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The Indians Are Coming
Directed by Henry MacRae
Starring Tim McCoy
Allene Ray
Edmund Cobb
Francis Ford
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) 1930
Running time 12 chapters
Country US flag 49 stars.svg [[|]]
Language English
Box office Almost $1,000,000[1]

The Indians Are Coming (1930) is a Universal movie serial based on the book The Great West That Was by William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The serial was the first "all-talking" (complete sound rather than a silent movie with occasional sound sections) film of its kind. It played at The Roxy Theatre and was responsible for saving the film serial format into the sound era.

Cast[]

  • Tim McCoy as Jack Manning
  • Allene Ray as Mary Woods
  • Edmund Cobb as Bill Williams
  • Francis Ford as George Woods / Tom Woods
  • Wilbur McGaugh as Rance Carter
  • Bud Osborne as Bull McGee
  • Charles F. Royal as Uncle Amos
  • Dynamite the Dog as Pal, the dog

Production[]

Along with Battling with Buffalo Bill (1931) this serial was based on "The Great West That Was" by William "Buffalo Bill" Cody.[2]

Release[]

Theatrical[]

The release of The Indians Are Coming was the first time a serial was given an "uptown" treatment. The serial played at The Roxy in New York City and had full runs across the country.[2]

According to Stedman, The Indians Are Coming earned a profit on "near" $1M.[1]

The success of the serial ended doom-mongering about the sound technology being the end of the serial format.[1] In the words of William C. Cline, it is "credited with reviving interest in what seemed to be a dying form of entertainment"[2] and proved that action could still be done with sound equipment.[2]

Critical reception[]

Stedman compares Tim McCoy's delivery to that of Adam West in the Batman television series but declares it restrained compared to other stars. He goes on to comment that "Only the dog managed not to fall victim to the natural tendency of actors groomed in the silent film to overplay when thrust into a talkie."[1]

Chapter titles[]

  1. Pals in Buckskin
  2. A Call to Arms
  3. A Furnace of Fear
  4. The Red Terror
  5. The Circle of Death
  6. Hate's Harvest
  7. Hostages of Fear
  8. The Dagger Duel
  9. The Blast of Death
  10. Redskin's Vengeance
  11. Frontiers Aflame
  12. The Trail's End

Source:[3]

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Stedman, Raymond William. "3. At This Theater Next Week". Serials: Suspense and Drama By Installment. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-0-8061-0927-5. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cline, William C.. "2. In Search of Ammunition". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X. 
  3. Cline, William C.. "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. pp. 202. ISBN 0-7864-0471-X. 

External links[]

Preceded by
Terry of the Times (1930)
Universal Serial
The Indians are Coming (1930)
Succeeded by
Finger Prints (1931)
Th UniversalMonsters This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at The Indians Are Coming.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Universal Monsters Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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