Forbidden Trails

Starring:Jones, Mccoy, Strange
Studio: Alpha Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

"The King of B-Westerns & Serials...VCI Entertainment ~ Forbidden Trails (1941)"
Good B-Western, but the film transfer quality is just marginal

Forbidden Trails
Starring: Richard Alexander , Lynton Brent , Tristram Coffin , Raymond Hatton , and Tim McCoy
Director: Robert North Bradbury
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Ghost Town Law
Dawn on the Great Divide
Arizona Bound
Code of the Saddle
Ghost Patrol

ASIN: B0001DMWTS
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Customer Reviews:

"The King of B-Westerns & Serials...VCI Entertainment ~ Forbidden Trails (1941)".......2006-02-03

VCI Entertainment and Monogram Pictures present "Forbidden Trails" (1941) (digitally remastered), although The Rough Riders had a short run, they turned out some of the best B-Westerns ever to grace the Saturday Matinee screen...our story is the third of eight in the Rough Riders series is a better than average oater...three U.S. Marshals are working undercover Buck, Tim and Sandy help Dave O'Brien a struggling mine owner...our villain Tristram Coffin along with Charles King and Bus Osborne are planning to rob O'Brien and play the waiting game... there is a fine turn from Christine McIntyre the heroine who is cast in her second of the four Rough Rider adventures in which she appears, this film is perfectly paced by Robert Bradbury in his final stint as a director...in the film's most exciting scene, Buck is trapped in a burning shack and Silver his famous steed comes to the rescue pulling him out of a blazing window......just remember double thrills, chills, mystery and suspense...hitting the bull's eye with excitement...don't miss any of the Rough Riders features loaded with action that will leave you wanting more of his B-Western adventures

Under director Robert North Bradbury, producer Scott R. Dunlap, original story by Jess Bowers ...the cast include Buck Jones (Marshal Buck Roberts), Tim McCoy (Marshal Tim McCall/Parson McCall), Raymond Hatton (Sandy Hopkins), Tristram Coffin (Ed Nelson), Christine McIntyre (Mary Doran), Dave O'Brien (Jim Cramer), Charles King (Fulton), Bud Osborne (Joe Howard), Lynton Brent (Bill Tooley), Jerry Sheldon (Sam/henchman), Tom London (Marshal Tom, Silver (Buck Jones, wonder horse). . . . . . . . .special footnote, actor /producer Buck Jones made over 164 feature films beginning with "Western Blood" (1918/Silent) with a bit part...Jones final film was "Dawn on the Great Divide" (1942)...with his famed horse "Silver:, Jones was one of the most successful and popular B-Western actors of the '20s, '30s and '40s, at one time receiving more fan mail than any actor in the world...was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1973. . . . . . . . . .second special footnote actor Tim McCoy in real life was a sharpshooter and famed for his fast draw...was an expert on the Old West also an authority on Indian folklore could converse in Indian sign language...McCoy was inducted into the "Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum" in 1973, also inducted into "The Cowboy Hall of Fame" in 1974.. . . . . . . . final special footnote, one of my favorite character actors was Johnny Mack's sidekick Raymond Hatton (1887-1971) as Marshall Sandy Hopkins who appeared from 1943 and made 45 films for Monogram Pictures...Hatton who first appeared on film in "Tragic Love" (1909-Silent/unconfirmed), "Oliver Twist" (1917), "The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), "The Squaw Man" (1931), "Law and Order" (1932)...during the '30s & '40s he played the comical sidekick for Johnny Mack Brown and Bob Livingston...went on to join Buck Jones and Tim McCoy in the "Rough Riders" series...Hatton worked right up to his last film "In Cold Blood" (1967). . . . . .meanwhile this is an exciting Rough Riders western provided by Monogram Pictures during their heyday of the early '40s.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
BIOS:
1. Buck Jones (aka: Charles Frederick Gebhart)
Birth Date: 12/04/1889 - Vincennes, Indiana
Died: 11/30/1942 - Boston, MA (fire)
2. Tim McCoy (aka: Timothy John Fitzgerald McCoy)
Birth Date: 4/10/1891 - Saginaw, Michigan
Died: 1/29/1978 - Nogales, Arizona
3. Raymond Hatton (aka: Raymond William Hatton)
Birth Date: 7/07/1887 - Red Oak, Iowa
Died: 10/21/1971 - Palmdale, California

