MYSTERY MOUNTAIN (1934) Ken Maynard, Tarzan & Verna Hillie | Western | B&W

Mystery Mountain is a 1934 American Western serial film directed by Otto Brower and B. Reeves Eason and starring Ken Maynard, Verna Hillie, Syd Saylor, Edward Earle, and Hooper Atchley. Distributed by Mascot Pictures, Mystery Mountain features the second ever film appearance by Gene Autry.

SYNOPSIS
Ken Williams is determined to discover the identity of the mysterious Rattler, who preys upon railroads and transportation companies like the one owned by Jane Corwin. The Rattler is especially difficult to catch because of his skill at disguising himself as other people.

Ken Williams (Ken Maynard) is determined to discover the identity of a mysterious killer who preys upon railroads and transportation companies like the ones owned by Jane Corwin (Verna Hillie). Her railroad worker father (Lafe McKee) was the first victim of the murderous fiend known as the Rattler, who is especially difficult to catch because he makes himself appear as other people with a collection of masks, or he effects a strange disguise with eyeglasses, a fake nose, and a crepe-hair mustache. The Rattler — also known as "the Menace of the Mountain" — attempts to control the mountain and its hidden gold from his secret cave filled with strange electronic gadgets.

CAST & CREW
Ken Maynard as Ken Williams, railroad detective
Verna Hillie as Jane Corwin
Syd Saylor as Breezy Baker
Edward Earle as Frank Blayden
Hooper Atchley as Dr Edwards
Edward Hearn as Lake
Al Bridge as Tom Henderson
Bob Kortman as Hank, one of The Rattler's henchmen
Lew Meehan as Red, one of The Rattler's henchmen
George Chesebro as Anderson, one of The Rattler's henchmen
Tom London as Morgan, one of The Rattler's henchmen
Lynton Brent as Mathews, the telegrapher
Tarzan as Tarzan (Ken Williams' horse)
Gene Autry as Thomas, Lake Teamster (chapters 6,7,8,12) (uncredited)

Directed by Otto Brower, B. Reeves Eason
Written by Bennett Cohen, B. Reeves Eason, Sherman L. Lowe, Barney A. Sarecky, Armand Schaefer
Produced by Nat Levine, Armand Schaefer, Victor Zobel
Cinematography Ernest Miller, William Nobles
Edited by Earl Turner
Music by Lee Zahler
Distributed by Mascot Pictures
Release date December 3, 1934 (U.S.)
Running time 223 minutes (12 chapters)
Country United States
Language English

NOTES
Mystery Mountain was filmed in the fall of 1934. The film had an operating budget of $65,000 (equal to $1,316,654 today), and a negative cost of $80,000.

Filming locations
Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California, USA
Iverson Movie Ranch, Santa Susana Pass, Chatsworth, California, USA

Stuntwork
Yakima Canutt
Cliff Lyons (Ken Maynard's stunt double)

According to the book The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury, Ken Maynard was doubled by Cliff Lyons in some scenes but performed many of his own stunts, especially riding, in others. However, the later book In the Nick of Time states that Ken Maynard was doubled by his brother Kermit Maynard. The physical similarities between the two makes it difficult to spot the difference on screen between actor and stuntman. Maynard's horse, Tarzan, had three doubles, one of which was blind.

Future serial director William Witney, working as an assistant director, performed one stunt during this serial when the stuntman failed to show up to the location shoot. He rode a horse at speed across a bridge over a ravine with a moving train behind him.

Special effects
Special effects were provided by J. Laurence Wickland.

Chapter titles
The Rattler
The Man Nobody Knows
The Eye That Never Sleeps
The Human Target
Phantom Outlaws
The Perfect Crime
Tarzan the Cunning
The Enemy's Stronghold
The Fatal Warning
The Secret of the Mountain
Behind the Mask
The Judgment of Tarzan

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