Wyoming Outlaw

During the course of Republic Studio's Three Mesquiteer series, the composition of this do-gooding trio changed regularly. It changed so often it's hard to keep track of the three actors and the best way to follow the cast change is to look at the excellent Wikipedia article about these films. While he only appeared in about a half dozen of these movies, John Wayne was one of the actors who played 'Stony'....and these Mesquiteer films are a tad better than the rest.

"Wyoming Outlaw" is one of the strangest Mesquiteer films I have seen, if not the strangest. This is because the trio seem more like observers of the action instead of doing what they usually do...solve folks' problems. It also has an incredibly downbeat message...one that must have annoyed audiences, though I appreciated it because all too often the films had nice, happy....and dull endings!

This story finds a senator taking advantage of the folks in his district. Unless people 'voluntarily' contribute to his re-election fund, they suddenly find themselves without jobs or at his henchmen's mercy. The Parker family tries to stand up to these mobsters and the Mesquiteers stand with them.

This film is interesting for some of the actors appearing in the film. Aside from the Mesquiteers (Wayne, Ray Corrigan and Raymond Hatton), 'Red' Barry, Charles Middleton and Elmo Lincoln provide support. Barry was famous for starring in the Red Ryder series, Middleton was 'Ming the Merciless' in the Buck Rogers serial and Lincoln was the screen's first Tarzan, back in 1918.

Overall, a very good installment simply because it isn't all neatly tied up at the end and good doesn't completely triumph over evil.

An American Western; A story about a trio of cowboys who bring their herd to a Wyoming town and end up investigating local political corruption when a thief is subjected to wicked deception. This 'B' movie, set during the Great Depression, is based on characters known as "The Three Mesquiteers" from a series of Western novels by William Colt MacDonald and billed as such for a series of films. Each episode would blend the traditional Western period with the topical issues of the day. This installment is based on a well-publicised real-life incident about a would-be modern Robin Hood who escaped the law and, while hiding in the Wyoming hills, was shot by a citizen. The story is trite, a routine oater, though more serious in tone for the series. John Wayne makes it a show with his feisty persona, albeit from a reduced on-screen presence, and Don 'Red' Barry is compelling as a hopeless, desperate outlaw. The ending is abrupt and spoils what is a good final act.

Will Parker has been destroyed by a local politician and now must steal to feed his family. He steals a steer from the Three Mesquiteers.

Usually a Three Mesquiteers series is snappy and fun but this instalment is poignant and grim. It's backdrop is the dust bowl period. The three Mesquiteers try to stop a crooked politician and prevent a kid - a victim of corruption- from turning into an outlaw which turns into a tragic event. Don Barry as the outlaw acts really well. It's an efficient western, but the least fun. I prefer the mesquiteers in the thick of things, fighting the bad guys, and I like a happy ending.

Wyoming Outlaw (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The Three Mesquiteers (w/John Wayne) are trying to save the life of a Robin Hood type (Donald Barry) who has taken it upon himself to try and bring down a town dictator who is forcing the poor to pay for jobs and has banned hunting so that they can't eat. This film in the series is really no better or worse than any other "B" Western but it does have a strong benefit of featuring a terrific performance by Barry who easily steals the show. He manages to be a very likable Robin Hood character and also gets mounds of sympathy due to Barry's performance. The rest is all pretty much standard stuff but having seen over one hundred Wayne films I must say his weakest fight is in this film, which includes him fighting a beanpole of a man who's probably two feet shorter than him.

Wyoming Outlaw is one of the most unusual entries in the Three Mesquiteers series of films. John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, and Raymond Hatton are not the center of the film. The center is Donald 'Red' Barry who plays young outlaw Will Parker who gets befriended by the Mesquiteers even though he tries to steal a steer from them.

This Mesquiteer film is set in the modern west of the dustbowl and has some themes that John Wayne later used in McLintock. During the World War, the cattle country was converted to wheat and after the demand from Europe subsided after World War I a lot of farm land was left arid and abandoned. That is exactly what happened to American agriculture in the boom period of the Roaring Twenties where the farmers did not share the prosperity.

Along comes the New Deal and a lot of local political bosses took advantage of government relief programs to entrench themselves in power. Such a boss is played by LeRoy Mason who was one of the shrewdest villains I've ever seen in a western. In fact during the course of the film, Mason really outsmarts our heroes at every turn as they try to bring him down legally.

Anyway though the Mesquiteers are really subordinate to Red Barry who's tired of having his family exploited by Mason and his gang. Circumstances make him turn outlaw and the chase for him is reminiscent of High Sierra a year later. In fact the just as Humphrey Bogart is referred to as Mad Dog Earle, Barry is called Mad Dog Parker by the radio and print media of the time.

High Sierra was an A film for Warner Brothers and this was just a quickie B western that probably didn't get too much notice. It's a pity that the production values were those of a B film because the story was very well done.

This is one of the few John Wayne Three Mesquiteer films that is not available on VHS or DVD. When TCM shows it again, catch it by all means.