Red River Range

Over the course of the Three Mesquiteers series, the lineup changed all the time. The three cowboys featured in each film never was constant...and in this case John Wayne joins the more familiar Mequiteers (Tex Terhune and Ray Corrigan...who played in quite a few more films in the series). The series was enjoyable...and neither great nor poor. Compared to most B-westerns of the day, they were a bit better than average.

In this story, the Mesquiteers are, as usual, undercover agents working for the side of nicenss. They've arrived in town to investigate an insanely organized cattle rustling scheme...one that has a portable slaughterhouse that immediately processes the beef and cuts out the middleman. Can our handsome Mequiteers...and Max...manage to get to the bottom of all this?

This film is pretty typical of a Mesquiteer film, even with Wayne in the lead and the guys going undercover. As usual, Terhune whips out Elmer...his ventriloquist dummy!! I can't stand this and audiences back in the day must have groaned when they saw a couple dummies among the crime-fighters!

This film begins with cattle ranchers reporting that a significant number of their cattle have been stolen with no clues being left behind as to who might have taken them or how they were taken. Everything is a mystery. To that effect, not knowing where else to turn, the ranchers petition the governor for assistance and, rather than sending one investigator, he sends the Three Mesquiteers to check it out. To their surprise, once they arrive, they meet a friend named "Tex Reilly" (Kirby Grant) who has been hired by a private company to also investigate the situation. What none of them realize, however, is that the cattle rustlers have not only adopted an innovative system to avoid detection, but they also have a high-ranking member from the local town on their side who provides them with enough inside information to stay one step ahead. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay addition to the Three Mesquiteers series with John Wayne once again performing in the role of "Stony Brooke." Additionally, both Ray Corrigan (as "Tucson Smith") and Max Terhune ("Lullaby Joslin") also reprise their roles as well. Yet in spite of the solid performances of both John Wayne and Ray Corrigan, the film suffered--once again--from the exceedingly corny comic relief provided by Max Terhune. Maybe it's just me, but I don't find his ventriloquist act to be very entertaining. Be that as it may, although I don't consider this particular film to be one of the better additions to the series, I suppose it passed the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

No matter what film John Wayne appears in he's always interesting to watch. Besides the fact that as an actor he was used by novelists and directors to reinvent the American west, as a personality he was endearing to watch, especially in this film where he is more important than the storyline.

AMC just premiered this film on their network. One can see that it came from a well cared for 35mm print. It appears the picture and sound were digitally mastered. It looked great in all its sweeping black and white glory. It is the best print I have ever seen of this film and compares very favorable to the other prints of this series shown on AMC.

Personally, I like John Wayne as an actor in this series of films as Stony Brook then the A pictures he would soon start to make. Who cannot like that corny dummy Elmer. There is a kind of humor in these movies made by Republic that I have never seen from any other studio. My gut feeling is that it is a Americana feeling, and I like that. As in PALS OF THE SADDLE, Wayne's character as Killer Madigan is right on target while being slightly offbeat and wonderful at the same time.

Great music, sound effects,humor and a rousing adventure make this a nifty film.

An American Western; A story about organized cattle rustlers who are operating with portable slaughterhouses and refrigerator vans. The governor asks a trio of cowboys from Mesquite County, Texas to go undercover to investigate. This installment of The Three Mesquiteers, based on the characters created by William Colt MacDonald, has the heroes in a modern day setting and it has John Wayne in a charismatic turn in a fast moving adventure. It is a low-budget production with a very straightforward plot and characteristic chases and shoot-outs. There isn't much tension build up in the conflict with the rustlers but there are some funny moments including John Wayne being told how to ride a horse and pretending he cannot. The film setting and location photography is arguably the redeeming point of this B-movie, it's running time another.