Ben Turpin (Henry, the hired hand), Bob Custer (John Sheldon), Lucille Browne (Alice Ingram), Lafe McKee (Ingram), Richard Cramer (Nolan), Ernie Adams (Raymond), Edmund Cobb (Luker), Charles "Slim" Whitaker (Mack), Jack Rockwell (Sheriff), Dick Alexander (Salters), George Chesebro (ranch hand), Silver Tip Baker, Hank Bell, Dick Botiller, Charles Brinley, Ralph Bucko, Roy Bucko, Yakima Canutt, Horace B. Carpenter, Art Dillard, Augie Gomez, Herman Hack, Bud McClure, Merrill McCormick, Art Mix, Buck Morgan, George Morrell, Bud Pope, Glenn Strange, Jack Tomek, Lloyd Whitlock (townsmen), Charles King, Al Taylor, Tracy Layne (henchmen), Wally Wales (Deputy Tom), Bob Reeves (car passenger), Edward Peil, senior (man who gives directions), Bud Osborne (man who lends the horse), Jack Kirk (first deputy), J. Frank Glendon (Bronson), Edward Hearn (spectator), Jack Evans (rancher), Curley Dresden (Bram), Edmund Breese (Doctor Price), Chuck Baldra (cowhand), and "Rex" (a wild stallion), "Rin Tin Tin, junior" (Rinty).
Directors: ARMAND SCHAEFER, BREEZY EASON. Screenplay: Breezy Eason, Sherman L. Lowe. Story: Ford Beebe, Al Martin, John Rathmell. Supervising film editor: Wyndham Gittens. Film editor: Earl Turner. Photography: William Nobles, Ernest Miller. Stunts: Yakima Canutt. Dog trainer: Lee Duncan. Music: Lee Zahler, David Broekman. Assistant directors: George Webster, Louis Germonprez, William Witney. Sound recording: Terry Kellum. Producer: Nat Levine.
Copyright 1 September 1934 by Mascot Pictures Corp. Chapter titles: 1. The Man Killer! 2. The Battle of the Strong. 3. The Cross-Eyed Goony. 4. Avenging Fangs. 5. A Dead Man's Hand. 6. Horse-Thief Justice. 7. The Death Stampede. 8. The Canyon of Calamity. 9. Robbers' Roost. 10. King of the Range. 11. Winner Take All! 12. The Grand Sweepstakes. Each chapter is two reels in length, except the first chapter which has three. Total running time: 225 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A dog-loving cowboy befriends a wild stallion who happens to be rather fast on his hooves. The stallion is stolen by a ranch- hand who enters him in a race. The stallion wins. The ranch-hand is murdered, and our canine fancier of a hero is implicated in the murder by a couple of gamblers who claim to have a legitimate bill of sale for the prizewinning stallion.
COMMENT: A serial that headlines a horse, a dog and Ben Turpin does not augur too happily in the entertainment stakes. True, the fact that it's a Mascot effort and directed by those action specialists, Armand Schaefer and Breezy Eason, rekindles a bit of confidence. The support cast, led by evilly smiling Richard Cramer and willing man- of-all-dirty-work Edmund Cobb, lends a bit of interest too.
However, the story itself is slight. There's no masked mystery man running around, so we don't have to guess his identity and many of the cliffhanger highlights are rather tame (though we must admit that episode seven in which the villain's accomplice, little Ernie Adams, pluckily rescues the heroine is a turn-up for the books).
What's worse, after a slow and uncertain start, Ben Turpin gradually takes over what's left of the horse's and dog's share of the action. Other than a somewhat gruesome ability to cross his eyes, Mr. Turpin displays no comic or personality talents whatever.
Fortunately the villains do come to the serial's rescue from time to time. The best chapters are the first (it has a daring hanger in which our Rex attempts to outrun a speeding express train on a trestle bridge) and the last two which tie the generally lackluster story up on a more interesting plane.
Otherwise, the screenplay tends to be juvenilely repetitive. Still, Mr. Custer makes a fair job of the hero, and Miss Browne (who always knows her lines and can rattle them off at speed) is pretty enough as the girl of his dreams.
Directors: ARMAND SCHAEFER, BREEZY EASON. Screenplay: Breezy Eason, Sherman L. Lowe. Story: Ford Beebe, Al Martin, John Rathmell. Supervising film editor: Wyndham Gittens. Film editor: Earl Turner. Photography: William Nobles, Ernest Miller. Stunts: Yakima Canutt. Dog trainer: Lee Duncan. Music: Lee Zahler, David Broekman. Assistant directors: George Webster, Louis Germonprez, William Witney. Sound recording: Terry Kellum. Producer: Nat Levine.
Copyright 1 September 1934 by Mascot Pictures Corp. Chapter titles: 1. The Man Killer! 2. The Battle of the Strong. 3. The Cross-Eyed Goony. 4. Avenging Fangs. 5. A Dead Man's Hand. 6. Horse-Thief Justice. 7. The Death Stampede. 8. The Canyon of Calamity. 9. Robbers' Roost. 10. King of the Range. 11. Winner Take All! 12. The Grand Sweepstakes. Each chapter is two reels in length, except the first chapter which has three. Total running time: 225 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: A dog-loving cowboy befriends a wild stallion who happens to be rather fast on his hooves. The stallion is stolen by a ranch- hand who enters him in a race. The stallion wins. The ranch-hand is murdered, and our canine fancier of a hero is implicated in the murder by a couple of gamblers who claim to have a legitimate bill of sale for the prizewinning stallion.
COMMENT: A serial that headlines a horse, a dog and Ben Turpin does not augur too happily in the entertainment stakes. True, the fact that it's a Mascot effort and directed by those action specialists, Armand Schaefer and Breezy Eason, rekindles a bit of confidence. The support cast, led by evilly smiling Richard Cramer and willing man- of-all-dirty-work Edmund Cobb, lends a bit of interest too.
However, the story itself is slight. There's no masked mystery man running around, so we don't have to guess his identity and many of the cliffhanger highlights are rather tame (though we must admit that episode seven in which the villain's accomplice, little Ernie Adams, pluckily rescues the heroine is a turn-up for the books).
What's worse, after a slow and uncertain start, Ben Turpin gradually takes over what's left of the horse's and dog's share of the action. Other than a somewhat gruesome ability to cross his eyes, Mr. Turpin displays no comic or personality talents whatever.
Fortunately the villains do come to the serial's rescue from time to time. The best chapters are the first (it has a daring hanger in which our Rex attempts to outrun a speeding express train on a trestle bridge) and the last two which tie the generally lackluster story up on a more interesting plane.
Otherwise, the screenplay tends to be juvenilely repetitive. Still, Mr. Custer makes a fair job of the hero, and Miss Browne (who always knows her lines and can rattle them off at speed) is pretty enough as the girl of his dreams.