It looks like this film might have been trying to capitalize on the success of the Frank Buck and Clyde Beatty jungle films of the 1930's, as part of the cast is outfitted in safari suits, but that's about as far as the jungle connection goes. "Riders of the Whistling Skull" is one of the cooler sounding titles coming out of the early Western era, and it's somewhat off the beaten path for the Three Mesquiteers. The trio must lead a small party past a cult of fanatic Indians on the way to an enormous treasure of lost gold, while knowing that there's probably a traitor in their midst. The story line is a bit of a relief from the classic Western programmer in which a villainous town boss attempts to hoodwink local ranchers out of their property rights, and you know the 3M's had a fair share of those stories as well.
The coolest thing about this flick is that rugged mountain cliff that actually resembles an Indian face. With the wind whipping through the canyon, it wasn't too tough to come up with the whistling skull connection. The other scene to keep on the lookout for is that wild horse spill that Miss Betty Marsh (Mary Russell) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune) take when their horses are tripped up by a rope across the trail. It's the first and only time I've actually been able to see a trip wire used to make the horses go down, and it always amazes me to see the broncs get back up. You can chalk up the stunt work to veteran Yakima Canutt who also pulls double duty in the picture as Indian guide Otah, even though he's virtually unrecognizable.
There were a couple of things that didn't make sense to me as some of the action scenes played out, but that's not unusual. Keep an eye on the scene when Tucson (Ray Corrigan) makes his way down a rock face and an Indian cuts his rope. Stony (Robert Livingston) is standing on the ledge where he knocked the Indian off, and when the rope breaks, the end of it is at Stony's waist level. Couldn't Stony have just held on to the rope below the cut to prevent the rope from breaking? I also had to wonder why Tucson's shirt sleeve was missing after he tumbled down the cliff, how exactly does that work?
If you're keeping score, this is the fourth in Republic's series of Three Mesquiteers films, and the third featuring Livingston, Corrigan and Terhune as the title characters, (Syd Saylor appeared in the first flick as Lullaby). Some fans find it to be one of their best, but I'll have to reserve judgment. I think Lullaby's dummy Elmer should have had a larger role.
The coolest thing about this flick is that rugged mountain cliff that actually resembles an Indian face. With the wind whipping through the canyon, it wasn't too tough to come up with the whistling skull connection. The other scene to keep on the lookout for is that wild horse spill that Miss Betty Marsh (Mary Russell) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune) take when their horses are tripped up by a rope across the trail. It's the first and only time I've actually been able to see a trip wire used to make the horses go down, and it always amazes me to see the broncs get back up. You can chalk up the stunt work to veteran Yakima Canutt who also pulls double duty in the picture as Indian guide Otah, even though he's virtually unrecognizable.
There were a couple of things that didn't make sense to me as some of the action scenes played out, but that's not unusual. Keep an eye on the scene when Tucson (Ray Corrigan) makes his way down a rock face and an Indian cuts his rope. Stony (Robert Livingston) is standing on the ledge where he knocked the Indian off, and when the rope breaks, the end of it is at Stony's waist level. Couldn't Stony have just held on to the rope below the cut to prevent the rope from breaking? I also had to wonder why Tucson's shirt sleeve was missing after he tumbled down the cliff, how exactly does that work?
If you're keeping score, this is the fourth in Republic's series of Three Mesquiteers films, and the third featuring Livingston, Corrigan and Terhune as the title characters, (Syd Saylor appeared in the first flick as Lullaby). Some fans find it to be one of their best, but I'll have to reserve judgment. I think Lullaby's dummy Elmer should have had a larger role.