The Vanishing Legion

1931 film

June 2, 1931 (1931-06-02)

Running time

12 chapters (220 min)CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

The Vanishing Legion is a 1931 American pre-Code Western film serial from Mascot, directed by Ford Beebe and B. Reeves Eason.

Stars Harry Carey and Edwina Booth were originally intended to be in the studio's previous serial, King of the Wild, but had to be re-cast when the MGM film Trader Horn (1931) overran its schedule. Both also starred in the Mascot serial The Last of the Mohicans and Carey was the lead in The Devil Horse. An infection received while filming Trader Horn led to Booth's retirement from acting. Boris Karloff supplied the voice of the serial's mystery villain, "The Voice".

Plot

Masked mystery villain The Voice is out to sabotage the Milesburg Oil Co. "Happy" Cardigan needs to successfully drill for oil before his contract with Milesburg expires or he goes broke. Jimmie Williams' father, Jed (Edward Hearn), has been framed for murder. Secretary Caroline Hall appears to have an ulterior motive. The mysterious "Vanishing Legion" is also on the scene. Jimmie and Cardigan team up, along with Jimmie's horse Rex, to defeat The Voice and solve the mysteries surrounding Milesburg.

Cast

Harry Carey as "Happy" Cardigan, drilling for oil before his contract expires
Edwina Booth as Caroline Hall
Frankie Darro as Jimmie Williams, whose father is wanted for murder, teams up with Cardigan to unmask The Voice
Rex the Wonder Horse as Rex, King of Wild Horses, whom only Jimmie can ride
William Desmond as Milesburg's Sheriff
Philo McCullough as Stevens
Yakima Canutt as Yak
Joe Bonomo as Stuffy
Tom Dugan as Warren, Oil Company director
Lafe McKee as Hornbeck, Oil Company lawyer
Bob Kortman as Marno, henchman of The Voice
Paul Weigel as Larribee, another Oil Company director
Olive Carey as Nurse Lewis
Boris Karloff as the voice of The Voice, the serial's masked mystery villain

Chapter titles

Voice from the Void
Queen of the Night Riders
The Invisible Enemy
The Fatal Message
The Trackless Trail
The Radio Riddle
The Crimson Clue
Doorway of Disaster
When Time Stood Still
Riding the Whirlwind
Capsule of Oblivion
Hoofs of Horror [sic]

_Source:^[1]

References

^ Cline, William C. (1984). "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 204. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X.

External links

The Vanishing Legion at IMDb
The Vanishing Legion at AllMovie

Preceded by

King of the Wild (1931)

Mascot Serial
The Vanishing Legion (1931)

Succeeded by

The Galloping Ghost (1931)

Mascot serials

Silent serials
(1926-1929)

Sound serials
(1929-1935)

v t e Films directed by Ford Beebe
The Vanishing Legion (1931) The Pride of the Legion (1932) Law Beyond the Range (1935) The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935) The Man from Guntown (1935) Stampede (1936) Jungle Jim (1937) West Bound Limited (1937) Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938) The Phantom Creeps (1939) Oklahoma Frontier (1939) Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) The Green Hornet (1940) Son of Roaring Dan (1940) The Masked Rider (1941) Night Monster (1942) Frontier Badmen (1943) Enter Arsène Lupin (1944) The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944) Easy to Look At (1945) My Dog Shep (1946) Six-Gun Serenade (1947) Courtin' Trouble (1948) Shep Comes Home (1948) Texas Manhunt (1949) Satan's Cradle (1949) The Dalton Gang (1949) Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949) Bomba on Panther Island (1949) The Lost Volcano (1950) The Hidden City (1951) The Lion Hunters (1951) Elephant Stampede (1952) African Treasure (1952) Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952) Safari Drums (1953) The Golden Idol (1954) Killer Leopard (1954) Lord of the Jungle (1955)

