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Its incredible that, mere months before his breakout role in Stagecoach, John Wayne should have been working on Saturday-matinee fodder like Republics Three Mesquiteers series. To be sure, by Poverty Row standards the Mesquiteers pictures were well above average, and their headlong pace ensured that no kid got bored. But being dragooned into costellar partnership with Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune was a career low. (Waynes character, Stony Brooke, stood in the same relation to Corrigans Tucson Smith and Terhunes Lullaby Joslin as George Clooneys Ulysses to his partners in O Brother, Where Art Thou?: he seemed to be "the only one with the capacity for abstract thought.")
And speaking of careers, Overland Stage Raiders is infamous for being the last credit the legendary Louise Brooks ever had. Less than a decade earlier she ruled the German Expressionist screen in G.W. Pabsts Diary of a Lost Girl and, as Lulu, Pandoras Box. Hollywood didnt know what to make of Brooks pre-Pabst, and they didnt even try afterwards. Still, the lady is on record as having found her last leading man a dreamboat.
But really: a Western called Overland Stage Raiders that lacks a stagecoach? What they call a "land stage" is actually a bus, and within minutes its been supplanted by a couple of airplanes. Theres also a train, and a train robbery--that is, they steal the train. And thats not even counting a cattle drive, a midair holdup, and several gunfights. Did we mention the headlong pace? --Richard T. Jameson
Rate Points :2.5
Binding :VHS Tape
Label :Republic Pictures
Manufacturer :Republic Pictures
ProductGroup :Video
Studio :Republic Pictures
Publisher :Republic Pictures
UPC :017153311938
EAN :9786302308136
Price :$9.98USD
Lowest Price :$21.99USD
Customer Reviews"The Three Mesquiteers Series ... Overland Stage Raiders (1938) ... Republic"
Rating Point :4 Helpful Point :2
Republic Pictures presents "OVERLAND STAGE RAIDERS" (20 September 1938) (54 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- The series was based on a series of western novels by William Colt MacDonald, which began with "Law of the .45s" in 1933 --- The Three Mesquiteers is the umbrella title for a series of 51 western B-movies released between 1936 and 1943, including 8 films starring John Wayne --- The name was a play on The Three Musketeers, and each film featured a trio of stars --- The series blended the traditional Western period with more modern elements, which was not unknown with other B-Western films and serials --- Towards the end of the series, during World War II, the trio of cowboys were opposing Nazis --- The Three Mesquiteers series was extremely popular at the time of its release --- The series was the only one of its kind to be specifically named and ranked in contemporary polls of the top western film stars --- For example, from 1937 to the end of the series in 1943, The Motion Picture Herald consistently ranked the series in its top ten, reaching a peak of 5th place in 1938, when a pre-Stagecoach John Wayne was the series lead
Under the production staff of:
George Sherman - Director
Luci Ward - Screenwriter
William Nobles - Cinematographer
Tony Martinelli - Editor
William A. Berke - Associate Producer
Ed Kelso - Short Story Author
Bernard McConville - Short Story Author
Our story line and plot, Our heroes Stony Brooke (John Wayne), Tucson Smith (Ray "Crash" Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune) members of the Three Mesquiteers decide with the stage being held up regularly an airplane would be better so they get the ranchers to sell their cattle and invest in the new airline --- But when a gold shipment goes out, the stage line owner has his men hijack the plane. The pilot discharges the gas causing a forced landing and the Mesquiteers must now find the missing plane and recover the gold --- Second of the "Three Mesquiteers" series, the plot is intriguing for its ingenuity --- Who would expect to go to a Saturday matine and see a second billed western that involves the tactical integration of aerial spotting in defense of overland lines of communication, communications deception, gas hand grenades used to defend an improvised landing strip, parachuting cowboys and passengers, the hijacking and retaking of a cattle train, a talking ventriloquists dummy in flight gear, and an in-flight robbery -- all within less than an hour --- Oh yes, Louise Brooks plays the sister of the pilot --- Brooks had retired from the screen that same year after completing one last film, the John Wayne western Overland Stage Raiders in which she played the romantic lead with a long hairstyle that rendered her all but unrecognizable from her "Lulu" days --- The film is notable for being the final film in which silent film icon Louise Brooks performed.
the cast includes:
John Wayne ... Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan ... Tucson Smith
Max Terhune ... Lullaby Joslin
Louise Brooks ... Beth Hoyt
Anthony Marsh ... Ned Hoyt
John Archer ... Bob Whitney (as Ralph Bowman)
Gordon Hart ... W. T.Mullins
Roy James ... Dave Harmon
Olin Francis ... Henchman Jake
Fern Emmett ... Ma Hawkins
Henry Otho ... Sheriff Mason
George Sherwood ... Henchman Clanton
Arch Hall Sr. ... Joe Waddell (as Archie Hall)
Frank LaRue ... Hank Milton (as Frank La Rue)
Dirk Thane ... Dutch, Eastern gangster
Special footnote -- The 32 year old John Wayne was fortunate enough to have talented writers around him to write novels that could be adapted into vehicles for his career, as well as short stories and screenplays that would immortalise him as the American hero --- This film is one such example --- When you watch this film youre not watching it for the story (like you would do in Rio Grande or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), youre watching it to see John Wayne in action --- He is the romantic embodiment of what it was like for the settling community to live in the post-civil war era --- Despite the fact that most of these westerns distort history, what Wayne delivers gives you access to his humanity --- Thats what we like about him.
