Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1942
The Valley of Vanishing Men
Buy The Valley of Vanishing Men now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'The Valley of Vanishing Men' is a 1942 American Western film serial. It was the 20th of 57 released by Columbia Pictures. Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet, it stars Bill Elliott, Slim Summerville, and Carmen Morales.
Plot
In this serial, Wild Bill Tolliver and Missouri Benson are a pair of adventurers who ride into the vast New Mexico Territory in search of Bill's father, Henry Tolliver, who mysteriously disappeared while prospecting for gold. They soon discover that a ruthless outlaw leader, Jonathan Kincaid, owns an immense mine of gold in which he uses captured Mexican patriots, among others, to work as slaves in the mine. They also learn that Kincaid has joined forces with Colonel Carl Engler, a renegade eastern European soldier, to carry out his cruel intentions. Then Bill and Missouri meet with Consuelo Ramrez, a diligent Mexican agent, who informs them that Bill's father is among the prisoners in the mine. After that, the heroes find themselves in a conflict with the outlaws in the middle of incessant fights, chases and action.
Cast
* Bill Elliott as Wild Bill Tolliver. Bill Elliott starred in three serials at Columbia Pictures, and 'The Valley of Vanishing Men' was his last cliffhanger at that studio or anywhere else. Shortly after making this chapterplay, Elliott signed with Republic Pictures where his contract excluded him from doing any more serial work.
* Slim Summerville as Missouri Benson
* Carmen Morales as Consuelo Ramrez
Production
Writing about the film's atmosphere, Cline says that this serial was a "grim tale...[with a] mood of ominous dread." Missouri was added to the cast because a normal comedy relief character would have not have worked.
Chapter titles
# Trouble in Canyon City
# The Mystery of Ghost Town
# Danger Walks by night
# Hillside Horror
# Guns in the Night
# The Bottomless Well
# The Man in the Gold Mask
# When the Devil Drives
# The Traitor's Shroud
# Death Strikes at Seven
# Satan in the Saddle
# The Mine of Missing Men
# Danger on Dome Rock
# The Door that Has No Key
# Empire's End
Source:
See also
*List of film serials by year
*List of film serials by studio
References
Buy The Valley of Vanishing Men now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1942