dougdoepke The opening hook is a real grabber. In fact, the movie's best scenes are the action among the other-worldly rocks and spires. 'Other-worldly' is apt since a caped figure called the Phantom Killer occupies the rocks with a deadly rifle and a shattering scream. So Ken's got a lot to contend with, since he doesn't even know his real identity or why cowboy Sykes and his gang are trying to kill him. Plus, just who's side is the Phantom really on; first it seems one and then the other. Good thing Ken's got Tarzan, the wonder horse, to help. And what matinee hero would be complete without a cute girl helper trailing along (Parker). Oh sure, it's standard matinee fare except for the creepy Phantom angle, and a couple of plot twists. At the same time, credit outstanding cinematographer Ted McCord for many of the complex scenic compositions. He later graduated to a string of A-productions including Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948). Unfortunately, my DVD copy had a lot of fuzzy sound, a consequence I guess of the many copies in circulation (IMDB Trivia). Nonetheless, the hour amounts to matinee time well spent and with an unexpected ending.

tedg I love watching these films from the early thirties. Rarely are they good in the way that I need as a modern viewer. The story is not the one the movie directly delivers, but the larger story of movies finding themselves after the disruptive introduction of sound.They just didn't know what would work, so they tried everything. Sometimes they invented, and that is very cool when you can find the first glimmer of some now mainstream stroke. What we have here is one third mystery of the old school. A man does not know who he is we have to find out after the one who could reveal all is murdered. We have a third that is haunted house. This was already a well established genre. Here we have the phantom. He mysteriously kills and disappears as if a ghost. He has a terrifying call that usually brings death. He is dressed in black, skulks and covers his face with his cape, even — especially — when it is just us about. We find he has a horribly disfigured face... as disfigured as simple makeup could arrange anyway. We see comic fear of this ghost. It has everything a haunted house movie does except the house which is replaced here by the supposedly spooky Tombstone Canyon (where no one goes),And a third is good old western, with good and bad ranchers. The good rancher is Judge Lee with a pretty cowgirl daughter who falls for our cowboy. In what seems like two days, they are engaged. A wise sheriff, rough town. Fights at cliff edge. Lots of galloping. What a hodgepodge. What confusion! It is clear that this was a disposable experiment like hundreds of others, even thousands from the era.

MartinHafer This is a silly little B-western from Ken Maynard. The plot is strange and seems more like something you'd see from an old movie serial. It begins with Maynard being ambushed in a canyon. However, a shot rings from out of no where and he's saved. Who did this? It was THE PHANTOM!! Yes, thee is a black cloaked guy running around in the old west! And, it turns out he's got revenge on his mind--but why?! And, how does this all relate to Maynard--a guy who doesn't even know his name or his kinfolk?! You'll see in the reasonably good but very contrived finale.Maynard seems like an odd sort of western hero in that he sure gets beaten up a lot! You know he's the good guy but certainly not in the mold of Gene Autry or Roy Rogers. No, this is a very fallible hero--and that is the best aspect of the film. But the plot and the idea of a guy running around in a cape is just silly! Not a particularly good film but not terrible--as if this is glowing endorsement!By the way, when the film begins, get a load of the studio mascot. You just have to see it to understand what I mean.

Spuzzlightyear After one of the greatest studio logos I've ever seen (check out those whirling hooters!) and getting all hyped about that, the next hour is a pretty boring escapade. Ken Maynard, who's shirt seems to be saying "look at my buttons and my armpits!" stars as Ken, a cowboy new to town, but has a lot of clothes stashed away somewhere, who is looking to find out who is his father. There are a lot of mysterious deaths going on, by one "Phantom Killer", who wanders around canyons in, yes, a cape and big hat (he looks like the V for Vendetta guy), and everyone in town thinks that Ken is the Phantom. It's up to Ken to prove them wrong and find out who his father is! Gee. One guess. This is SLOW. The plot just creeps along, not giving us a lot of suspense. The acting is OK, but the guy playing the sheriff seems to be sleepwalking through this role. As proved before in other movies, Ken Maynard is not much of an action star, as his fight scenes sure are flat. There are MUCH MUCH better westerns out there.