Red Ryder – Volume 7
& 8 (VCI/B-movies)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: B- Main Films: C+
More Red Ryder B-films have arrived from VCI and Volume
7 and 8 offer more of the two actors who played him at this
time. Wild Bill Elliott is on the seventh,
the slightly more natural Allan Lane on the eighth. Though all four films star a young Bobby (Robert) Blake as Little
Beaver, which makes all of these installments feel so odd and unfortunate, the
camera loved Blake and it is with some ironic tragedy he is so good here.
Great Stagecoach Robbery has Ryder trying to
compete with a young man’s glamorous outlaw father as a role model, while
Beaver finds a young girl who may be his match in the energy department
alone. Phantom Of The Plains
(both 1945) offers a visiting British elite who may be as authentic as a
three-dollar bill. Can Ryder and Beaver
expose the counterfeit count from Red’s Aunt?
Rustlers Of Devil’s Canyon (1947) has Ryder returning from The
Spanish-American War (!!!) in time to take on gangs of crooks. Santa Fe Uprising (1946) has Red’s
Aunt being seduced by yet another phony, this time a local leader who may not
be anyone worth following. Has Red ever
considered getting her a dating service?
All are watchable, but the third volume and serial remains our favorite
Red films to date.
The 1.33
X 1 full frame image on both volumes are not bad for their age, all in black
and white, though I actually think the chapters of the serials on both DVDs
actually looks better. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono fares about as well as can be expected, with both aspects
comparing well with past installments. Extras
in V. 7 include a stills gallery that offers lobby cards of the Bs and comic
book covers they appeared on, bios on the two actors who played Red in the Bs,
B-Western VCI DVD promo, Allan “Rocky” Lane promo, and Chapters 3 & 4 of
the original serial with Don “Red” Barry, which VCI offers in its entirety and
we also recommend. Volume 8 offers a
Wild Bill Elliot promo, five actor biographies, the same B-film promo &
stills gallery, and the 5th and 6th chapters of the
original serial. VCI is consistent in
offering good content here and fans can continue to enjoy the cowboy’s
adventures, especially with more extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
