The Lightning Warrior (1931) User Reviews

Action, mystery, and Rin-Tin-Tin

[398 · 7/10 · 28 May 2008]

Rin-Tin-Tin and Tom Mix were two of the biggest box-office draws of the twenties while working for major studios. Both faded with age and the coming of sound. Both ended their careers with comeback performances in Mascot serials, and both serials are very good.

THE LIGHTNING WARRIOR is as creaky as they come with no musical score and one of those hissing, early thirties soundtracks. It is nevertheless entertaining. A mystery villain known as the Wolfman is inciting an Indian uprising to drive the settlers out of the valley. It is up to the heroic Rinty and his human allies to bring this fiend to justice.

This is the first time I have seen the original Rin-Tin-Tin and he and his stuntdog doubles do not disappoint, with wild leaps and chases, vicious fights, and narrow escapes. Rinty also thinks his way out of several jams. One forgets while watching the show that no dog could be quite this smart. The human cast also does well. Young Frankie Darro was a talented child actor. A slim George Brent is far more winning here as an action hero than he would later be as a lounge lizard. Former Chaplin co-star Georgia Hale is animated and appealing though she has little to do. Ugly Bob Kortman as an evil henchman and old codger Lafe McKee as a crusty rancher stand out in the supporting cast.

Yakima Canutt's name appears in the credits, so it is not surprising that the action is well handled and the stunt work often striking. The serial also gets a lift from a strong air of mystery. The Wolfman is dressed in full phantom regalia with a slouched hat and cape pulled over his face. He communicates with his underlings via weird howls while tom-toms beat ominously on the soundtrack and lurking henchman silently pick off their victims with arrows.

It is all nonsense and all fun. The mystery of who is the Wolfman is sustained well with plenty of red herrings. Several twists in the last chapter are satisfying and clear up a lot of apparent inconsistencies.

All in all, if you are a fan of vintage serials, this is one to seek out.

Rinty, Yakima Canutt, and Frankie Darro

[CatherineYronwode · 7/10 · 30 November 2008]

This was Rin-Tin-Tin's last film and i believe that he was about 13 years old at the time. He is not an expressive dog actor like Higgins ("Benji") or Skippy (Asta in "The Thin Man") and yet there is something rather grand about him, even in old age, with a grizzled grey muzzle that no one bothered to dye, the way they would have had he been a human actor. In one of the early scenes, a cowboy bystander calls him "Old Timer," with no attempt to hide his age, and indeed there is a kind of elegiac quality to his work, like the latter day James Garner, whom he much resembles, in a spiritual sense. Rinty is a superlative schutzhund (trained attack dog) and many of his best scenes feature him jumping and wrestling humans to the ground or running after horses at the gallop. At least one (and maybe two) younger, darker-pelted stunt doubles are used for some of the long running scenes, but Rinty takes all the close-ups. He always did suffer from "trainer eye" (looking for cues from his off-camera trainer), but not being food-motivated, he never blew a scene by nuzzling for his hidden treat the way Skippy did. I actually teared up a little at seeing the old guy put through the rigour of being trapped in a mine shaft when the door gets blown off by dynamite. The human actors were expecting the loud pyrotechnics, but Rinty was not, and he was obviously on a "hard stay," so when the blast went off, he jumped and turned in place, torn between fear and the "stay" command. He looked terrified, and i think he was actually tied down with an off-camera leash to restrain him from bolting. Sweetly, his essential good nature and willingness to please asserts itself at the conclusion of every fight scene, when, after apparently half-killing his human sparring partner, he is called off by Frankie Darro or George Brent, then breaks character to stand around with a big smile on his face, wag-wag-wagging his tail: "Was i good? Did i do that right? Am i a good dog?" What a trooper!

Yakima Canutt is the unspoken 2nd star of this feature, of course. He plays a minor character but also supplies the remuda and doubles for almost every actor in the film who does a horse transfer, bucking bronc stunt, or -- Yak's specialty -- the stagecoach stunt. This film presents a variation on the latter with an open buckboard and six horses instead of the usual four. Strangely, the rear pair are white, the only time i've seen Yak use white horses in this stunt; the front four are his usual browns. In addition to the stage coach team, the horse i call "Yak's Big White" (the stunt double for Gene Autry's Champion), a cute fat brown pony for Frankie Darro to use in a flying mount, a half dozen randomly great cow ponies, and a trained bucking bronc, there are four or five fine Indian Paint ponies, including "the one with a white neck and brown head." (If you watch Yak's stunts, you'll know which horse i mean -- he was in many dozens of movies, and Yak always made sure he turned his right side to the camera (his "good side" -- very beautifully marked) during Indian attack scenes.

