Happy New Year 2024!

How time has flown since 2015 when Aventuras de Tom Tyler actively became involved in the search for Tom’s lost silent films and lost Monogram Pictures films. While 2023 has not seen any rediscovered lost films, progress has been made with the original website, and blog, as well as social media accounts with Twitter and Facebook. One thing which needs to be mentioned about 2024 is this: all of Tom Tyler’s silent films from 1928 enter public domain. Of the six silent films Tom made in 1928, the good news is, three of them plus a fragment have survived:

Phantom of the Range (1928)
The Texas Tornado (1928)
Terror Mountain (1928)
The Avenging Rider (1928) (fragment)

A note on “The Texas Tornado”: a complete version is stored at BFI.

If any readers of this blog own a complete print of “The Avenging Rider” or any other lost silent films/Monogram Pictures Tom Tyler has appeared in, please contact Aventuras de Tom Tyler – we would love to speak with you! The time has come for these silent films to be restored.

Collectibles: Tom Tyler and Cuentos Cinematograficos film booklets

The Cowboy Cop

One of the more elusive Tom Tyler Spanish film booklet collectibles are those published under the youth-targeted audience Cuentos Cinematograficos title, under the Biblioteca Films brand based in Barcelona, Spain. There are a total of four known booklets, three of them based on Tom’s silent films made for FBO, with the fourth being an interesting work of fiction, most likely as a marketing tactic to the public as a way of encouraging silent film patrons to view the latest cinematic exhibition.

At one point, a number of these silent film booklets were compiled and bound into a book, as with the one titled Cuentos del Cine. Interestingly enough, not all of the film books are under the Cuentos Cinematograficos title: some of the bound booklets were published under Biblioteca Infantil Cinematografica. Measuring 4 ¾” x 6 ¾” in size, the book has a brown fabric cover with Cuentos del Cine on the binding. Covers from the individual film booklets are left intact. Each cover for Cuentos Cinematograficos bears an illustration from a silent film scene in the colors red, brown, gray, black and white, with a mast across the top of each cover containing an illustration of Tom and his young pal Frankie Darro, with the words Tom Tyler, Chispita (a reference to Frankie), Vivales (a reference to Franki’s pet dog Napoleon). The three Tom Tyler silent films which appear under Cuentos Cinematograficos are: “La Fortuna del Bandido/The Masquerade Bandit”, “El Cowboy Policia/The Cowboy Cop”, and “Valor Salvaje/Cyclone of the Range”. It is worth noting that “El Cowboy Policia” was the first publication for Cuentos Cinematograficos, suggesting that Tom Tyler’s popularity would help get the new brand off the ground.

The Masquerade Bandit

Individually sold during their circulation time, these film booklets are derivatives from silent films starring the famous French actor Georges Biscot, Tom Mix, Tom Tyler, Jackie Coogan, Rin Tin Tin, Billy Sullivan, and many others. Like other issues of Cuentos Cinematograficos, instead of film stills being reproduced in the film booklets, sketches of the stills are used to illustrate the story.

Cyclone of the Range

A special edition booklet, “Una Aventura de Tom Tyler” is included, which appears to be a work of fiction, which of course includes Tom’s pal Frankie Darro from his silent film days. Unlike the regular covers designed for Cuentos Cinematograficos, this one shows a full-length shot of Tom Tyler on the cover, with some decoration in the publication name and story title. The singular noteworthy full-page sketch which is added to the story depicts Tom seated and being tied up by a group of men wearing white sheets over their heads with two holes cut out for the eyes, ghost-style. Such a story must have been an exciting treat for young fans of Tom Tyler, and like so many other ultra-rare Tom Tyler silent film collectibles, are sought after by serious collectors.

Upcoming special project for “The Cherokee Kid”

Coming up in 2024, our fourth installment of the lost Tom Tyler silent film reconstruction series, "The Cherokee Kid" (1927) with Sharon Lynn has been selected. As usual, the basis for this reconstruction will be the film's derivative published by Biblioteca Films. Existing copies of stills, promotional materials, and movie cards will be included in this project.

Once "The Cherokee Kid" is translated, it will be posted here on the Aventuras de Tom Tyler Blog plus social media pages.

Tom Tyler “Fast Bullets” (1936) to be released on Blu-ray!

I am very happy to announce that Tom Tyler’s starring western “Fast Bullets” from 1936 is finally being released on Blu-ray! This will be available from The Serial Squadron and can be ordered here at the price of only $6.99. This action-packed western also casts Rex Lease, Margaret Nearing, Al Bridge, George Chesebro, and Charles Whitaker. Filmed at the Walker Ranch in Santa Clarita, California, the film’s landscape evokes the Old West as it is meant to be remembered.

It is worth noting that this is the first of Tom’s B-westerns to see a Blu-ray release so hopefully this will set a precedent to have the rest of his B-westerns on Blu-ray, whether it be The Serial Squadron or another distributor. Many many thanks to Eric Stedman for his continuously dedicated and hard work not only on this film restoration but also for the many film serials he has worked on and made available to the public over the years.

Further updates can be found here as well as Mr. Stedman’s Facebook group The Serial Squadron.