The Trigger Trio

Hoof n mouth disease is wrecking havoc amongst the ranchers and Tom Brent (Cornelius Keefe) plays the villain to the hilt when his cattle becomes infected. Great to see Mesquiteers Ray and Max with "Dick Tracy" and real-life WW II vet Ralph Byrd. Also great performances by WW I vets Hal Taliaferro and silent-film star Robert Warwick who played dad Evans. Sammy McKim who earned the Distinguished Service Cross medal during the Korean War, played a great role as Mickey Evans. Wish we would've seen more of Sandra Corday and Willie Fung in a great comic relief role. The hero St Bernard (Buck) had some wonderful scene stealing moments.

This film essentially begins with the news that several cows have been infected with the deadly hoof and mouth disease. Recognizing that this disease could easily kill all of the cattle in the area, "Tucson Smith" (Ray Corrigan) is temporarily appointed to help quarantine that area to prevent any horses or cattle from entering or leaving. To that end, even though his old "Three Mesquiteer" colleague named "Stony Brooke" (typically played by Bob Livingston) is temporarily unavailable, his other friend by the name of "Lullaby Joslin" (Max Terhune) remains by his side to help out. In addition to that, Tucson's younger brother "Larry Smith" (Ralph Byrd) is there to assist him as well. The problem, however, is that one particularly selfish rancher named "Tom Brent" (Cornelius Keefe) has a number of cattle currently infected with this disease and, rather than suffering a financial loss by having to destroy his entire herd, is secretly trying to move his cattle to market--regardless of whether his actions could affect anyone else. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay film which was lessened, to a certain degree, by the rather short running time of about 55 minutes. To that effect, some of the characters just weren't developed enough. Even so, this movie kept my attention for the most part, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.