Gunsmoke Ranch

Watching this movie at classiccinemaonline.com is probably not the best way to see it, but it beats the heck out of not seeing it.

My connection (DSL) created some jumpiness, but there was still a lot of quality visible, from a story by the great Oliver Drake, to directing by the equally great Joseph Kane.

Of course the Three Mesquiteers, the almost original threesome (Terhune, Corrigan, Livingston), are nearly always watchable, so the ingredients are there for a very good movie.

To be honest, I rated it higher than I felt what I saw deserved, with my jumpy connection and the abysmal attempts at "comedy," but, still, it's the Mesquiteers and Drake and Kane, and some great stunt work (the unsurpassed Yakima Canutt) and great camera angles, and what was apparently great stock footage in spots, and an exciting score by the great Raoul Kraushaar.

With all that, it is definitely a must-see for western fans, for Republic fans, and for Mesquiteers fans. And for Kraushaar fans, including me.

Pretty funny-bad Western here, which feature that all-time famous (sarcasm) trio, The Three Mesquiteers, as they help people who have just escaped a flood (which caused DESOLATION, PESTILATION and FAMINE, (so say the cue cards). They are offered ranch land in Arizona by a unscrupulous shyster, and it's up to the three to make sure Justice Is Served! So in less in an hour, we have laughably bad fights, a joke of a song, scary stunt handling, a guy doing a non-stop comedy routine with a dummy, and rather offensive jibes at stuttering people. All this, and this rather curious confusion with the 1930's wardrobe mixed in with western drag. Highly strange, but not really worth your time.

I'm sure this particular Three Mesquiteer film resonated well with people in the dust bowl. Though it's not The Grapes Of Wrath, Gunsmoke Ranch is about people dispossessed from their land and at the mercy of one ruthless conman.

People have been flooded out of their homes in the Mississippi Valley and have headed west for a new start as they've taken an option on land in the far west. Robert Livingston, Ray Corrigan, and Max Terhune however know the man behind the scheme and its Kenneth Harlan who they know to be a conman.

Harlan runs true to form and when the new arrivals have made sufficient improvements he plans to sell the land to the state for a new dam and he can get a lot more back on improved land.

I'm sure that every farmer who was dispossessed of his land due to flood or drought or whatever wanted to kill Harlan who watched this film in 1937. Very rarely do B westerns deal with modern relevant topics and this one is not only good but a rarity.

Republic's Three Mesquiteers series (51 in all) was popular in its day and remains one of the most memorable of them all. Based on characters created by William Colt MacDonald who in turn was inspired by the original Three Musketeers from the classic 19th century novel by Alexandre Dumas, the idea is: One for all and all for one. The cowboy trio usually consisted of a lover, a scrapper, and a jokester. Robert Livinston starred in the series from the beginning as the dashing man on the white horse Stony Brooke. He appeared in 39 of the 51 features. He was spelled for awhile by none other than John Wayne himself, before the Duke made a splash with "Stagecoach." Ray "Crash" Corrigan was Tucson Smith from the beginning of the series in 1936. He ultimately portrayed the "middle cowboy" in 24 outings. In the first of the Three Mesquiteers films, Syd Saylor played Lullaby Joslin. After only one film, Saylor was replaced by Max Terhune, who had an unusual talent for a comical sidekick. He was a ventriloquist. Elmer the dummy became somewhat of a 4th Mesquiteer, or was Terhune the dummy?...never mind. This trio stayed together for fourteen movies (1936-1938). "Gunsmoke Ranch" was their fifth oater. These Three Mesquiteers are the ones most fans remember best.

As with many Hollywood films from the days of the Great Depression, Roosevelt's New Deal is promoted. Keeping it as apolitical as possible, no mention is made of FDR or any of his programs. Flood control and with it cheap electricity was one of the main planks in Roosevelt's restructuring of the American economy. A devastating flood forces farmers to pull up steaks and head for Gunsmoke Valley, Arizona, where they can start anew on land each bought from the unscrupulous Realtor and land developer Phineas T. Flagg (even the name sounds lowdown and mean), played with verve by Kenneth Harlan. Naturally one of the farmers has a beautiful daughter, Marion (Jean Carmen). It doesn't take Stony long to start drooling and howling at the moon. Tucson and Lullaby do their best to thwart their saddle pal's efforts to win the damsel's hand. The farmers discover that the land has been condemned so the government can flood it when a dam is built. To keep the farmers from being swindled out of their land, the Three Mesquiteers take charge. There lies the rest of the movie.

There's usually plenty of action in any Republic shoot-'em-up. This one is no exception, except most of the action comes with a big shootout near the end with lots of dare devil stunts. Yakima Canutt is on hand to make sure all the tricks of the trade are utilized to make the action exciting and realistic. Canutt even plays one of the henchmen. He's the one who throws the first egg during the big street brawl.

By this time, the singing cowboy craze was taking off. A popular radio singer and recording artist named Gene Autry was beginning to change the direction of B westerns by always performing many of his songs, or introducing new ones, in his films. To roll with the flow Stony attempts to sing a ballad called "When the Campfire is Low on the Prairie." Needless to say, Gene didn't have a thing to worry about. Fans were quick to throw water on the campfire. Not until Roy Rogers (and to some extent Tex Ritter) began plying his trade did Gene have any serious rival. One song that Gene sang early in his career, "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine," is used briefly in the film during the social gathering just before Stony sings. The old standard "When You and I Were Young, Maggie" is a sing-a-long near the beginning of the flick.

Lullaby and his dummy Elmer are satisfactory in the humor department but a couple of clowns billed as Oscar and Elmer are lame by today's standards and that's being kind. Elmer's character is now politically incorrect. Audiences who saw this when it was first released probably found Oscar and Elmer hilarious. Several comedians in those days used stuttering as a gimmick to get laughs. Porky Pig is a classic example of utilizing stuttering to provoke laughter. Even as late as 1992 Austin Pendleton cracked up viewers with his stuttering in "My Cousin Vinny."

There should be more action and less talk and romance in "Gunsmoke Ranch," but it's still worthwhile for B western fans. Those who enjoy the Three Mesquiteers should find this entry acceptable, though not up to par for the series.

After a devastating flood wipes out the farms and homes of a large area in the Midwest, a man by the name of "Phineas T. Flagg" (Kenneth Harlan) appears and offers to sell them prime land in Arizona for an extremely cheap rate. Not realizing how deceptive this man has been in the past, the local people take him up on his offer and sell everything they have to purchase the deeds to these lands from him. Sure enough, once they finally arrive in Arizona, they learn that the land they just purchased is about to be flooded due to the construction of a dam and that the contract they signed leaves them no option to negotiate with the federal government about it. Fortunately, there just happens to be three cowboys named "Tucson Smith" (Ray Corrigan), "Stony Brooke" (Robert Livingston) and "Lullaby Joslin" (Max Terhune) in that part of Arizona who are wise to Phineas T. Flagg and know how to deal with conmen like him. But the question soon becomes whether these "Three Mesquiteers" will be able to help these settlers before the federal government floods the area and leaves them homeless again. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I was somewhat disappointed with this film for a couple of reasons. For starters, I don't particularly care that much for the comedic antics of Lullaby Joslin and this film featured him way too much. Yet as bad as his comedy routine was, the director (Joseph Kane) then threw in another character named "Elmer Twiddlebaum" (Lou Fulton) who was even worse. Fortunately, things improved during the second half of the film which almost salvaged the movie overall. But on the whole, it just wasn't enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.