Review of the “Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection” at PopMatters

Probably one of the best reviews of the “Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection” released by Undercrank Productions appears on the website PopMatters. Written by Michael Barrett, this is the type of review that briefly explores Tom’s ethnic background which I previously wrote about here back in 2017, in addition to information about Tom’s later career spanning from the late 1930’s until his death in 1953. Michael Barrett certainly did his homework while commenting on the plots of “Law of the Plains” and “The Man from Nevada”, citing historical context within recent memory of revolutions taking place in the former silent film, and Tom’s basic cowboy character in what otherwise seems to be routine westerns in the latter silent film.

Enjoy reading this silent film review of the “Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection” at PopMatters.

More reviews on The Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection

Scene from "Law of the Plains" 1929

The reviews for the “Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection” released by Undercrank Productions and now available on DVD and Blu-ray keep coming in! Comments overall are encouraging so far, especially with the silent film restoration quality of the picture, in addition to silent films made during the end of their era when synchronized sound films were being made, and the larger movie houses were being outfitted to play these new sound films. Small town neighborhood cinemas, however, were still many when it came to playing silent films, and Tom Tyler was a favorite when his silent westerns “The Man from Nevada” and “Law of the Plains”, both from 1929, disappeared from the silver screen.

Jeffrey Kauffman wrote a review at Blu-ray.com with a number of screencaps from “The Man from Nevada” and “Law of the Plains”. Nicholas Sheffo at Fulvue Drive-In website also wrote a review, minus screenshots but worth reading.

Finally, there is a five-star rating and review by M. J. Jensen on the Amazon product page for the “Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection” that is worth reading and sharing.

If you decide to purchase a copy of the “Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection”, please leave a rating and review for it at Amazon. Tom and I are looking forward to hearing what you have to say about this top-notch silent film restoration.

It’s here! The Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection Kickstarter

I am very happy to report that a Kickstarter has been launched by me to raise funds for the Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection! This silent film restoration project will be for the following two Tom Tyler silent films: “The Law of the Plains” and “The Man from Nevada”, both from 1929 and directed by J. P. McGowan.

Pledge $25.00 in U.S. dollars or more to this Kickstarter and you will receive a Blu-ray of these two silent films, shipped to anywhere in the world.

The official commercial release of “The Man from Nevada” and “The Law of the Plains” will be available on both Blu-ray and DVD from Undercrank Productions.

Please contribute to this Kickstarter and Share it across your social media pages, any film forums you are a member of, and tell your friends and family about it. Make this go viral!

Click the following link to view the Kickstarter and make your contribution!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/aventurasdetomtyler/the-tom-tyler-silent-film-collection

Celebrating another year of Aventuras de Tom Tyler: Milestones

 How time flies when life happens but Tom Tyler is part of that life! Another year has passed with the success of my Aventuras de Tom Tyler website and blog, not to mention an ever-increasing interest in Tom himself. As the saying goes, “If you build a website, they will come.” This article however is not about the many hours of research and work but rather a celebration of Tom Tyler – just like the site Aventuras de Tom Tyler is. Having said all this, here are the milestones which took place between 2015 and December 2021:

August 2015. The previously thought lost Monogram Pictures western “The Man from New Mexico” (1932) surfaced at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York.

September 2015. This milestone is the icing on the cake to date: Tom Tyler’s long thought lost serial made for Universal, “Jungle Mystery” (1932) surfaced, was restored, and exhibited at Cinecon the following year in September 2016. While this has not yet been released on DVD, the potential exists, which is important.

May 2016. The previously thought lost Syndicate Pictures silent film “The Man from Nevada” (1929) surfaced at the USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive.

December 2016. The Aventuras de Tom Tyler blog started. To date, it has 190 blog posts and over 30,000 post views total.

January 2017. A monthly newsletter was sent to those who signed up to receive it. The newsletter lasted for two years before going on hiatus due to time constraints.

June 2017. A second print of “The Man from Nevada” (1929) surfaced at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

August 2017. One of Tom Tyler’s silent films from 1928, “The Phantom of the Range”, made it to Youtube. The quality is not the best, the intertitles are in Castilian, and there is no music to accompany it. Correspondence with the poster of the video revealed it was from a 16mm rental film print in Madrid.

August 2017. “The Adventures of Captain Marvel” was released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber to coincide with the upcoming “Shazam!” 2018 action film starring Zachary Levi.

October 2017. The renowned Mixed Martial Arts reporter, Mike Radich interviews Tom Tyler’s biographer Mike Chapman and posted it on Youtube. 

May 2018. Two of Tom’s silent films made for FBO were removed from “7,200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films (1912-29)” published by the Library of Congress: “Lightning Lariats” (1927), plus a segment of "The Avenging Rider" (1928) have surfaced at Gosfilmofond in Moscow, Russia; “Cyclone of the Range” (1927) surfaced at Filmoteca Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

May 2019. Dario Lavia of Cineficción Radio and the Cinefania website mentions the Aventuras de Tom Tyler blog in his book, “Weird Western” Third Edition. The blog article “Lost in translation: How ‘Tyrant of Red Gulch’ became ‘The Sorcerer’ across the pond”  is listed under the entry for “Tyrant of Red Gulch”  (1928).

March 2021. Tom’s Universal serial “Phantom of the Air” (1933) was released on Blu-ray by VCI Entertainment.

I will also add the following: in 2022, more exciting milestones are to come. As usual, all and any new news on Tom Tyler and the rediscovering of his lost silent films will appear on this blog.

An enormous thank you to everyone who has visited Aventuras de Tom Tyler since its inception in 2015, this blog, and social media pages. Because Tom Tyler is worth it. 

Happy New Year 2021!

As Aventuras de Tom Tyler enters its seventh year of operation from its rather modest start back in January 2015 – and plenty of attention from fans around the globe, some new projects regarding Tom Tyler are planned for 2021 (originally for 2020 before the pandemic took a substantial chunk out of the year). The quarantined time allowed me to give attention to Tom’s lost film search, communicate with his biographer Mike Chapman, as well as his nephew Ray Slepski. I will be forever grateful for the privilege of speaking with Tom’s family and sharing in some fabulous memories of Tom at the height of his career.

For the regular visitors to the website, chances are you’ve already noticed the homepage is updated. I also plan on translating more Spanish film booklets to English like the recent “Red Hot Hoofs” (1926) as time permits.

I do want to thank everyone for their support, including all Tom Tyler fans on social media, regular blog readers and site visitors. Let’s make the year 2021 the best one for Tom Tyler yet!