The Phantom Empire
The Phantom Empire | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | |
Written by |
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Produced by | Nat Levine |
Starring | |
Cinematography | |
Edited by | |
Music by | Hugo Riesenfeld |
Distributed by | Mascot Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 245 minutes (12 chapters)[Note 1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $75,000[1][2] |
The Phantom Empire is a 1935 American
Plot
Gene Autry (
A chance to become real heroes occurs when Betsy, Frankie, and Gene are kidnapped by the real Thunder Riders from the super-scientific underground empire of Murania, complete with towering buildings,
The inhabitants of Murania are the lost tribe of
Cast
- Gene Autry as Gene Autry, singing cowboy at the Radio Ranch
- Frankie Darro as Frankie Baxter, one of Gene's sidekicks
- Betsy King Ross as Betsy Baxter, one of Gene's sidekicks
- Dorothy Christy as Queen Tika, the evil queen of Murania
- Wheeler Oakman as Lord Argo, the Muranian High Chancellor and leader of the rebels
- Charles K. French as Mal
- Warner Richmond as Rab
- J. Frank Glendon as Professor Beetson, the villainous scientist after the land's radium deposits
- Smiley Burnette as Oscar, comic relief[Note 2]
- Peter Potter as Pete, comic relief
- Edward Peil Sr. as Cooper
- Jack Carlyle as Saunders[1][8]
Production
Story
The idea for the plot came to writer Wallace MacDonald when he was under gas having a tooth extracted.[9]
Filming and budget
The Phantom Empire was filmed in late 1934. The film had an operating budget of $75,000 (equal to $1,708,209 today).[1] The budget was originally reported to have been "no more than" $100,000.[2]
Filming locations
- Agoura Ranch, Agoura, California, USA
- Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Griffith Observatory, Griffith Park, 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Iverson Ranch, 1 Iverson Lane, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Keystone Studios, 1712 Glendale Blvd., Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA
Stuntwork
- Ken Cooper
- Richard Talmadge
- Jack Jones
- George Magrill
- Wally West[6]
Frankie Darro and Betsy King Ross did their own stunt riding in this serial. Ross was an experienced rodeo performer[9] and was billed as the "World's Champion Trick Rider".[2]
Soundtrack
- "Uncle Noah's Ark" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Nick Manoloff) by Gene Autry and band (chapter 1)
- "That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine" (Gene Autry, Jimmy Long) by Gene Autry and band (chapter 1)
- "I'm Oscar, I'm Pete" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette) by Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, and William Moore (chapter 2)
- "No Need to Worry" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette) by the Radio Rangers (chapter 4)
- "Uncle Henry" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette) by Gene Autry (chapter 4)
- "I'm Getting a Moon's Eye View of the World" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette) by Gene Autry (chapter 8)
- "My Cross Eyed Gal" (Gene Autry, Jimmy Long) by the Radio Rangers (chapter 8)
- "Just Come On Back" (Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette) by the Radio Rangers (chapter 8)[1][10]
Chapter titles
- The Singing Cowboy
- The Thunder Riders
- The Lightning Chamber
- Phantom Broadcast
- Beneath the Earth
- Disaster from the Skies
- From Death to Life
- Jaws of Jeopardy
- Prisoners of the Ray
- The Rebellion
- A Queen in Chains
- The End of Murania
Reception
The Phantom Empire was released in theaters on February 23, 1935.[11] The serial was a "marked box office success."[9]
Cultural references
The 1979 television series Cliffhangers, which attempted to recreate the old movie serial feel by showing three serial chapters in each episode, included a serial titled "The Secret Empire", a pastiche of The Phantom Empire. Events in the underground empire were shown in color, but events on the surface were "in glorious black and white". Stock footage from the serial and other serials was used in the animated series Muppet Babies.
Fred Olen Ray in 1988 filmed a movie called The Phantom Empire about treasure hunters braving a cavern system populated by troglodytes and other subterranean hazards to finally encounter an underground lost civilization. The movie makes reference to the serial and was itself in the end credits planned to have sequels that never were produced.
Alejandro Pérez Cervantes' short story collection, Murania, was inspired by the aesthetic of Murania and the lost continent of Mu as depicted in the film. It received the 2006 Julio Torri national award for short fiction in Mexico.
The web series The Sam Plenty Cavalcade of Action Show Plus Singing! was inspired by the serial.
The UK Channel 4 show Exploitica lampooned the serial, adding comedic sound effects, thought bubbles and captions to each episode.
The serial was a childhood favorite of comic strip writer Tom Batiuk, and in tribute has been frequently referenced in his strips Funky Winkerbean and Crankshaft, predominantly as the favorite film of Crankshaft character Jeff Murdoch. Most notably, one 2020 storyline in Funky saw Jeff and his grandson seeking refuge from a wildfire in the cave used for the film as the entrance to Murania, where they imagine being rescued by the Thunder Riders and taken into the city.
See also
- Cliffhangers – "The Secret Empire"
- The Mound by H. P. Lovecraft from a short description by Zealia Bishop — underground civilization fiction also set in the southwest USA; part of the Cthulhu Mythos
- Richard Shaver— claimed to know of a civilization such as this
- List of film serials
- List of film serials by studio
References
- Notes
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e Magers 2007, p. 21.
- ^ a b c Stedman 1971, 99–100.
- ^ Richardson, Jeffrey. ""Cowboys And Robots: the Birth of the Science Fiction Western" by Jeffrey Richardson | Crossed Genres". Crossed Genres. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4422-7243-9.
- ^ "The Phantom Empire". Internet Movie Database.
- ^ a b Magers 2007, p. 22.
- ^ Magers 2007, pp. 23–24.
- ^ "Full cast and crew for The Phantom Empire". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c Harmon 1972, pp. 61–62.
- ^ "Soundtracks for The Phantom Empire". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
- ^ Cline 1997, p. 212.
- Bibliography
- Cline, William C. (1997). In the Nick of Time: Motion Picture Sound Serials. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786404711.
- George-Warren, Holly (2007). Public Cowboy no. 1: The Life and Times of Gene Autry. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195177466.
- Green, Douglas B. (2002). Singing in the Saddle: The History of the Singing Cowboy. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. ISBN 978-0826514127.
- Harmon, Jim; Glut, Donald F. (1972). The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385090797.
- Stedman, Raymond William (1971). Serials: Suspense and Drama by Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5.
External links
- The Phantom Empire at IMDb
- The Phantom Empire at the TCM Movie Database
- The Phantom Empire at AllMovie
- The Phantom Empire is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive (serial)
- The Phantom Empire is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive (69 minute version)
- Roaring Rockets: The Phantom Empire! Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- "The Phantom Empire," by Gary Johnson
- Serial Robots: The Phantom Empire
- NY Times Review: The Phantom Empire
- Review of the 1986 version on DVD
- Watch and Download the Entire Serial