Burn 'Em Up Barnes

Very Little Rubber Burned
For such an early serial this kind of fun, but it really doesn't have very much auto racing. Most of the time our heroes are running around trying to keep the bad guys from destroying a movie film which proves the hero's innocence of murder, or a confession signed by the real killer, or the deed to valuable property. The cliffhangers are pretty weak, and there's a gigantic cheat at the end of Chapter 8: A plane crashes head-on into the ground, but in Chapter 9 it's sitting unscathed on the ground.

Mascot was one of the so-called "poverty row" studios, turning out lots of serials up until 1935, when Mascot merged with two other small studios to create Republic Studios. They had a lot of good people at Mascot, many of whom were very successful at Republic, but the quality of Mascot's output looks pretty crude today. This film was cut up quite a bit over the years, and there are places where the sound disappears for a few moments. Perhaps the most interesting part of this...

"Once upon a pair of wheels..."
BURN 'EM UP BARNES was originally a 1921 photoplay that starred Johnny Hines as a race car driver who was also a speed demon on city streets.

In ALPHA VIDEO's 12-part MASCOT PICTURES cliffhanger, this racer's been completely revamped-- he's no longer a disaffected son of wealth who sets off to find adventure, fame, fortune and love. Now, 'Burn-'em-Up' (Jack Mulhall) adopts the young brother (diminutive Frankie Darro) of a friend (James Bush) who's killed on the track.

He also goes into the transportation biz with a partner, bus company owner Marjorie Temple (Lola Lane). Marjorie has some land that she believes is worthless. It actually sits above millions in oil revenue. Our story's villain, promoter John Drummond (Jason Robards Sr.) knows this secret and will do whatever he must to secure ownership of the property.

Watch for brief appearances in episodes 1 and 7 from future...

burn em up
Sometimes old movies are not what they were. My fault for ordering things that i do not know more about

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