"The Three Mesquiteers" is the first film in a series of more than 50 Mesquiteer westerns by Republic. Not surprisingly, this film isn't much like the later films...and it took a couple movies before the series hit its stride. Now this is NOT to say it's a bad film...it's one of the better Mesquiteer films I've seen. But it's very different in many ways.
One way this is different is the cast. Robert Livingston and Ray Corrigan appear as Stony and Tucson...just like they did in many of the films. But Lullabye is played in this film only by Syd Saylor....instead of Tex Terhune. I didn't mind this too much, as it meant that Terhune's sidekick, Elmer the Dummy, isn't in this film! But Lullabye is different in more ways than this. Instead, he's an Eastern dude who has lied to his army buddies...telling them all about life out west!
The film begins just after WWI and involves a group of soldiers recovering at a hospital. They are all about to be released soon...and they decide to follow Lullabye's advice and travel to New Mexico to buy and run a ranch. But a local baddie wants all the range to himself and soon he begins arranging 'accidents'...and when they don't discourage the vets, they resort to murder! Can Tucson and Stony help?
The baddie wanting all the land for himself is a very familiar plot to B-westerns. But this one is a bit different with the vet angle and the story is generally quite good...though the resolution at the end did seem with the villain accidentally confessing is a bit too easy. If you like these sorts of film, this is is slightly better than average....and worth your time.
By the way, I mentioned above 'kids, don't try this at home!' because near the end, one of the heroes repeatedly pulls the pins out of grenades with HIS TEETH!!! If you really did this, you'd need to invest in some dentures!!
One way this is different is the cast. Robert Livingston and Ray Corrigan appear as Stony and Tucson...just like they did in many of the films. But Lullabye is played in this film only by Syd Saylor....instead of Tex Terhune. I didn't mind this too much, as it meant that Terhune's sidekick, Elmer the Dummy, isn't in this film! But Lullabye is different in more ways than this. Instead, he's an Eastern dude who has lied to his army buddies...telling them all about life out west!
The film begins just after WWI and involves a group of soldiers recovering at a hospital. They are all about to be released soon...and they decide to follow Lullabye's advice and travel to New Mexico to buy and run a ranch. But a local baddie wants all the range to himself and soon he begins arranging 'accidents'...and when they don't discourage the vets, they resort to murder! Can Tucson and Stony help?
The baddie wanting all the land for himself is a very familiar plot to B-westerns. But this one is a bit different with the vet angle and the story is generally quite good...though the resolution at the end did seem with the villain accidentally confessing is a bit too easy. If you like these sorts of film, this is is slightly better than average....and worth your time.
By the way, I mentioned above 'kids, don't try this at home!' because near the end, one of the heroes repeatedly pulls the pins out of grenades with HIS TEETH!!! If you really did this, you'd need to invest in some dentures!!