Check out other Buck Jones titles available on VHS from VCI:
1. Black Aces (1937)
2. Dawn on the Great Divide (1942)
3. Down Texas Way (1942)
4. Gunman from Bodie (1941)
5. Renfrew of the Royal Mounted (1937)
6. Riders of Death Valley (1941)
7. Silver Spurs (1936)
8. Six Gun Man (1946)
9. South of the Rio Grande (1932)

If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western double features with Buck Jones:

ROUGH RIDERS WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURES:
1. Vol. 1 - Arizona Bound/Gunman from Bodie (VCI #7241) (DVD)
2. Vol. 2 - Ghost Town Law/Below the Border (VCI #7264) (DVD)
3. Vol. 3 - Forbidden Trails/Down Texas Way (VCI #7274) (DVD)
4. Dawn on the Great Divide (VCI #7219) (DVD)

Ask Amazon.Com to carry the above titles if they are not available as of yet...you can order and pick up your copy now from VCI Entertainment...if you enjoyed "Forbidden Trails" (1941), why not pick up other copies of Buck Jones features.

In 1941 the "Rough Riders" series began with Buck as Marshal Buck Roberts, Tim McCoy was Marshal Tim McCall and Raymond Hatton was Marshal Sandy Hopkins for Monogram Pictures:

1. ARIZONA BOUND (Monogram, 1941)
2. THE GUNMAN FROM BODIE (Monogram, 1941)
3. FORBIDDEN TRAILS (Monogram, 1941)
4. BELOW THE BORDER (Monogram, 1942)
5. GHOST TOWN LAW (Monogram, 1942)
6. DOWN TEXAS WAY (Monogram, 1942)
7. RIDERS OF THE WEST (Monogram, 1942)
8. WEST OF THE LAW (Monogram, 1942)

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing "Forbidden Trails" (1941),
the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward
to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s
& '40s...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment where there
are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch
action mixed with deadly adventure from the "King of Serials" VCI...just
the way we like 'em

Total Time: 60 min on DVD/VHS ~ VCI Entertainment #7274 ~ (11/20/1997)

Good B-Western, but the film transfer quality is just marginal.......2005-08-15

This review is for the Alpha Video issued DVD of Forbidden Trails" starring Buck Jones.

The movie itself is enjoyable with many of the essential elements of an above average B-Western. The story line is good with good acting as well as exciting action scenes, including Buck escaping from a burning house surrounded by two bad guys with rifles by having his galloping horse drag him out with a rope tied around his waist. There is also some tension and action in a saloon card game showndown that results in drawn guns, etc. - the story moves right along and engages your attention throughout.

The story is good - the caveat is that the source material for this DVD film transfer is marginal. Alpha Video certainly has a mixed track record in this regard - some films that they have issued are in good to excellent quality and some in pretty bad shape. With Alpha Video DVDs you take your chances and on this particular one it's the middle of the road - not very good, but neither is it so terribly bad that you can't adjust your viewing standards down a notch and still enjoy this movie.

This DVD resembles what you might expect from a worn out ten-year old VHS tape left on the dashboard of your car too long. The highlights are gone with too much contrast in night scenes. Unless you get a medium or close-up shot it is sometimes difficult to clearly recognize faces in the far background because of the lack of sharpness. In well-lighted scenes the film looks much better and you don't notice the flaws as much.

Don't get me wrong, if you really happen like this particular film I would recommend that you get it until something better shows up, it's not what I would call a terribly awful DVD - I have seen much worse film transfers for these public domain B-Westerns. Alpha Video probably did the best that they could with the source material, but I'll bet that there is a better print of this film out there somewhere - at least I hope there is.

As I said, you can certainly watch and enjoy this film, just don't expect too much in terms of picture quality.

See my other B-Western DVD reviews to find some examples of high-quality film transfers. Or just check out virtually any Hoppalong Cassidy DVD issued by Platinum - those are really excellent DVDs in all aspects (film transfer quality, acting and plot).

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