Three Texas Steers [Danger Rides the Range] ** (1938, John Wayne, Ray Corrigan, Max Terhune, Carole Landis, Ralph Graves) – Classic Movie Review 11,663

‘A THREE-MAN TEAM SCENTS DOUBLE TROUBLE. THEY HIT THE CIRCUS TRAILS IN A FAST-RIDING, ACTION-THRILLER THAT ENDS IN A BLAZE OF GLORY ON THE RACE-TRACK!’

The 1938 film Three Texas Steers [Danger Rides the Range] is a humble and modest but amusing and entertaining Three Mesquiteers (John Wayne, Ray ‘Crash’ Corrigan, Max Terhune) Republic Pictures studios B-movie Western from canny director George Sherman.

The Mesquiteers – John Wayne as Stony Brooke, Ray ‘Crash’ Corrigan as Tucson Smith, Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin – save lovely circus owner Nancy Evans (Carole Landis) from the clutches of bad guy George Ward (Ralph Graves), who is trying to force Landis to sell the land of her run-down ranch that she has never visited in order to build a dam. So her neighbours The Three Mesquiteers come to the rescue. It also features Roscoe Ates as Sheriff Brown. The original screenplay by Betty Burbridge and Stanley Roberts, based on characters created by William Colt MacDonald, is simple but effective.

It is shot by Ernest Miller at Corriganville, Ray Corrigan Ranch, Simi Valley, California, in black and white and runs just 56 minutes.

Wayne played the lead in eight of the 51 films in the Republic Pictures Three Mesquiteers series as Stony Brooke: Pals of the Saddle, Overland Stage Raiders, Santa Fe Stampede, Red River Range, The Night Riders, Three Texas Steers, Wyoming Outlaw, and New Frontier. Stony Brooke was played by Bob Livingston in 29 films and Tom Tyler in 13 films.

The Three Mesquiteers series was released between 1936 and 1943. The name mixes mesquite, a plant common in the Western states and The Three Musketeers.

Previously, Powdersmoke Range (1935, RKO Pictures) had starred Harry Carey as Tucson Smith, Hoot Gibson as Stony Brooke, and Guinn ‘Big Boy’ Williams as Lullaby Joslin. Then Republic Pictures started up with The Three Mesquiteers (1936) with Bob Livingston.

The cast are John Wayne as Stony Brooke, Ray ‘Crash’ Corrigan as Tucson Smith, Max Terhune as Lullaby Joslin, Carole Landis as Nancy Evans, Ralph Graves as George Ward, Roscoe Ates as Sheriff Brown, Collette Lyons as Lillian, Billy Curtis as Hercules, the Midget, Ted Adams as Henchman Steve, Stanley Blystone as Henchman Rankin, David Sharpe as Tony, Ethan Laidlaw as Henchman Morgan, and Lew Kelly as Postman.

Corrigan, billed as ‘Naba’, also plays Willie the Gorilla.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,663

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