Frankie Darro was a fine kid actor. Like other reviewers, i also love his young adult films co-starring with Mantan Moreland -- but here we see him in top gymnastic form, carrying a reasonable amount of his own weight in stunt work. His greatest drawback at this age is a certain staginess in close-ups, but since the film is a Western, we don't see much of that "mush." I really dug the scene of Frankie making a getaway on a chubby brown pony -- the scene is played straight, and Frankie is in top form, but i laughed to see the pony scramble to keep up with the larger horses.

Georgia Hale, the romantic interest, deserves a quick mention too -- her split-skirt culotte riding garb, with matching vest and silk bandanna, is extremely cute. Both she and Theordore Lorch, who plays her father, carry the baggage of silent film mannerisms, but she is an appealing and spunky actress and looks more than right in the part of the Sheriff's adopted daughter.

The Alpha Video print has better sound than other versions, but there are a number of annoyingly chopped up bits, including some mangled chapter endings, dropped words, and overly-dark scenes -- which, as far as i know, are found in every version currently on the market. Still, i'm glad i saw this film, and i recommend it without reservation to anyone who likes animal actors and stunt work.

An OK serial with great Rin Tin Tin action

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 14 November 2009]

As serials go, this is pretty typical of what you would see in theaters back in the 1930's - a story presented as weekly serials roughly 15 minutes in length. The action all revolves around a mysterious cloaked figure that has convinced the Indians to attack the settlers in the valley if they don't vacate their settlement by the new moon. At stake are a number of rich mines that the settlers have been working. The brother of a murdered federal agent, a local orphaned boy, and Rinty are working together to discover the identity of the cloaked figure before the Indians attack. The only big name in this film besides Rin Tin Tin himself is George Brent as the brother of the murdered federal agent, giving a somewhat wooden performance compared to his later work for Warner Brothers.

The story is fairly pedestrian, but if you love watching the original Rin Tin Tin in action, this is only one of a few films I know of on DVD where you can still see the great German Shepherd star. Another is the 1925 silent film "Clash of the Wolves" that is on the DVD set "More Treasures from the American Film Archives". Grapevine Video has "Where the North Begins" (1923), "The Night Cry" (1926), "Tracked by the Police" (1927), and "The Lone Defender" (1930) all available on DVD-R. Unfortunately, the Mill Creek edition of this 1931 film has not been restored at all. The video is in bad shape in spots, and there is considerable hissing in the audio. However, I would say it is nothing worse than what you see on those public domain 50 Movie Packs.

Even as a teenager Rinty still had it. The dog actually did seem to "get" the concept of acting. In a couple of scenes I really thought I saw him do a double-take! Plus there are quite a few good action scenes involving Rinty. If you are a Rin Tin Tin fan I recommend this DVD in spite of its technical flaws due to the film's age and neglect.

Jimmy Carter vs. the Wolf Man

[Mike-764 · 6/10 · 21 November 2004]

A black-cloaked figure on horseback called the Wolf Man is leading an uprising of the Indians in the valley to drive the settlers off their land. A territorial agent is murdered after learning the identity of the Wolf Man, and the agent's brother Alan Scott arrives in the town to investigate his brother's murder and bring the Wolf Man to justice. Alan also is aided by young Jimmy Carter (not THAT Jimmy Carter) whose father was also killed by the Wolf Man, and Alan's brother's dog, Rinty. A very primitive serial, but does well with the little it has to work with. Brent is a little wooden here, but this is compared to much of his later Warner Brothers work. Rin-Tin-Tin, in his last film, is in a lot of cool action sequences and stunts (including a ridiculous 50 foot vertical leap), and gives a good performance. A ridiculous resolution hurts this one a little. Rating, based on serials, 6.

Do You Like To Watch Men Riding Horses?

