Aufstand in Santa Fé

"Santa Fe Stampede" is one of many Three Mesquiteers films made by Republic in the late 30s and early forties. The trio in this outing consisted of John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune. For Wayne, this was the third of eight Three Mesquiteer films he appeared in and was his final "B" western series prior to his emergence as a major star.

As usual the title of the movie bears little or no resemblance to the plot of the picture. The "Santa Fe" of the title is "Santa Fe Junction" and there is no stampede to be found, or for that matter, no cattle.

What the film does have is a great cast. Wayne, Corrigan and Terhune look comfortable in their hero roles. Former silent screen star William Farnum, with his stage trained voice and elocution, plays the boys' friend and partner. The chief villain is played by Republic's busiest bad guy of the period, LeRoy Mason. In his gang of henchmen are such "B" western stalwarts as Charlie King, Bud Osborne and Dick Alexander. Tom London also appears as a marshal.

In the video I watched, issued by Republic Pictures Home Video there are three minutes cut out. The key scene deleted involves the fate of the Farnum character and his young daughter, which some must have thought was too disturbing for young audiences. But I do not understand why the video didn't contain the complete version.

Nevertheless, "Santa Fe Stampede" is a good way to spend an hour.

William Farnum sends for The Three Mesquiteers to help him save his mining claim who some unscrupulous townspeople are trying to get a hold of. The villains are headed by town mayor LeRoy Mason.

Mason proves to be a most resourceful villain. He kills Farnum and his little daughter and frames Wayne for the murder. When it looks like the Duke and Crash and Lullaby are going to get out of the frame, he gets a lynch mob going.

This is the second film that I've seen where the Duke was the object of a lynch mob. In Range Law where he's also accused of murder, he's almost lynched as well. Marshal Buck Jones saves him in that one.

LeRoy Mason played a lot of western villains and he gives the Mesquiteers a run for their money. He thinks pretty fast on his feet and it's a less nervy member of his own gang that ruins all his plans.

How does Wayne get out of it? All I can say it's a rescue worthy of some of the serial cliffhangers.

This film essentially begins with the Three Mesquiteers heading over to see an old friend named "Dave Carson" (William Farnum) who lives out in the country with his three children. Upon their arrival, Dave tells them that he has just struck gold, but hasn't registered his claim yet. Unfortunately, while he is telling them of his strike, two cowboys sent to spy on him have overheard what he has said and, upon being detected, grab the nearest horses and hurriedly ride off. Naturally, the Three Mesquiteers and Dave immediately give chase but, although they manage to catch one of the horse thieves, the other one escapes and reports this news to his boss "Mayor Gil Byron" (LeRoy Mason). To that effect, once Dave and the Three Mesquiteers ride into town with their prisoner, the mayor has already convinced "Judge Henry J. Hixon" (Ferris Taylor) to free the suspect and, to further add insult to injury, the crooked judge fines the Three Mesquiteers $100 apiece for daring to protest. Infuriated with this ruling, the Three Mesquiteers convince a number of local townspeople to sign a petition to the territorial governor asking for an investigation on those who control the city hall. Unfortunately, when Mayor Byron hears about this, he sends his men to stop the petition from being delivered--and he doesn't care who he has to kill in the process. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be one of the better films in the Three Mesquiteers series as it contained a bit more drama and suspense than some of the others. I especially liked the performance of LeRoy Mason who added a certain amount of menace to the overall plot. Be that as it may, although this film is somewhat dated, I still enjoyed it for the most part, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

This was a definite look back at the past when John Wayne was very young and starting out on a great career in films. There really is no stampede, except the bad guys trying to blame Stony Brooke, (John Wayne) for a crime he did not commit. However, the local town people want justice and are convinced that Stony is responsible for this crime and must pay for it. Stony is put in jail and his lady friend, Nanvy Carson visits him while the jail is set on fire and they are both destined to die in the blaze. Tucson Smith,(Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin, (Max Terhune) try to come to his rescue. Lullaby Joslin is also a ventriloquist and there are some funny scenes with his dummy talking and making jokes. If you look real close, you will see the famous villain of all Western Films, Charlie King. Great John Wayne Classic film, enjoy.

Stony, Tucson, and Lullaby riding hard again as The Mesquiteers is all the action you need in this classic Republic film. The boys start off with helping Dave Carson, played by silent film star William Farnum with his goldmine grubstake. LeRoy Mason brilliantly plays the mayor with a band of henchmen, a crooked sheriff, lawyer, and judge have some other ideas. And these are the creme of the crop henchman and B western stalwarts including, Richard Alexander, Yakima Canutt, George Chesebro, and Charles King. Singer, dancer, actress June Martel is stunning as Nancy Carson holding the fort after the runaway buckboard disaster. Martin Spellman shows his great child acting skills and is ever ready to mix it up with the villains. The superb acting and non-stop action is all you need in this one. A stampede would've gotten tired out trying to keep up with everything going on in this film anyway.