Reviews

This is an oddly entertaining film. Odd, because I had never seen one of these old westerns with Gene Autry or any of his contemporaries like Roy Rogers before and I was expecting a straightforward western. Instead, I got to see a crazy blend of sci-fi and western.

The film has Autry, and the two juvenile characters of Betsy and Frankie, discovering the underground empire of 'Murania' far beneath Autry's ranch. This empire is ruled by an evil queen, who along with an altogether creepy contingent known as the 'Thunder Riders', threaten civilization as we know it.

Autry sings a lot and his acting is pretty cornball but he's extremely likable and, hence, manages to entertain. The two juvenile actors are very likable too and the film is generally enjoyable. It's also strangely fascinating as the Thunder Riders I mentioned previously bear an eerie resemblance to the KKK and every time I saw them appear I wondered whether this was intentional or accidental.

Anyway, the film was fun, mainly due to the unexpected weirdness of it all. Well worth a viewing.

This is a mildly entertaining bit of fluff cobbled together from three episodes of an early 1950's US television show. It concerns the adventures of Rocky Jones, his somewhat goofy sidekick Winky, the lovely Vena Ray, a precocious kid named Bobby and Professor Newton. They're all under the authority of the Secretary of Space. Secretary of Space, now there's a job title; I'd like to be Chairman of Gravity myself.

As far as the film goes, it's pretty tame as regards the special effects and the action; however, it shares that charm that many of the science fiction films of that specific decade display and, consequently, manages to engage the viewer. It's particularly interesting, if only in a historical sense, to see a sci-fi show from television's early years.

If you get a copy of this film in one of those public domain collections - I received mine in the Mill Creek 100 Sci-Fi Classics set - then I'd certainly recommend watching it but, otherwise, I wouldn't expend any energy trying to track it down.