Starring: Buddy Roosevelt
Director: Victor Adamson
Studio: Superior Talking Pictures
PLOT SUMMARY:
Gold mine owners Sutton (Horace B. Carpenter) and Waldron (Fred Parker) are being terrorized by a local gang of ruffians led by Bull Crawford (Lew Meehan). Sutton, tired of all of the harassment, sends for his son Dick (Buddy Roosevelt) to take care of the gang. When Dick arrives, he poses as a Mexican caballero to not only humiliate the gang but stay one step ahead of them. Dick, along with his sidekick Pedro (Merrill McCormick), round up the claim jumping gang and put an end to their reign of terror.
FILM REVIEW:
Range Riders is one of those great examples of when the star outshines the drab material he's been given. Indeed, Buddy Roosevelt appears to be genuinely enjoying himself as he constantly taunts and humiliates Meehan's gang. The story is as compelling as paint drying, but Roosevelt makes the proceedings enjoyable with his natural charisma.
Roosevelt is a great example of someone who should have been a bigger star. He had a great look, was quite athletic and had an overall good screen presence. Indeed Roosevelt, who came from the silent era, was an almost who never was, losing out on the opportunity to portray the Cisco Kid in the all-talking 1928 western In Old Arizona due to a leg injury.
Further compounding Roosevelt's plight was when his wife demanded he be given a better salary when he was selected as the star of a series of Monogram Pictures westerns that ultimately went to a young John Wayne. After these two missed opportunities, Roosevelt was relegated to working with ultra bottom-of-the-barrel producer and director Victor Adamson in a series of dirt cheap and poorly produced talking westerns for Superior. Range Riders is so low-budget that during one of the early scenes, one can clearly hear Adamson giving Roosevelt and his co-stars direction to "keep going."
As stated, Roosevelt really outshines the material and mediocre direction. I quite liked his cocky attitude towards dealing with Meehan's gang and the sequence where he forces Meehan to eat soap is earnestly entertaining. Roosevelt deserved better than these productions but they did offer him one last chance at stardom. After this series of films for Adamson, Roosevelt would go on to play character parts, heavies and even provided stuntwork for a multitude of stars. Roosevelt would pass away in 1973, long forgotten.
Range Riders is only worth seeking out if you are a Roosevelt fan, a fan of Victor Adamson's or just enjoy the ultra cheap low budget oaters being produced during the 1930s of which I am all three.
Until next time, pardners!