[Chance2000esl · 4/10 · 31 August 2008]

Do you like to watch men riding horses? If so, this Mascot serial has a lot of it, but not much else. Mostly filmed outdoors, it is a Western 'mystery man' serial in which the hero, Alan Scott (George Brent) is among those trying to discover the identity of 'The Wolfman,' who is leading a band of Indians attempting to drive all the settlers out of a mining town. The 'mystery man' theme was used countless times in serials from the twenties to the late thirties, and was often found in occasional B westerns, such as the wonderful Ken Maynard's 'Tombstone Canyon' (1932).

The high points include: seeing George Brent as a young, thin, virile Western hero. He should have done more Westerns instead of being packaged and sold the way he was throughout the rest of his career. You can see him in '42nd Street' (1933) and as the Professor in 'The Spiral Staircase' (1945); Lafe McKee, veteran character actor in over 400 films, has what must have been his biggest role ever, since he's in all 12 chapters; Georgia Hale, as 'The Girl,' feisty against the villains when she appears, was Chaplin's dance hall love in 'The Gold Rush' (1925) and had the lead in the silent 'The Great Gatsby' (1926). Since she was deemed 'unsuitable for talkies,' this was her last movie.

More high points: Theodore Lorch, as Pierre LaFarge, best remembered as the High Priest in 'Flash Gordon' (1936), appears in almost all the chapters; Frankie Darro as Jimmy shows off his great teenage physical versatility and fine acting ability, though he isn't featured nearly enough. Frankie is at his best after the great 'The Phantom Empire' (1935) in the many 'buddy' flicks he made with Mantan Moreland, see, for example, 'Up In The Air' (1940). Then there's Rin-Tin-Tin the putative star of the serial who shows a broader acting range than in his previous Mascot serial 'The Lone Defender' (1930), though here much of the stunt work must be his double. He died the next year.

Over all, it's a much better serial than 'The Lone Defender' because of so many outdoor action sequences. There's a fine cliffhanger with Frankie and 'Rinty' hanging from a bucket suspended over a canyon. There are also lots of good shots from inside the Bronson Caves. We get the sure hand of Wyndham Gittens as the supervising editor and one of the writers. He was responsible for many of the better 1930s serials including 'Tim Tyler's Luck' (1937) and 'Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars' (1938) as well as the dozen or so he did for Mascot. He gives us lots of red herrings regarding the identity of the 'mystery man' finally revealed with all details explained, in the final chapter, which includes the not surprising revelation that the warpath Indians were really white men, a cliché since 'The Iron Horse' (1925) and hey! ever since the Boston Tea Party!

Unfortunately, there's so much chasing around on horse back to fill in the chapters, that not much really happens. Better would be to have condensed it into an exciting feature the way that Gitten's 'The Lost Jungle' (1934) was converted into a feature that was better, and amazingly, more interesting, than the serial it came from!

Note: The 'Mill Creek Entertainment' DVD is awful -- booming hissing sounds and blurred visuals. Much better quality are its 'The Law of the Wild' (1934), and 'The Adventures of Rex and Rinty' (1935) both with Rin-Tin-Tin Jr., and Rex 'The Wonder Horse.'

Of the four Rin-Tin-Tin sound serials, the others being 'The Lone Defender' (1930), 'The Law of the Wild' (1934), and 'The Adventures of Rex and Rinty' (1935), this is the best one. It has the most interesting group of characters, a 'mystery man' guessing game story and the best cliff hangers. Still, there's too much riding around, so I'll only give it a four and half.

The Phantom Of The Opera

[bkoganbing · 2/10 · 13 March 2011]

The Lightning Warrior is the name that the Indians have given Rin Tin Tin and in this serial the great German Shepherd finds himself out west with George Brent investigating who's been stirring up the Indians and specifically who killed young Frankie Darro's father and Brent's brother. The brother was an army agent who was in the territory trying to find out the identity of the mysterious Wolfman who walks around in a Phantom of the Opera outfit and gives out mysterious orders to his underlings. I can give you a hint, it isn't Lon Chaney, Jr. or Taylor Lautner.

It takes 12 chapters to unravel the mystery if you want to sit through the thing. In a year Brent would be in 42nd Street and be set in his career with a long term Warner Brothers contract. Oddly enough Brent had enough adventure in real life in Ireland as a personal courier for Michael Collins during the Rebellion. God only knows what he thought of this drivel.