The Valley of Vanishing Men
| The Valley of Vanishing Men | |
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| Directed by | Spencer Gordon Bennet |
| Produced by | Larry Darmour |
| Written by |
Harry Fraser Lewis Clay George Gray Original screenplay |
| Starring |
Bill Elliott Slim Summerville Carmen Morales |
| Narrated by | Knox Manning |
| Music by | Lee Zahler |
| Cinematography |
James S. Brown Jr. Black and white |
| Edited by |
Dwight Caldwell Earl Turner |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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15 episodes 280 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Valley of Vanishing Men (1942) was the 20th film serial (of 57) released by Columbia Pictures.
In this serial, Wild Bill Tolliver and Missouri Benson are a pair of adventurers who ride into the vast territory of New Mexico 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 Ramírez, 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.
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.
Source:
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Wikipedia