The Oregon Trail

Take Johnny Mack Brown. Put him in a serial as a daring Indian scout. Add some wagon trains, a pretty heroine Hke Louise Stanley, ruthless villains like James Blaine and Jack C. Smith. Then throw in at least a hundred million Indians, and you have a lively, action-packed chapter play that even the adults will enjoy. Of course, the more intellectual souls who happen in will marvel at the superior quality of Louise Stanley's dress — it resists water, fire and other ravages and yet looks as fresh and clean at the end of the third episode as it did when the serial started. Many of the scenes in which the Indians appear look as though they had been clipped from old films — from an old Universal serial, "The Indians are Coming," for instance. Briefly, the serial deals with the efforts of fur syndicate racketeers in Oregon to prevent settlers from reaching Oregon and thus sharing in the fur industry. They'll be thwarted on every side, but by chapter 15 — or perhaps before — they'll get there — you can bet on that. If your patrons like serials, they'll surely take this one in their stride. Except for a few inconsistencies, which the average fan won't notice, it's thrilling, exciting stuff well done.