The Vanishing Riders (1935)

What a waste of my time!!!

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Lame oater even by matinee standards. There's little action, no suspense, and hokey scenes building up 10-year old Cody Jr. In fact, it's really the aggressive youngster who thwarts the baddies, while Dad (Cody Sr.) amiably gives up the spotlight. Then too, judging from all the rope tying and twirling, one might think somebody had a big interest in hemp rather than in westerns. There is some hard riding, and a humorous turn from old goat Buster. Also, the spooky dress-up scenes are pretty well done thanks mainly to the costuming and lighting. Nonetheless, events are limply directed with scenes following one another in no particular order. All in all, the hour looks like an effort at literally putting together a kids' western that failed.

Oliver Drake has around 217 writing credits (including TV eps), but this one is aimed strictly for the kids – and even they will probably resent its scanty production values and likewise be bored silly. I'll admit that Ethel Jackson is a delight, but her role is small. She made only three movies, alas, but I'll be watching out for her in Six Gun Justice. The other players in this movie are strictly from hunger. Add verbose dialogue, a routine plot, dull direction and minimal production values and we suddenly realize that "vanishing" is indeed the key word in the picture's title. Aside from Miss Jackson, I can't see how adults could relate in any way to this Poverty Row effort with its minimal budget, verbose but totally inconsequential dialogue, contrived yet boring and totally uninteresting and unengaging plot. Available on a mercifully shortened Alpha DVD on a double bill with "Frontier Days".

Although there are some interesting aspects to "The Vanishing Riders", exceptionally low production values doom this to the grade-C level at best. The film stars Bill Cody--and, oddly enough, that is his real name! You'd think his having the same name as Buffalo Bill Cody would have been the result of some studio, but according to IMDb that was his name. And, also interesting is that Cody's son, Bill Junior also stars in the film. However, apart from that there really isn't much to recommend this one. The reason is that it's not even good enough for most B-movies--coming from a tiny film studio and starring a bunch of folks who simply cannot act. The overall product is cheap, dull and uninspiring--with no incidental music nor money spent to make it look anything other than a cut-rate production. By the way, about seven minutes was trimmed from this one, though I doubt is anyone would care.

After killing an outlaw, Bill Cody quits his job as a sheriff and vows to raise the outlaw's orphaned son. Riding off to start a new life, they soon find themselves in a creepy ghost town where Cody accepts a job working for a lady rancher alongside dubious characters that plan on rustling the cattle as well as riding off with the attractive rancher!The Vanishing Riders is kind of creaky and a bit short on action. However, it has a spirited main villain and a nifty final fifteen-minutes where Cody and son dress up like skeletal riders atop phantom horses, frightening the superstitious rustlers into submission.Things are never really boring. However, one wishes that the first half would have been more interesting.