BIOS:
1. John Wayne (aka: Marion Robert Morrison)
Date of Birth: 26 May 1907 - Winterset, Iowa
Date of Death: 11 June 1979 - Los Angeles, California
2. Ray Crash Corrigan (aka: Raymond Benard)
Date of Birth: 14 February 1902 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date of Death: 10 August 1976 - Brookings Harbor, Oregon
3. Max Terhune
Date of Birth: 12 February 1891 - Anderson, Indiana
Date of Death: 5 June 1973 - Los Angeles, California
If you crave action, drama and plenty of adventure check out other western double features --- Ask Amazon.Com to carry the volumes as they are not available on Amazon as of yet --- you can order and pick up your copy now from VCI Entertainment
THREE MESQUITEERS WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURES FROM VCI ENTERTAINMENT
VOL 1 -- GHOST TOWN GOLD & COME ON COWBOYS - (VCI #7215)
VOL 2 -- HIT THE SADDLE & HEART OF THE ROCKIES - (VCI #7218)
VOL 3 -- THE THREE MESQUITEERS & ROARIN LEAD - (VCI #7254)
VOL 4 -- PURPLE VIGILANTES & PRAIRIE PIONEERS - (VCI #7277)
VOL 5 -- OUTLAWS OF SONORA & WEST OF CIMARRON - (VCI #7290)
VOL.6 -- CALL THE MESQUITEERS & RIDERS OF THE WHISTLING SKULL - (VCI #7310)
VOL.7 -- GANGS OF SONORA & PIONEERS OF THE WEST - (VCI #7321)
VOL.8 -- CODE OF THE OUTLAW & OKLAHOMA RENEGADES - (VCI #7330)
VOL.9 -- GAUCHOS OF EL DORADO & OUTLAWS OF CHEROKEE TRAIL - (VCI #7332)
VOL.10 - HEROES OF THE SADDLE & THE KANSAS TERRORS - (VCI #7337)
VOL.11 - RIDERS OF THE RIO GRANDE & SHADOWS ON THE SAGE - (VCI #7339)
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc) and Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") as they have rekindled my interest once again for B-Westerns and Serials --- If youre into the memories of B-Westerns with high drama, this is the one youve been anxiously waiting for --- please stand up and take a bow --- all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 54 min on VHS/DVD Republic Pictures (4/15/1997)
Rating Point :3 Helpful Point :4
Grade B Western starring a very young John Wayne. The Three Mesquiteers take time out from punching cattle and go into the transport business. The bad guys running the local stage-line take issue with their potential loss of business, and try to sabotage our heroes enterprising efforts. This is one of those old Western movies that confuses the Old West with modern times (circa. 1938). The cowboys wear boots, carry guns, and ride horses, just as usual. But the Oro Grande Stage Company "stagecoach" is really a bus. Besides that, there are radios and telephones around town. Even more shocking, the new express company that the Mesquiteers help establish is really an airline! They only have one airplane, but, by golly, its an airline! This creates an amusing "other worldly" quality that takes some adjustment time for the unwary viewer. One scene shows John Wayne unloading gas cans from a mule pack train and gassing the grounded airplane while standing on the wing in full cowboy regalia. Incongruities aside, the movie features an entertaining mixture of cliff-hanging Western adventure and light humor. There are enough roaring six-guns and black hearted villains to satisfy the ten-year old kid in all of us. Dont think about it, just saddle up and ride, pardner.
for loise brooks completists only
Rating Point :2 Helpful Point :2
i do believe this was louise brooks last movie after returning to hollywood after making a few very good movies in europe("lulu" and "pandoras box"). this movie was to have been her punishment for leaving hollywood. always a free spirit, she said "so long" to hollywood after this, fading into obscurity before rediscovery in the 1960s.
i love old B westerns but ones like this were modern day is mixed with olden day is just to tough to take
Grr, 54 minute Film Duplicated in 6 HR EP Mode
Rating Point :1 Helpful Point :3
I would have never expected this from a fairly major manufacturer (their Betty Boop box set is superb), but this 54 minute film was duplicated/manufactured in 6 hr EP mode as such the picture is dreadful. Louise Brooks deserves better.
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