Riders of the Whistling SkullRepublic release of Nat Levine production. Directed by Mack V. Wright; screenplay by Oliver Drake and John Rathmell; story by Bernard McConville and Oliver Drake; camera Jack Marta; film editor Murray Seldeen. Running time 56 minutes.April 21, 1937:Best of the Mesquiteer prints to date, ‘Riders of the Whistling Skull’ is long of title import and packs a fairly hair-raising yarn for a western. Based on the book by Wm Colt MacDonald, its narrative concerns the hunt for a lost city of fabulous treasure in the southwest and the opposition put up by a torture cult which is the treasure guard. Mesquiteer trio gets interested in the search for two reasons--Livingston has been reading detective stories and Mary Russel, easy on the eyes, is pressing the search for her father who is doing a double--being lost in the lost city. Livingston and Corrigan play it straight and rate about evenly before the camera. Terhune comics with the help of his ventriloquial dummy and Fern Emmett. Roger Williams is the evil focal point, which is not definitely apparent until the reelage is half gone. Remainder of the cast spends much of the time looking scared and standing around speechless. Some eerie effects provided by the sound department in the skull scenes which does a great deal towards the buildup. Constant whistling of the wind through the holes in the rock high on the side of a ravine is a nice piece of work. This film will keep the kids on the front two inches of the seat, and will be found good entertainment by the elder action interest.
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