The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen
About The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen
A dying rancher, Tom Wilson, tells Tex Martin that masked riders shot him for the deed to the 4 Star Mine and asks him to look after his partner. Tex and his sidekick Stubby find Tom's niece Nancy Wilson and the foreman Dan Farley already at the mine, while the hooded gang's lieutenant, Blackie Devlin, answers to a boss who wants the claim. After Tex kills one of the riders, he puts on the dead man's hood, walks into the gang, and unmasks the man giving the orders.
Cast & crew
More about The Mystery of the Hooded Horsemen
Edward Finney produced Tex Ritter's eighth Grand National Western, with Lindsley Parsons as supervising producer. Edmond Kelso wrote the story and screenplay; Gus Peterson photographed it and Frederick Bain edited.
Themes
Background
Ritter was in the middle of a run of singing-cowboy features for Grand National, a small distributor that folded a few years later.
Making
Grand National built the picture around Ritter's singing as well as the mine plot. He performs five songs on screen, with a score by Frank Sanucci.
Look
Gus Peterson photographed the 60-minute feature, including the saloon fight and the night riding of the masked gang.
Music
Frank Sanucci wrote the score. Tex Ritter sings “Ride, Ride, Ride” (Fred Rose and Michael David), “I’m a Texas Cowboy,” “Ride Around Little Dogies,” “Rosita,” and “A’Ridin’ Old Paint.”
Preservation
The copyright was not renewed. A public-domain print circulates, including a copy on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- White Flash is billed as Tex's horse.
- Charles King plays the hooded lieutenant Blackie Devlin, and Earl Dwire plays Sheriff Walker.
- Hank Worden appears as a deputy, and Ray Whitley leads the saloon band, the Range Ramblers.
Scenes
- Tom Wilson dies after telling Tex that masked men shot him for the mine deed.
- Tex puts on a dead rider's hood and enters the gang.
- Blackie Devlin picks a saloon fight when Tex asks about the 4 Star Mine.
Also available
- Internet Archive (TheMyteryOfTheHoodedHorseman)