Product Description

his brothers ghost (1945; b&w; 47 minutes): bandits are terrorizing border towns killing ranchers and robbing their homes. Billy carson has been investigating the criminals and learns of a plan to raid his friend andy jones farm. Although they are prepared to take on the gang there is a shootout and andy is killed. With jones out of the way two outlaws are sent to rob his abandoned ranch during the night. When carson catches them in the act he is outnumbered but after the ghost of andy mysteriously appears they make a run for it. Carson and andys "ghost" conspire to scare the bandits out of hiding in this haunting western tale. Starring buster crabbe al "fuzzy" st. John charles king karl hackett archie hall and roy brent. Directed by sam newfield. Screenplay by george milton. shadows of death (1945; b&w; 59 minutes): a gang of crooked gunslingers disrupt a new railroad being built through the village of red rock. Sheriff fuzzy jones who is also the town judge (and barber) sends for help from his friend and former partner billy carson (buster crabbe). Working together fuzzy and carson hunt down the gang and put the town of red rock on the map. Starring buster crabbe al "fuzzy" st. John dona dax charles king karl hackett and archie hall. Directed by sam newfield. Screenplay by fred myton. starring: buster crabbe & al fuzzy st. John directed by : sam newfield dvd details: run time: 106 minutes number of discs: 1 originally released in 1945 black & white no region encoding; for global distribution.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145127 in DVD
• Brand: Alpha Video
• Released on: 2005-04-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Platform: DOS
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .56 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Customer Reviews

Double feature fun for B-Western fans
From 1941 to 1946, Buster Crabbe (FLASH GORDON, BUCK ROGERS) starred in a series of ultra-low budget Westerns for that infamous Poverty Row outfit, PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation). During the first three years, Crabbe's character was called "Billy the Kid"; afterwards he was known as "Billy Carson." Regardless of the name, it was always the same tried-and-true formula: Crabbe played a stalwart sagebrush hero who never failed to help anyone in distress. And he was always aided and abetted by his trusty sidekick, Fuzzy Q. Jones (Al St. John).

While the scripts, settings, and supporting casts repeated themselves with alarming regularity, this series was given a considerable boost by the appealing performances of Crabbe and St. John. Though he was never hailed for his acting ability, Buster Crabbe had such a winning screen presence that it didn't matter if he posed no threat to Spencer Tracy or Paul Muni. He was the sort of easygoing, likable Western hero that audiences could easily root for. Al St. John was one of the funniest Western sidekicks in the business; a talented visual comedian (he had appeared in numerous silent comedies with his uncle, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle), Fuzzy could always "pepper up" a routine script with his lively physical clowning. Together, Crabbe and St. John made a solid team, and their combined talents helped them overcome PRC's severe budgetary limitations.

This Buster Crabbe double feature is a bargain for fans of this series. HIS BROTHER'S GHOST is one of the better entries, with St. John playing his usual role of Fuzzy as well as Fuzzy's brother, Andy. When Andy is killed, Fuzzy steps in as the title character to thwart a bandit gang. SHADOWS OF DEATH is an okay entry that, like so many others, is just an excuse to see the duo in action.

Print quality on both titles is only passable. One of these days I'd love to see a good (if not great) copy of one of the Crabbe/St. John Westerns. As it is, fans will appreciate this two-for-one deal. (Non-fans won't rate this disc as highly as I did...then again, non-fans won't be interested in this disc at all.)

"Buster Crabbe B-Western Series ... Shadows of Death (1945) ... VCI Home Video"
VCI Entertainment and Producers Releasing Corporation present "SHADOWS OF DEATH" (1945) (60 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- relive those thrilling days when Buster Crabbe took us down the dusty trails with hard riding and straight shooting hitting the bull's eye with excitement every time... the Buster Crabbe series of B-Westerns were a staple of Saturday matinees in the 1930s and 1940s ... don't miss any of the Buster Crabbe features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his B-Western adventures.

