps) spies on their every move --- This chuck full of hard riding, fistfights and plenty of action.

the cast includes:
Tom Tyler ... Jerry Lane
Beth Marion ... Jeanne Moore
Sammy Cohen ... Eddie Parsons
Soledad Jiménez ... Perdita, the Housekeeper (as Saledad Jeminez)
Forrest Taylor ... Brandon
Charles King ... Henchman Mark Braden
John Elliott ... Rancher
Richard Cramer ... Sheriff (as Dick Cramer)
Victor Adamson ... Employment Office Clerk
Steve Clark ... Henchman
Herman Hack ... Man at auction
Robert F. Hill ... Auctioneer Robert
Clyde McClary ... Deputy
Tex Phelps ... Townsman
Bud Pope ... Rancher Anson
Tiny Sandford ... Jensen

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIO:
1. Tom Tyler (aka Vincent Markowski)
Date of Birth: 9 August 1903 - Port Henry, New York
Date of Death:3 May 1954 - Hamtramck, Michigan

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western double features --- Ask Amazon.Com to carry the volumes as they are not available on Amazon as of yet --- you can order and pick up your copy now from VCI Entertainment

TOM TYLER WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURE
1. Vol 1: Coyote Trails & Feud of the Trail (VCI #7259) (DVD)
2. Vol 2: Roamin' Wild & When A Man Rides Alone (VCI #7276) (DVD)
3. Vol 3: Fighting Hero & Forty-Niners (VCI #7242) (DVD)
4. Vol 5: Terror of the Plains & Tracy Rides (VCI #7355) (DVD)

CLIFFHANGER SERIALS FROM VCI:
1. Battling with Buffalo Bill (1931) (12 Chapter Serial) (VCI #8522) (DVD)
2. The Phantom (1943) (15 Chapter Serial) (VCI #8268) (DVD)

THREE MESQUITEERS WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURE WITH TOM TYLER:
1. Vol 5: Outlaws of Sonora & West of Cimarron (VCI #7290) (DVD)
2. Vol 8 Code of the Outlaw & Oklahoma Renegades (VCI #7330) (DVD)
3. Vol 9 Gauchos of El Dorado & Outlaws of Cherokee Trail (VCI #7332) (DVD)
4. Vol 11: Riders of the Rio Grande & Shadows on the Sage (VCI #7339) (DVD)

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- If you're into the memories of B-Westerns with high drama, this is the one you've been anxiously waiting for --- please stand up and take a bow Western Classics --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 57 min on VHS/DVD ~ Poverty Row Pictures ~ (01/27/2004)

Okay b-movie western from 1936
An old rancher dies with no heirs. There's talk that he buried a fortune `neath the desert brush in them thar hills, but nobody's found it yet, although not for want of trying. When a square-jawed stranger buys the ranch at auction, all heck breaks loose.

The stranger is rancher Jerry Lane, played by the movie's over-the-title star, Tom Tyler. The movie is THE PHANTOM OF THE RANGE, a cheap, quick, Poverty Row production from 1936. The dead man's niece, played by pretty young Beth Marion, motors into town in an old jalopy at about the same time Tyler arrives astride his horse. The time setting, 1936, threw me for a bit, but I guess you could have cowboys mixing with motorists back then. Anyway, setting it in the here and now probably saved the production a bundle on sets, as well as saving them from worrying about making sure phone and electric lines didn't appear onscreen. Rounding out the trio of good guys is Sammy Cohen, a Chicago actor who plays Tyler's Cockney housekeeper. Although Cohen's grasp of a British accent is shaky at best, he does play a couple of obscure dance hall tune - talk sings them - and provides the only music to grace this film.

`Modest' is the keyword for a movie like this, although cheap, tacky, bland, flat, or insipid would work just as well. Tyler makes an okay hero, kind of a cross between Gary Cooper and Randolph Scott, but the plot is weak and the dialogue uninspired. The title-inducing gag - the bad guys have a white-clad cowboy ride across the dead man's land, leading the local rubes to believe the land is haunted - is the first and last good idea this movie has, and it ain't all that good. During the fight scenes, Tyler seems to be a fist-fighting, rather than a gun-slinging cowboy, the sound of a fight crowd is unconvincingly dubbed in. It doesn't help much that you watch this Alpha/Gotham release through a grimy veil of scratches and nicks, flares and sparkles. The print is in deplorable condition, but I have a hunch a movie like THE PHANTOM OF THE RANGE won't be lovingly and expensively restored anytime soon. I gave this movie a generous three stars. I didn't expect much going in, so the possibility I'd be disappointed was practically non-existent. In any event, the next time someone tells you the old movies are better, recommend this one to them as proof that sometimes they are worse, too. More interesting than entertaining.