Riders of Death Valley
Riders of Death Valley
The Saturday matinee crowd got two cowboy stars for the price of one in this lavishly budgeted western serial starring former singing cowboy Dick Foran and Buck Jones. The latter contributed deadpan humor to the proceedings, making Jones perhaps the highest paid B-western comedy relief in history. The two heroes defend the Death Valley borax miners from an outlaw gang headed by Wolf Reade. An extraordinarily strong cast -- for a serial, at least -- supported the stars, headed by Charles Bickford as Reade, Leo Carillo, Lon Chaney, Jr., and silent screen star Monte Blue. Leading lady Jeanne Kelly later changed her name to Jean Brooks and starred in the atmospheric RKO thriller The Seventh Victim (1943). Universal claimed to have spent $1 million on this serial and made sure to get their money's worth by endlessly recycling the action footage in serials and B-westerns for years to come.
Production Countries
Production Companies
Cast
Leo Carrillo
as Pancho Lopez
Glenn Strange
as Tex, a Benton Rider
Ernie Adams
as Cactus Pete, Prospector [Ch.14]
Ted Adams
as Hank
Lon Chaney Jr.
as Henchman Butch
Bob Burns
as Miner in Saloon
Ivor McFadden
as Bragg
Bud Osborne
as Stagecoach Driver
Buck Jones
as Tombstone
Noah Beery Jr.
as Smokey
Jack Rube Clifford
as Lafe Hogan
Slim Whitaker
as Stable Owner
Jean Brooks
as Mary Morgan (as Jeanne Kelly)
Jack Rockwell
as Henchman Trigger
Frank Austin
as Chuckawalla Charlie Morgan [Ch. 1]
Frank Brownlee
as Slim
Rod Cameron
as Rider
Richard Travis
as Joe Miller
Jim Farley
as Graham
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams
as Borax Bill
Monte Blue
as Rance Davis
Ethan Laidlaw
as Henchman Rusty
Richard Alexander
as Henchman Pete Grump
Dick Foran
as Jim Benton
William Hall
as Dan Gordon [Chs. 1, 8-10]
Edmund Cobb
as Salty
Jack Perrin
as Stage Guard
Charles Bickford
as Wolf Reade
Roy Barcroft
as Henchman Dirk
Don Rowan
as Blake
James Blaine
as Joseph Kirby