Under Sam Newfield (Director), Sigmund Neufeld (Producer), Fred K. Myton (Screenwriter), John H. Greenhalgh, Jr.(Cinematographer), Holbrook Todd (Editor) ------ the cast includes Buster Crabbe (Billy Carson), Al St. John (Fuzzy Q. Jones), Dona Dax (Babs Darcy), Charles King (Steve Landreau (gang boss),
Karl Hackett (Dave Hanlely (murder fictim), Eddie Hall (Clay Kincaid), Frank Ellis (Henchman Frisco), John L. Cason (Henchman Butch), Budd Buster (Man getting beard trimmed), Emmett Lynn (Old-timer in bathtub), Bud Osborne (Man getting shave), Wally West (Deputy) . . . . . . our story asks, why is Buster Crabbe being sent to Red Rock and what part does Charles King play in this Poverty Row oater ... Fuzzy St. John holds down three jobs Barber, Justice of the Peace and the town's Marshal ... is Buster horning in on Eddie Hall's romance with Dona Dax, could be ... Fuzzy is a big part of this film's success and holds well under his terrific physical comedy ... Crabbe better watch his step as King is on to him and the missing map ...will our "Our Old Pals" (Buster and Fuzzy) give their fans all the action and excitement they're expecting, well sit back and enjoy this rip roaring B-Western ----- B-Western footnote, actor Al St. John, silent film comic who appeared in dozens of Mack Sennett's early Keystone comedies and would eventually create and star in his own vehicles for other studios. With the advent of sound, he became a character actor in westerns and later the bewhiskered sidekick, also known as Fuzzy Q. Jones in some popular series Fred Scott (Spectrum Pictures/1937-38), Bob Steele/Billy the Kid (PRC Pictures/1940-41), Don "Red" Barry (Republic Pictures/1940-42), Lone Rider wth George Houston (PRC Pictures/1941-42), Lone Rider with Robert Livingston (PRC Pictures/1942-43), Buster Crabbe/Billy the Kid (PRC Pictures/1941-43), Buster Crabbe/Billy Carson (PRC Pictures/1943-46), Lash LaRue (PRC Pictures/1947-52) --- St. John retired from film making in the early '50s, passed away in 1963 from a heart attack while working with the Tommy Scott Wild West show --- check out this and more in a new book "Those Great Cowboy Sidekicks" by David Rothel, available from Amazon and Empire Publishing --- pick up your copy today ----- second B-Western footnote, actor Charles King was among the top five "Best of the Badmen" (according to a new book by Boyd Magers, Bob Nareau and Bobby Copeland) --- King was a big man, but as agile as a cat during his fight scenes with Johnny Mack Brown, Buster Crabbe, Tex Ritter, The Rough Riders and Bob Steele...King appeared in 400 films and 350 were in sound including many cliffhangers --- King was the heavy we loved to hate --- check out this and more in a new book "Best of the Badmen" by Boyd Magers, Bob Nareau and Bobby Copeland, available from Amazon and Empire Publishing --- pick up your copy today --- another great B-Western for Buster Crabbe under the PRC Picture banner, proves to be one of his most exciting performances.

Special footnote, actor Buster Crabbe graduated from the University of Southern California and won the 400 meter freestyle in which he medaled in the 1932 Olympics, went to work for Paramount in "King of the Jungle" (1933), next role was "Tarzan the Fearless (1933), Crabbe returned to Paramount Pictures was featured in Zane Grey Westerns which were well received, then came the roles that made him a household word "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers" at Universal Picture Serials (1936-1940), meanwhile PRC Studios was looking for a leading hero "Billy the Kid" and "Billy Carson" in the 1940's B-Western series and ran its course for six years, later made several televison appearances and appeared in a series "Captain Gallant and the Foreign Legion" (1955-1957).....

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIOS:
1. Buster Crabbe (aka: Clarence Linden Crabbe II)
Birth Date: 2/17/1907 - Oakland California
Died: 4/23/1983 - Scottsdale, Arizona
2. Al "Fuzzy" St. John (aka: Alfred St. John)
Birth Date: 9/10/1893 - Santa Ana, CA
Died: 1/21/1963 - Lyons, Georgia
3. Charles King
Birth Date: 2/21/1895 - Hillsboro, Texas
Died: 5/07/1957 - Hollywood, California (cirrhosis of liver)
4. Sam Newfield (Director)
Date of birth: 6 December 1899 - New York, New York
Date of death: 10 November 1964 - Los Angeles, California

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western double features with Buster Crabbe:

BUSTER CRABBE WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURES:
1. Vol. 1 - Western Cyclone/Sheriff of Sage Valley (1942-43) (VCI #7213) (DVD)
2. Vol. 2 - Fugitive of the Plains/Fuzzy Settles Down (1943-44) (VCI #7299) (DVD)

Ask Amazon.Com to carry the above Buster Crabbe titles
if they are not available as of yet...you can order
and pick up your copy now from VCI Entertainment.

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "Shadows of Death (1945) - Buster Crabbe, the
digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more
high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and
B-Westerns...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment where there
are plenty of copies available on DVD and VHS, stay tuned once again for top
notch action mixed with deadly adventure from the "King of Serials" VCI...just
the way we like 'em

Total Time: 60 min on DVD/VHS ~ VCI Home Video ~ (6/25/2002)

Serviceable film transfers of two very average B-Westerns
This review is for the Alpha Video issued DVD double feature, "My Brother's Ghost" (47:30 minutes) and "Shadow of Death (59:00 minutes)"

The quality of both film transfers here are just serviceable, but not much more than that. Both suffer from the typical loss of highlights in these old films and have the appearance of an old very worn out VHS - you can watch it o.k., just don't expect great quality from this DVD. The sound is often slightly distorted and muffled sounding at times - But, not so bad that it distracts from the movies - you can still hear everything o.k. and it's not a huge problem. Overall, "My Brother's Ghost" is of somewhat better quality than "Shadows of Death" in terms of both picture quality and sound.

Both movies are just average in terms of B-Westerns, not bad, but not anything great either. "My Brother's Ghost" is definitely the better of the two movies. However, Buster Crabbe is a much better actor than the roles he plays in these particular westerns. Still these movies are fun to watch for what they are - not a bad way to spend a rainy day. They certainly don't make 'em like this anymore!