Texas Ranger Tom Tyler: A review of “Fast Bullets” 1936 on Blu-ray

Blu-rays of low budget westerns from the 1930’s are a rarity, although the recent release of “Fast Bullets” (1936) from The Serial Squadron is a milestone for a couple of reasons. One, it remains the very first Blu-ray release for a Tom Tyler starring western from that decade, and two, it marks one hundred years since Tom made his first appearance in a silent film: “Three Weeks” from 1924, an MGM romantic drama based on the Elinor Glyn novel of the same name.

It is hard to believe that 2024 marks the one-hundred-year anniversary of Tom Tyler’s career, considering his start was in silent film, and remained so up until 1930 when the last of the silent film theatres were transitioning to synchronized sound. Even more rare was the handful of western stars making silent films being successful in signing contracts with production studios while the majority saw their film careers end with the advent of synchronized sound. Luckily, “Fast Bullets” is one of Tom’s low-budget westerns which has plenty of action, rugged western scenery, and fist fighting.

“Fast Bullets” opens with Tom as a Texas Ranger, interrogating a member of a gang headed by Al Bridge who is considered responsible for the murder of two other Rangers. With the permission from his superior, played by William Gould, Tom and his colleague Robert Walker leave on a mission to Red Rock Canyon near the Mexican border to avenge the deaths of their fellow officers. Their job is to round up the criminal gang headed by Al Bridge, a regular heavy in Tom’s westerns from the 1930’s. Spying and chasing two of the gang members on horseback, Tom finally catches them, and with the help of Walker, brings them in. Yet one of the men, Rex Lease, escapes, to which Tom soon discovers is making breakfast over an open campfire. Tom initially calls Lease a kid, even though there is a slight age difference between the two men in real life, Rex being older than Tom by seven months. As they eat bacon sandwiches, Tom speaks with him about turning his life around and engage in honest living. With the help of his new friend, Tom is introduced to Al Bridge, who also happens to be the owner of the El Camino Cantena. When Bridge sees a demonstration of Tom’s prowess with a gun, he addresses Lease, saying “Your pal certainly carries fast bullets”, from which the film title is derived.

Tom discovers why Lease and his sister, played by Margaret Nearing confide everything in each other, no matter what the situation might be. She is a working girl, often dancing at the cantina to the tune of playing fiddles to entertain the male customers. Her admiring audience never seems to lose sight of her gams, her blond hair perfectly coiffed. Once Tom takes sight of Nearing, he becomes interested in her on a personal level. Trapping Bridge and his henchmen, a clever ambush is created by the Texas Rangers using mannequin dummies to catch the criminals off guard and arrest them.

Comparable to the Canadian Mounties, the Texas Rangers are a formidable group of tough, rugged men who always manage to achieve their mission. As Tom, Lease and Nearing sit around a campfire listening to the fiddle music playing at twilight, Lease is proud to be a new member of the Texas Rangers, working beside Tom, who is now married to Nearing.

Directed by Henri Samuels and written by Jay J. Bryan and Carl Krusada, “Fast Bullets” was filmed at the Walker Ranch nestled in Placerita Canyon in Santa Clarita, California. Tom Tyler is every inch the fighter against Charles Whitaker and Charles King, henchmen for Bridge, and it is always fun to see Tom take on guys who are physically bigger than he is. Of note is the shirt Tom wears, the side zippers instead of an open front button-down western shirt more commonly worn during his silent film years.

The Serial Squadron includes a colorized version of “Fast Bullets” as well as the original black and white on the Blu-Ray, giving Tom blue eyes instead of his brown eyes, perhaps as a form of poetic license. The scan for this film print was painstakingly cleaned up to a crisp, sharp picture with few vertical lines during the first few minutes of the western. There are a total of four extras on the Blu-ray, one which is a cartoon preceding “Fast Bullets”: a Looney Tunes black and white cartoon from 1930 featuring the character Bosko; a detailed history of “The Captain Marvel Chronology” which features the history of the superhero through the Tom Tyler serial, up to modern day; the first chapter of the Gene Autry serial “The Phantom Empire” co-starring Frankie Darro, Tom Tyler’s co-star during his silent film years; and a live action-stop motion animation Charley Bowers short, “The Metal Eating Bird” which is a bit of a novelty.

Overall, “Fast Bullets” remains one of Tom Tyler’s best oaters, the Blu-ray is worth purchasing through The Serial Squadron website if only for its uniqueness in being the only release to date of one of Tom’s B-westerns. For Tom Tyler fans, it is a must have, and should encourage the further release of his starring westerns fully restored in Blu-ray format, which is long overdue.

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.

On Location: The Walker Cabin in “Call of the Desert”

After Tom Tyler wrapped up his final silent film for FBO in 1929, he sought work with another studio, J. P.  McGowan Productions. Luckily for Tom, he signed a new contract for eight silent films to be distributed by Syndicate Pictures. The filming location for these eight silent films was at Santa Clarita, California. One of the most notable buildings in Santa Clarita that appears in these silent films is the Walker Cabin. Located on the Walker Ranch in Placerita Canyon, the cabin became a popular filming location for many western films from 1930 to the 1940’s.

Tom Tyler and Bobby Dunn standing in front of the Walker Cabin

In the 1930 silent film “Call of the Desert”, the Walker Cabin is where Tom is carried by Hardrock (Bobby Dunn) and Nate (Cliff Lyons) into Jean Walker's (Sheila Le Gay) ranch home where she lives with her uncle Tod (Bud Osborne), to nurse him back to health. Not coincidentally, the character names who reside at the Walker Ranch bear the Walker name, to give the story a feel of authenticity. With the spacious living room and set of books on the large square table, the bedroom where Tom quietly recovers from being struck ill while out on the desert trying to make his way to the spot in Placerita Canyon where his father left the gold claim for his son, the Walker Cabin is a vision of comfort and friendliness, the way a ranch home would be to a needy stranger, Rex Carson (Tom Tyler). The town center which has its gold claim recorder and other local offices, along with a horse rental business, is comprised of other cabins on the Walker Ranch.

The Walker Ranch was established by Frank Evans Walker, who was the region’s first homesteader. He built the family cabin in 1909 so that it could be surrounded by the oak trees, near a seasonal stream lined with idyllic willow and sycamore trees. It was not long before their ranch grew to include more cabins, primarily to house local gold panners. It should be mentioned that it was at this location where the first gold in California was discovered. This camp included picnic tables, stoves, barbecues, and full housekeeping amenities for those who decided to stay for extended periods, searching for gold. Sadly, the first Walker cabin burned down in 1918, but Frank built a new one which became the filming location for “Call of the Desert” and “Canyon of Missing Men”.  Upon taking into consideration the westerns made during Hollywood’s early years, Frank Walker rented out his ranch to filmmakers, which brought in income to help feed his family of twelve children and keep the mining camp in operation until the 1950’s. Many a famous western actor set foot upon the Walker Ranch for filming: William S. Hart, who was also a neighbor of Frank Walker; Buck Jones, Tim McCoy, John Wayne, Bob Steele, and many others. The earliest silent film shot at Walker Ranch was in 1928 – meaning that Tom Tyler was among the first silent film actors to set foot on the famous property. In 1950, Placerita Canyon State Park was established, its ownership being under Los Angeles County.

While the multiple cabins on the Walker Ranch no longer exist, the good news is, the existing Walker Cabin has been restored so that visitors to the park might see what it looked like during Hollywood’s western silent film days.