The Last Frontier

Lige Morris is trying to start a range war between settlers and Indians in order to cash in on local gold claims (how original) and does so by using respectable townsman Jeff Maitland as his henchmen. Maitland tries to smuggle rifles to the Indians, but is thwarted by appearances by the Black Ghost, masked vigilante. The Black Ghost is in reality Tom Kirby, editor of the local paper. Helping Tom/Black Ghost is Betty Halliday, daughter of a calvary colonel, and Rose Maitland, Jeff's wife who is trying to keep their marriage a secret. The serial takes all 12 chapters and is still unable to establish much in the way of story and action. The cast is willing, but all of the performances come off as uninspired and listless. The editing here has more cuts at times than the Odessa Steps sequence in Battleship Potempkin, which here is probably meant to create suspense, but just blurs the eyes of the audience. Characters such as Custer, Col. Halliday, and others are listed high in the credits, but are just in the beginning and that's it. The serial obviously was only distributed by RKO, and it may have been a lot better if they took more of a hand in this. Rating, based on serials, 2.5