Search - Battling with Buffalo Bill on DVD

EXCELLENT EARLY UNIVERSAL SERIAL!

Richard J. Oravitz | 03/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Congradulations to VCI Entertainment for releasing BATTLING WITH BUFFALO BILL (1931) an early Universal talking serial. The print used is EXCEPTIONAL and makes viewing a wonderful experience.

Tom Tyler is probably the best looking Buffalo Bill ever, complete with long hair, beard and buckskins! The action is fast and furious and serial fans should readily welcome this addition to their dvd libraries.

Jim Rodney played by Francis (director John's brother) Ford is after the gold near Hard Rock and ignites an Indian war to get it. Buffalo Bill, Dave Archer (future cowboy star and lieutenant governor of Nevada, Rex Bell) and John Mills (William Desmond, vetern Western and serial star) are the main good guys thwarting Rodney and his henchmen at every turn. Giving them a hand are stuntman Yakima Canutt as scout Jack Brady and usually bad-guy Ed Cobb as a good townsman. Pretty Lucile Browne (MYSTERY SQUADRON, LAW OF THE WILD) is Dave Archer's sweetheart, needing rescued every now and then, mostly by Buffalo Bill.

On the bad side of things Bud Osborne plays back-shooting Joe Tampas and George Regas plays a character named Breed, not unlike similar characters to appear in future Universal Western serials essayed by George Stevens (Snake-eye in WINNERS OF THE WEST,1940).

All said, this is a fine example of an early all-talking Western serial, a little crude and disjointed, but quite enjoyable and certainly action-packed! You not only get to see the same Indian shot off his horse at least six times during the 12 chapters but even again during the previews for THE OREGON TRAIL (1939), a Johnny Mack Brown serial!!!

This is really a fun time for fans, and again HATS OFF to VCI for releasing a great looking print of BATTLING WITH BUFFALO BILL!...Be sure to buy this one."

"Battling with Buffalo Bill (1931) ... Tom Tyler ... VCI Ent

J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 12/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"VCI Entertainment presents "BATTLING WITH BUFFALO BILL" (1931) (digitally remastered) --- Universal Studios 12 Chapters vintage serial loaded with thrilling drama and high adventure sequences featuring heroes and villains --- Story by Henry MacRae -- Suggested by "The Great West That Was" by William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) --- Tom Tyler as the legendary Bill Cody (complete with long hair, mustache, buckskins, goatee--the whole nine yards) --- Tom battled Indians, badmen, and other pesky menaces on the studio lot for twelve chapters --- Interestingly, the head villain, a gambler out to take possession of a gold mine, was none other than Francis Ford, brother of Tyler's former and future director the great John Ford --- Filmed and released at the beginning of the sound era --- This serial lacked the polish of some of Tyler's later serials, but was a step above "PHANTOM OF THE WEST" (Mascot/1931) --- This would lead to three more serials with Universal --- Tyler was one of the great serial heroes plus one of the cliffhanger's most underrated actors.



Under the production staff:

Ray Taylor - Director

Henry MacRae - Producer

Ella O'Neill - Dialogue

George Plympton - Continuity

Alvin Todd - Film Editor

Chief Thunderbird - Indian Authority

Jack Foley - Synchronization

C. Roy Hunter - Recording Engineer



BIOS:

1. Tom Tyler (aka:Vincent Markowski)

Date of Birth9 August 1903 - Port Henry, New York

Date of Death: 3 May 1954 - Hamtramck, Michigan



2. Lucile Browne

Date of Birth: 18 March 1907 - Memphis, Tennessee

Date of Death: 10 May 1976 - Lexington, Virginia



3. Rex Bell (aka: George Francis Beldam)

Date of Birth: 16 October 1903 - Chicago, Illinois

Date of Death: 4 July 1962 - Las Vegas, Nevada



4. Ray Taylor (Director)

Date of Birth: 1 December 1888 - Perham, Minnesota

Date of Death: 15 February 1952 - Hollywood, California



the cast includes:

Tom Tyler ... William 'Buffalo Bill' Cody

Lucile Browne ... Jane Mills

William Desmond ... John Mills

Rex Bell ... Dave Archer

Francis Ford ... Jim Rodney

George Regas ... 'Breed' Johns

Yakima Canutt ... Scout Jack Brady

Bud Osborne ... Joe Tampas (Henchman)

Joe Bonomo ... Joe Brady

Bobby Nelson ... Ezra Podge

Chief Thunderbird ... Chief Thunder Bird

Jim Thorpe ... Swift Arrow

Bob Burns ... Rider

Fred Burns ... Steve

Edmund Cobb ... Andy

Art Mix ... Henchman Mix



CHAPTER TITLES:

1. Cornered By Redskins

2. Circling Death

3. Between Hostile Tribes

4. The Savage Horde

5. The Fatal Plunge

6. Trapped

7. The Unseen Killer

8. Sentenced To Death

9. The Death Trap

10.A Shot From Ambush

11.The Flaming Death

12.Cheyenne Vengeance



If you're into vintage serials as I am, why not pick up a copy of the following titles from VCI Entertainment:

VCI CLIFFHANGER TRAILERS:

1. Adventures of Red Ryder (Don "Red" Barry)

2. Adventures of the Flying Cadets (Bobby Jordan)

3. Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe)

4. Captain Midnight (Dave O'Brien)

5. Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere (Judd Holdren & I. Stanford Jolley)

6. Dick Tracy's G-Men (Ralph Byrd)

7. Don Winslow of the Navy (Don Terry)

8. Don Winslow of the Coast Guard (Don Terry)

9. Drums of Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon)

10.Fighting Kit Carson (Johnny Mack Brown)

11.Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (Buster Crabbe)

12.The Green Archer (Victory Jory)

13.Jungle Girl (Frances Gifford)

14.Jungle Jim (Grant Withers & Raymond Hatton)

15.Lost City of the Jungle (Russell Hayden & Keye Luke)

16.Mandrake the Magician (Warren Hull & Dick Curtis)

17.Miracle Rider (Tom Mix & Tony Jr)

18.The Painted Stallion (Ray "Crash" Corrigan)

19.The Phantom (Tom Tyler)

20.The Return of Chandu (Bela Lugosi)

21.Riders of Death Valley (Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo & Buck Jones)

22.Secret Agent X-9 (1937) (Scott Kolk & Henry Brandon)

23.Secret Agent X-9 (1945) (Lloyd Bridges & Keye Luke)

24.Sky Raiders (Donald Woods & Billy Halop)

25.Undersea Kingdom (Ray "Crash" Corrigan)

26.Winners of the West (Dick Foran, Harry Woods, Roy Barcroft & Charles Stevens)

27.Zane Greys "King of the Royal Mounted" (Allan "Rocky" Lane)

28.Zorro's Cliffhanger Collection (Reed Hadley, John Carroll & Linda Stirling)



Hats off to VCI Entertainment and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Buck Rainey (author of: The Life and Films of Buck Jones: The Sound Era (Paperback) and Bob Nareau (author of: "The Real" Bob Steele) as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- 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 where there are plenty of copies available on DVD --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out Amazon and VCI where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!



Total Time: 217 mins on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment ~ (12/04/2007)"