Buddy Roosevelt was a minor western star during the silent era. He became even less of a minor western star in the sound era, and this movie was one of the reasons why. This mind-boggling film is almost totally inept from start to finish--the "acting" is laughable, many scenes are completely out of focus (apparently the cameraman had better things to do than look through his viewfinder) and the sound levels rise up and down like a roller coaster. The "plot" has something to do with an old rancher being harassed by bandits & calling his son to come back and help him, or something like that; the movie is so disjointed it's hard to tell what it actually is about. Roosevelt made a slew of these ultra-cheapos for Superior Pictures, supposedly shot in two days on a budget of $2500 each, of which Roosevelt got $500. He was overpaid.
3 Reviews
From stuntman to stuntman
bkoganbing24 May 2015
Right up until the Sixties westerns were a popular genre. As tastes changed and they became more expensive to make if you wanted to make a good one, they were as numerous as sands on a beach. In fact many a fly by night outfit like Superior Pictures flooded the market in what would become the Red States. Plentiful they were, not necessarily that good.
Buddy Roosevelt who was most assuredly not a Hyde Park or an Oyster Bay Roosevelt was a minor western star in silent films and got even more minor when talkies arrived. He did this film Range Riders for peanuts and at that he was overpaid.
The plot has to do with Roosevelt being sent for by his father to stop the depravity of a gang terrorizing the area. But it's so jumbled and incoherent you'll be lucky if you can sit through the film. The acting is on a grade school level, the players will be folks you've mostly never heard of.
Roosevelt later on was a most minor member of John Ford's stock company. Ford gave him bit parts because I assume Roosevelt fell on hard times. He came from the ranks of stuntmen and to stuntmen he returned for the most part.
Range Riders is as bad as a western can get.
Buddy Roosevelt who was most assuredly not a Hyde Park or an Oyster Bay Roosevelt was a minor western star in silent films and got even more minor when talkies arrived. He did this film Range Riders for peanuts and at that he was overpaid.
The plot has to do with Roosevelt being sent for by his father to stop the depravity of a gang terrorizing the area. But it's so jumbled and incoherent you'll be lucky if you can sit through the film. The acting is on a grade school level, the players will be folks you've mostly never heard of.
Roosevelt later on was a most minor member of John Ford's stock company. Ford gave him bit parts because I assume Roosevelt fell on hard times. He came from the ranks of stuntmen and to stuntmen he returned for the most part.
Range Riders is as bad as a western can get.
Not too bad at all! Make that 6.5!
JohnHowardReid3 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Grapevine offer a double feature DVD of "Range Riders" and "Lightning Range" - both 1934 and both starring Buddy Roosevelt. Lightning Range isn't too bad at all. The girl is Patsy Bellamy (I like her), her dad's executor is Lafe McKee (I like him), and the villain is the hissable Olin Francis (a really mean piece of work). Admittedly, the comedy relief (from Mr Jenks, naturally) is more than a bit wearisome, but Roosevelt himself is both a personable and daring hero (he seems to be doing his own stunts) and Dixon's direction has pace if nothing else and makes effective use of real locations.
Fortunately, Range Riders is even better, although the director is once again Mr. Dixon, this time using his real name, Victor Adamson. The attractive location photography is the work of Byron Baker, the editor is Frances Burroughs and the story is credited to an L.V. Jefferson. In this one, the amiable, well-spoken Buddy plays Dick Sutton, a college boy, who decides to do a Zorro. Barbara Starr who can't act for toffee plays Elsa/Elsie, but she's a reasonably attractive girl, and the rest of the players are not too bad at all. The movie certainly moves fast, and if the editing is a bit scrappy, other credits and production values are well above the usual Dixon line.
Fortunately, Range Riders is even better, although the director is once again Mr. Dixon, this time using his real name, Victor Adamson. The attractive location photography is the work of Byron Baker, the editor is Frances Burroughs and the story is credited to an L.V. Jefferson. In this one, the amiable, well-spoken Buddy plays Dick Sutton, a college boy, who decides to do a Zorro. Barbara Starr who can't act for toffee plays Elsa/Elsie, but she's a reasonably attractive girl, and the rest of the players are not too bad at all. The movie certainly moves fast, and if the editing is a bit scrappy, other credits and production values are well above the usual Dixon line.
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