The Riders of the Whistling Skull

The Three Mesquiteers (Stony, Tucson, & Lullaby) ride with a band of explorers searching for Professor Marsh an archeologist, the father of the female lead, who has discovered a lost city with hidden treasure, but who has been held by a prisoner by an Indian tribe, who has killed Marsh's partner, through a traitor amid the archeology party. Its up to the Mesquiteers to discover the villain among them and save the party from thirst and the murderous rampage of the tribe. Very enjoyable 3M film with nice emphasis of the comradery between the three friends, and also gives a nice glimpse of the style Republic used in their westerns and serials set out west. Wright's direction is quicker than what else I've seen of him, but he rushes through the end which is the drawback of the film. Nice location shooting in Nevada, and a good supporting cast make this one a winner. Rating, based on B westerns, 9.

The Riders Of The Whistling Skull is The Three Mesquiteers best and most famous adventure and the best B-western of the nineteen-thirties, with more action, thrills, and suspense in it's fifty-three minutes than in all twelve chapters of some of Republic Pictures' serials!

The story involves the Three Mesquiteers and their search for the missing father of a pretty archaeologist, kidnapped by a sinister Indian cult after discovering the lost city of Lukachukai and it's treasure, all surrounding the creepy rock formation known as The Whistling skull.

This is first rate all the way with great locations and lots of weird touches like the cult's ritual dance (with a young Iron Eyes Cody in attendance) and the "mummy" who stands up and brandishes a knife!

I recommend this heartily to fans of B-westerns and to people who want to witness the best that the genre has to offer.

I was never a western fan. It was made worse when we first got cable back in 1976 and several of the stations were heavily running the black and white programmers where only the names changed slightly from film to film. What ever it was never hooked me into liking westerns. John Wayne was never a favorite of mine as a result.

But as time went on I did find I will watch a western now and again and have raved about several, Unforgiven, Tombstone and Silverado for example, when really good ones come along.

But I've never been a fan of the genre, so when Sinister promised something different in their catalog I jumped.

The film is one of the Three Mesquiteer series that came from a a long running series of novel and was turned into a long running series of films. John Wayne was one of the original trio of ranch hands who do good in the West.

The plot involves an expedition to find a lost Indian city and a lost pair of scientists who earlier went looking for it. Supposedly its located in a Whistling Skull. Just as the party is to leave one of the scientists shows up speaks of finding the city and being taken prisoner only to be killed before revealing the exact location. The Mesquiteers, who had found the now dead scientist, tag along as the party sets out in order to find the city and the one remaining scientist.

The movie moves like the wind, running in this print only 53 minutes, and has just about every western cliché you can think of and then some. Assuming you haven't seen a bunch of these in a while its worth seeing, and even if you have seen a bunch of these its still fun.

Its simply a fun frantic mystery western, recommended.

Oliver Drake is one of my script-writing heroes, but his work here is just not up to his usual standard. Much of the story doesn't quite hold together, and, besides, it looks like somebody's idea for a serial after somebody (Pappy Yates?) changed his mind.

However, it does star the Three Mesquiteers, and all three get a chance to shine.

In fact, Crash Corrigan even gets to remove his shirt. (What a gorgeous specimen he was, even still when I met him, just a month before he died. He started as a physical fitness expert and continued to take care of himself.)

Probably the best way to enjoy "Riders of the Whistling Skull" is to ignore the story and appreciate the action, of which there is plenty, and the scenery, including the Whistling Skull of the title.

Yakima Canutt is present so you know there will be lots of stunts, and some very good ones.

Another reviewer mentions the "comradery" among the three and it's true there is almost no friction this time, except for a little joshing.

Lullaby, in an interesting change, ends up with a lady, but "ends up" surely means only till the next entry in the series.

It's a rather weak 3M movie, but the series itself was always uneven, with different eras and different roles for the heroes. Still, it's a pleasant enough way to spend about an hour.

Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A woman's father goes missing looking for a lost Indian city. Soon a survivor from the exploration shows up with bizarre terrors so The Three Mesquiteers (Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune) agree to help the woman search for her father and the lost city.

RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL often gets called the best "Western- horror" film but that's a bit of a stretch. I'm not going to challenge it being called the best of its sub-genre but at the same time, to be honest, there aren't too many horror elements, although the haunting and curse of the lost city is enough to make it of slight interest to horror fans who might not other wise watch a film with The Three Mesquiteers.

With that said, for the most part this is a pretty entertaining Western as Livingston, Corrigan and Terhune are all in fine form and Mary Russell is also good in her role as the daughter. The supporting players contain some very bad performances but nothing to take away from the entertainment. There are several nice action scenes and of course several scenes where our heroes are in peril and have to find a way out.

I thought the stuff dealing with the lost city was handled well. RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL isn't going to be mistaken for the work of John Ford but it's entertaining.