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The Miracle Rider
The Miracle Rider
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	B. Reeves Eason; Armand Schaefer
Written by	Barney A. Sarecky; Wellyn Totman
Produced by	Nat Levine; Barney A. Sarecky
Starring	Tom Mix; Joan Gale; Charles Middleton
Cinematography	Ernest Miller; William Nobles
Edited by	Richard Fantl
Music by	Nem Herkan
Production; company	Mascot Pictures
Distributed by	Mascot Pictures
Release date	April 12, 1935;
Running time	15 chapters (306 minutes)
Country	United States
Language	English

The Miracle Rider is a 1935 American Western film serial directed by B. Reeves Eason and Armand Schaefer for Mascot. It stars silent movie cowboy star Tom Mix in his last major film role.^[1]

Plot summary

Zaroff (Charles Middleton), a rancher and oil company owner, wants to drive the Ravenhead Indians off their reservation so that he can mine the rare element X-94, a super explosive, found there and sell it to the highest bidder. Texas Ranger Tom Morgan tries to stop him and save the tribe.

Cast

Tom Mix as Tom Morgan, Texas Ranger
Joan Gale as Ruth
Charles Middleton as Zaroff, a rancher and oil company owner
Robert Frazer as Chief Black Wing
Niles Welch as Metzger
Jason Robards Sr. as Carlton
Bob Kortman as Longboat
Edward Earle as Christopher Adams, Indian Agent
Edward Hearn as Emil Janss
Tom London as Sewell, one of Zaroff's henchmen
Edmund Cobb as Vining, one of Zaroff's henchmen
Ernie Adams as John Stelter
Max Wagner as Morley, one of Zaroff's henchmen
Charles King as Hatton, one of Zaroff's henchmen
Stanley Price as Chapman, one of Zaroff's henchmen
George Chesebro as Crossman, Janss Hand
Tex Cooper as Buffalo Bill (uncredited)
Bud Geary as Davy Crockett (uncredited)
Pat O'Malley as Capt. Sam Morgan (uncredited)
Jay Wilsey as Daniel Boone/Henchmen (uncredited)

Production

This was Tom Mix's last film and his only sound serial.^[2] Tom Mix was still an A-list star in 1935, alongside Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and Mary Pickford.^[2] He was paid $40,000 for four weeks work on The Miracle Rider, which he used as urgent funding to support his circus.^[2]

The serial combined the large cast and interlocking plots of a silent serial with the science fiction and cliffhangers of the sound era.^[2] Filming of the outdoor action sequences took place primarily at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The movie ranch, which had been in use as a filming location since the early silent movie era, was known for its rugged landscape and giant sandstone boulders. One of those boulders became known as Tom Mix Rock in later years, after it was discovered that bootholes had been carved in the rock to help the actor shoot a scene atop the rock for The Miracle Rider.

Stunts

Tom Mix, whose voice was strained and nasal due to a repeatedly broken nose and a bullet through his throat, did a lot of his own stunts, although some were doubled by Cliff Lyons.^[2]

Chapter titles

The Vanishing Indian
The Firebird Strikes
The Flying Knife
A Race with Death
Double Barreled Doom
Thundering Hoofs [sic]
The Dragnet
Guerilla Warfare
The Silver Road
Signal Fires
A Traitor Dies
Danger Rides with Death
The Secret of X-94
Between Two Fires
Justice Rides the Plains

_Source:^[3]

This was Mascot's only 15-chapter serial.

"Zaroff" is obviously inspired by Basil Zaharoff, a notorious early twentieth-century arms merchant, often cited as one of the so-called "merchants of death", who supposedly helped bring on World War I.

References

^ Mayer, Geoff (February 7, 2017). Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. McFarland. ISBN 9781476627199.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut (1973). "3. Science Fiction/Westerns "Drop That Zap Gun, Hombre"". The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury. Routledge. pp. 67–70. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9.
^ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 212–213. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.