The Riders of the Whistling Skull

This film essentially begins with a young woman by the name of "Betty Marsh" (Mary Russell) coming out West in search of her father who has gone missing while searching for an ancient city rumored to have vast sums of gold. As luck would have it, while riding in that area, the Three Mesquiteers come upon an elderly man who was with Betty's father and just happens to have a book which contains directions to the lost city. Unfortunately, not long after regaining consciousness, the man is murdered and, as a result, the Three Mesquiteers, along with Betty and her companions, set off to find the lost city and rescue Betty's father. To get there, however, they not only have to travel through an extremely hostile territory, but they also have to contend with a murderer within their group who is willing to do whatever is necessary to have the gold all for himself. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, not counting three other films from other various studios, this was the 4th film in the Three Mesquiteers series produced by Republic Pictures. In that regard, like all of its predecessors, this movie has a rather short running time (approximately 58 minutes) as well. Admittedly, the acting is rather basic but, even so, the supernatural element adds a bit of suspense not normally found in any of the others (except possibly, "Ghost Town Gold") and, for that reason, I have rated the film accordingly. Average.

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.

Stuntman actor Ray Corrigan stars as one of the three mesquiteers in "Riders of the Whistling Skull". Costars Robert Livingston (Stony) and Max Terhune (Joslin) accompany him to Lukachuke, along with "Betty" (Mary Russell). The acting and story are very "B" feature, from Republic. They pack a lot into those 58 minutes, so no time for goofing around. Some great old scenery of Painted Canyons in Mecca California from the 1930s, but it's all pretty forced. The group travels into the hills to see what the heck happened to the archeology professor. Directed by Mack Wright, who had started in silents. Wright worked six times with John Wayne and six times with Gene Autry. It's all very okay.

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.

The Three Mesquiteers accompany an archeological expedition to a lost Indian city of gold called Lukachuke in a mystery western full of humour, intrigue and rollicking action, especially at the end with a landslide. It's called a horror-western but apart from the cursed lost city there isn't much horror. What there is is great landscape, a well-designed lost city and plenty of fun. Definitely top tier of its type.