Well, for an otherwise inconsequential B Western, this one had me doing a lot of research. Another reviewer made mention of the 3-M ranch in this picture, stating he hadn't run across it before in a Three Mesquiteers picture. I knew I had so I checked it out. For the record, this was the twenty second Mesquiteers flick, and I don't know if this one offered the first mention of the 3-M ranch, but the very next one, "Three Texas Steers", not only showed the ranch, but placed it in Mesquite County, Texas. Presumably, that also provided the name of this Western trio. So as a matter of continuity, the 3-M ranch had to physically move from Los Vientos in an unnamed state in this flick, to Mesquite County for "Three Texas Steers". But wait - there is no Mesquite County, Texas; the city of Mesquite, Texas is (mostly) in Dallas County!
I guess that's why I get the biggest kick out of these oaters because they always manage to hit you with something unusual or goofy. As for historical accuracy, you'd think a movie could at least research the actual date of President James Garfield's assassination. That occurred on September 19th, 1881, but in this story it takes place on July 2nd, with a mention in the July 3rd edition of the Los Vientos Courier. See, what did I tell you about the goofy stuff.
All that aside, this was about your average B Western, and average Mesquiteers flick. John Wayne appeared in eight of the stories, which spanned an eight year run of fifty one movies from 1936 to 1943 with a revolving cast of players. Right in the middle of his run with the Mesquiteers, Wayne was loaned out from Republic Studios to United Artists to make a Western called "Stagecoach", and I think you know the rest of story as far as Wayne is concerned. That lucky break came after he'd already made fifty plus pictures. He finished out his Mesquiteers series with Republic, doing four more films, and then moved on to bigger budget movies and eventual stardom.
What might catch you off guard in this movie is when the young kid Tim Randall (Sammy McKim) takes a poke at The Duke for getting rough with sister Susan (Ruth Rogers). If you slow motion the scene, you'll see that Tim's fist went wide, but it was made to look good with a snappy sound effect. As Stoney Brooke, Wayne rides with partners Tucson Smith (Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune), taking on the guise of 'Los Capaqueros', presumably 'the caped ones' or 'the masked ones', but it looks like another one of those words simply made up for the story. Seeking justice for landowners who were evicted by virtue of a phony land grant, The Mesquiteers take it to villains Hazleton (Walter Wills) and gambler Talbot (George Douglas), posing as a Spanish nobleman. For a while there, the good guys rode similarly marked pinto horses while masquerading as the Capaqueros, but their last time out as the masked avengers they were on their own horses, which had a hand in giving them away.
But not to fear, The Mesquiteers, with the help of Sheriff Kermit Maynard, survive a firing squad shooting blanks in order to confront the baddies before a citizen mob gets to exert their own brand of justice. You know, I had to stop and think about the thirteen million acres covered by the bogus land grant. It sounds quite huge, and it is, but for the sake of comparison, the state of West Virginia is only slightly larger. All told, there are nine states with less than thirteen million acres, and if this story was set in Texas, there would have still been plenty of room for a few more snake oil salesmen.
I guess that's why I get the biggest kick out of these oaters because they always manage to hit you with something unusual or goofy. As for historical accuracy, you'd think a movie could at least research the actual date of President James Garfield's assassination. That occurred on September 19th, 1881, but in this story it takes place on July 2nd, with a mention in the July 3rd edition of the Los Vientos Courier. See, what did I tell you about the goofy stuff.
All that aside, this was about your average B Western, and average Mesquiteers flick. John Wayne appeared in eight of the stories, which spanned an eight year run of fifty one movies from 1936 to 1943 with a revolving cast of players. Right in the middle of his run with the Mesquiteers, Wayne was loaned out from Republic Studios to United Artists to make a Western called "Stagecoach", and I think you know the rest of story as far as Wayne is concerned. That lucky break came after he'd already made fifty plus pictures. He finished out his Mesquiteers series with Republic, doing four more films, and then moved on to bigger budget movies and eventual stardom.
What might catch you off guard in this movie is when the young kid Tim Randall (Sammy McKim) takes a poke at The Duke for getting rough with sister Susan (Ruth Rogers). If you slow motion the scene, you'll see that Tim's fist went wide, but it was made to look good with a snappy sound effect. As Stoney Brooke, Wayne rides with partners Tucson Smith (Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby Joslin (Max Terhune), taking on the guise of 'Los Capaqueros', presumably 'the caped ones' or 'the masked ones', but it looks like another one of those words simply made up for the story. Seeking justice for landowners who were evicted by virtue of a phony land grant, The Mesquiteers take it to villains Hazleton (Walter Wills) and gambler Talbot (George Douglas), posing as a Spanish nobleman. For a while there, the good guys rode similarly marked pinto horses while masquerading as the Capaqueros, but their last time out as the masked avengers they were on their own horses, which had a hand in giving them away.
But not to fear, The Mesquiteers, with the help of Sheriff Kermit Maynard, survive a firing squad shooting blanks in order to confront the baddies before a citizen mob gets to exert their own brand of justice. You know, I had to stop and think about the thirteen million acres covered by the bogus land grant. It sounds quite huge, and it is, but for the sake of comparison, the state of West Virginia is only slightly larger. All told, there are nine states with less than thirteen million acres, and if this story was set in Texas, there would have still been plenty of room for a few more snake oil salesmen.