Fighting With Kit
Carson (1933 Western Serial)
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C Chapters: C+
Johnny “Mack” Brown found his early success in Western
serials at Mascot, and Fighting With Kit Carson (1933) is one of
them. It may not be as exciting or
interesting as the Nat Levine-produced Three Musketeers with John Wayne
from the same studio in the same year, but it is the kind of serial that was
part of the development of the form.
Carson survives the daring robbery of a government gold shipment, one
that nearly kills him. He turns around
for revenge and to finish the delivery by finding where the stolen goods are,
even if he has to get The Mystery Riders to help.
The problem is that hey too are outlaws, but it takes one
to know one, though the villains intend to throw a twist into the proceedings
by recruiting native Americans to fight Carson’s group and any other “white
men” that get in the way. Carson is
even framed! The manipulations are
interesting and help the cliffhangers to be more effective. Though the “Indians” date this quite a bit,
this moves well for its age. The
chapter are:
1) The
Mystery Rider
2) The
White Chief
3) Hidden
Gold
4) The
Silent Doom
5) Murder
Will Out
6) The
Secret Of Iron Mountain
7) The Law
Of The Lawless
8) Red
Phantoms
9) The
Invisible Enemy
10) Midnight Magic
11) Unmasked!
12) The Trail To Glory
The 1.33 X 1 monochrome full frame image shows its age and
is lucky to be in the shape it is in, with varying quality throughout. Some footage is in really bad shape, but it
looks better in many sections than worse.
Mascot was one of the companies that merged to become Republic and this
is one of their early successes, and since Lion’s Gate is not issuing these
serials, someone else should. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is just as aged, with background noise throughout. It is not as “hot” as many an untreated film
soundtrack we have heard on DVD, but it is limited, while optical flutter is
noticed in places. The only extras are
text biographies of three of the actors and two directors, plus trailers for
three other serials and a general VCI Serial trailer. With DC Comics making a comeback, the trailer for the Columbia
serial based on their Blackhawk character is especially interesting.
- Nicholas Sheffo
