Hollywood Cowboy Detectives: WATCH FREE TOM MIX IN THE 15 CHAPTER "MIRACLE RIDER" W/ TRAILER AND POSTERS

DARRYLE PURCELL

AUTHOR OF THE HOLLYWOOD COWBOY DETECTIVES BOOKS

SAYS...

The Miracle Rider is...

...one of my favorite western serials. The Miracle Rider (1935) was the last film of Tom Mix. His character, Tom Morgan, battles veteran villain actor Charles Middleton (Flash Gordon’s Ming the Merciless) as Zaroff to protect Indian lands. There are a lot of great action scenes that show Mix, at 55 years old, was still able to portray the western hero.

I always loved “contemporary” westerns such as this where cowboys meet up with (1935) technology and science fiction elements such as the “Firebird” rocket plane and a mysterious explosive that can only be found on the Indian reservation.

One of the uniquely jarring parts of the film was after Mix has dispatched the villains. The young Indian girl who has obviously been in love with Tom throughout the picture is sad that her hero is leaving to go back East for a better job. Instead of Mix taking off his hat and holding it up to cover a kiss to show they will be together, he shakes her hand and offers her a job as his secretary.

WATCH THE MIRACLE RIDER THEATRICAL TRAILER