Raiders of Ghost City

Raiders of Ghost City is a 1944 Universal movie serial set in California during the American Civil War.

Raiders of Ghost City
Directed byLewis D. Collins
Ray Taylor
Produced byMorgan Cox
Ray Taylor
Written byLuci Ward
Morgan Cox
StarringDennis Moore
Wanda McKay
Lionel Atwill
Joe Sawyer
Regis Toomey
CinematographyHarry Neumann
Edited byNorman A. Cerf (supervising)
Irving Birnbaum
Jack Dolan
Ace Herman
Alvin Todd
Edgar Zane
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • June 25, 1944 (1944-06-25)
Running time
13 chapters (225 minutes)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

At the height of the Civil War, a gang of supposed Confederates, headed by Alex Morel, raid all gold shipments from Oro Grande, California, bound for Washington. Captain Steve Clark is recognized as a Union Secret Service agent by Morel's accomplice Trina Dessard, along with his friend Idaho Jones, is ambushed in the baggage car and sent to almost certain death when the car is un-coupled and plunges down the mountainside.

Leaping to safety, Idaho and Steve report to Colonel Sewell in Oro Grande, and Idaho introduces himself as a Wells Fargo detective to Cathy Haines the Oro Grande company agent. Steve and Idaho learn that the Morel raiders are only posing as Confederates, and their headquarters are at Morel's "Golden Eagle" saloon. He also discovers that members of the gang use old European coins with the date "1752" as identification.

In a raid on the hideout, Steve's brother Jim is killed by the gang. The next victim is Confederate Army Captain Clay Randolph who has discovered that Morel is connected with a group of Prussian spies who have been using the stolen gold to initially finance Prussia's wars but later to buy Alaska from the Russian Empire as a "club over Canada"; hed gives Steve a clue before he dies. The date 1752 of the recognition coins is explained as the date of Frederick the Great's Testament that supposedly gave instructions how Prussia would take over the world.

The clue leads Steve to a San Francisco dive owned by Abel Rackerby, who thinking he has Steve in his power, exposes the ring's activities and operation methods. Aided by the San Francisco Secret Service, Steve escapes and returns to Oro Grande where he and Idaho round up the spies.

Cast

Production

Stunts

Critical reception

Cline writes that Raiders of Ghost City had a "good cast and production values...It came off quite well."[1]

Chapter titles

  1. Murder by Accident
  2. Flaming Treachery
  3. Death Rides Double
  4. Ghost City Terror
  5. The Fatal Lariat
  6. Water Rising
  7. Bullet Avalanche
  8. Death Laughs Last
  9. Cold Steel
  10. Showdown
  11. The Trail to Torture
  12. Calling all Buckboards
  13. Golden Vengeance

Source:[2]

See also

Notes

  1. Cline, William C. (1984). "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 42. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.
  2. Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 238. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

References

  • White, Raymond Hollywood Cowboys Go to War: The B-Western Movie during World War II Under Western Stars # 25 (Sept. 1986)
Preceded by
The Great Alaskan Mystery (1944)
Universal Serial
Raiders of Ghost City (1944)
Succeeded by
Mystery of the River Boat (1944)
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