The Serial Squadron Cinema Cliffhanger Archive

THE GALLOPING GHOST

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THE GALLOPING GHOST
Featuring Red Grange, Walter Miller, Dorothy Gulliver, Francis X. Bushman Jr., Tom London, and Ernie Adams
Blu-Ray/DVD

Pioneering football star Red Grange plays the college-age version of himself in this action-packed 1931 Mascot serial, one of its best and its biggest moneymakers. When he is framed for having taken a bribe to throw a game and gaslighted by a gang of crooks, he is forced to flee both the members of the criminal gambling ring behind the plot and the police, and at the same time attempt to clear his name. Also lurking about in the story is a "mysterious cripple" (Theodore Lorch) who kidnaps Red's best friend Buddy and wants to perform impromptu brain surgery on him. Buddy's sister Barbara becomes convinced of Red's innocence and she and a comical taxi driver named Jerry help him in his fight -- in the streets, by car and motorcycle, and by boat -- against the crooks, led by George Elton, (played by versatile serial actor Walter Miller), and the fiendish crooked man who lives in a "haunted house" where sometimes blood drips from the ceiling.

This serial was shot before musical scores could be added to dialogue scenes so action scenes are music-free but there are plenty of them and this is an interesting glimpse at the period of transition between silent and sound serial-making. The director was B. Reeves Eason, a name that will be familiar also to many serial fans.


HD RESTORATION: NOW COMPLETE

This video release was restored from a new HD digital transfer which was cleaned up in every way, picture, audio, stabilization, and artifact removal. Quality varies a little throughout based on the condition of the original film chapters, but is generally very good. The Blu-ray is formatted the same way as the Squadron's Crimson Ghost Blu-ray (1440 x 1080 with pillar-boxing) and should play in virtually all Blu-Ray players.

BLU-RAY $16.95 List price $21.95