Films directed by Ford Beebe

The Vanishing Legion (1931)
The Pride of the Legion (1932)
Law Beyond the Range (1935)
The Adventures of Rex and Rinty (1935)
The Man from Guntown (1935)
Stampede (1936)
Jungle Jim (1937)
West Bound Limited (1937)
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)
The Phantom Creeps (1939)
Oklahoma Frontier (1939)
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)
The Green Hornet (1940)
Son of Roaring Dan (1940)
The Masked Rider (1941)
Night Monster (1942)
Frontier Badmen (1943)
Enter Arsène Lupin (1944)
The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
Easy to Look At (1945)
My Dog Shep (1946)
Six-Gun Serenade (1947)
Courtin' Trouble (1948)
Shep Comes Home (1948)
Texas Manhunt (1949)
Satan's Cradle (1949)
The Dalton Gang (1949)
Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949)
Bomba on Panther Island (1949)
The Lost Volcano (1950)
The Hidden City (1951)
The Lion Hunters (1951)
Elephant Stampede (1952)
African Treasure (1952)
Bomba and the Jungle Girl (1952)
Safari Drums (1953)
The Golden Idol (1954)
Killer Leopard (1954)
Lord of the Jungle (1955)

v t e Films directed by B. Reeves Eason
The Adventures of Rex and Rinty After the Storm Alimony Madness Around the World in 18 Days The Assayer of Lone Gap The Barren Gain Behind Jury Doors The Big Adventure Black Arrow The Blot on the Shield Blue Montana Skies Blue Streak McCoy The Bluffers Call of the Yukon Clearing the Trail Colorado Competition Cornered The Crow Dance Hall Hostess Daredevil Drivers Darkest Africa The Day of Reckoning The Denver Dude The Desert Hawk Drawing the Line Empty Holsters The Exile of Bar-K Ranch A Fight to the Finish The Fighting Heart The Fighting Line The Fighting Marines Fighting the Flames Fighting Youth The Fire Eater Flashing Spurs The Flyin' Cowboy The Four-Bit Man Galloping Fury The Galloping Ghost Give Me Liberty A Good Business Deal Hair Trigger Stuff The Heart Punch Hearts in Shadow Held Up for the Makin's Her Resale Value His Last Race His Nose in the Book The Honor of the District Attorney The Honor of the Press Human Stuff In Trust The Jack of Hearts Johnny Get Your Hair Cut The Kid and the Cowboy The Kid Comes Back King of the Wild Land Beyond the Law The Lariat Kid The Last of the Mohicans The Law of the Wild The Little Lady Next Door Lone Hand Saunders The Lone Hand Matching Dreams Men of the Sky Midnight Morals The Miracle Rider The Moon Riders Mountain Mary Mountain Rhythm Murder in the Big House Murder on the Waterfront Mystery Mountain Neighbors' Wives 'Neath Canadian Skies The New Champion The Newer Way Nine-Tenths of the Law North of the Border Painted Ponies The Phantom The Phantom Empire Pink Tights The Poet of the Peaks The Prairie King Prairie Thunder Profit from Loss The Prospector's Vengeance A Question of Honor The Rattler's Hiss Red Courage Red River Valley Revenge at Monte Carlo Riding for Fame Rimfire Roaring Ranch Roughshod A Sanitarium Scramble Sergeant Murphy Service with the Colors The Shadow of the Eagle The Shadow on the Wall Shadows The Silver Lining The Smuggler's Cave The Solution to the Mystery The Spirit of Adventure Spurs Spy Ship The Substitute Minister The Sunset Trail The Tanks Are Coming The Tell Tale Wire The Test of Donald Norton The Texas Bearcat The Sign of the Claw Through Thick and Thin Tiger Thompson Time and Tide To Melody a Soul Responds To Rent Furnished A Trick of Hearts Trigger Fingers Trigger Tricks Truck Busters Two Kinds of Love Undersea Kingdom The Vanishing Legion Viviana The Wasp The Winged Horseman Women First

Films directed by B. Reeves Eason