The Three Mesquiteers

The Three Mesquiteers is the umbrella title for a Republic Pictures series of 51 Western B-movies released between 1936 and 1943, including eight films starring John Wayne.

The Three Mesquiteers
Written by	William Colt MacDonald (based on novels by)
Starring	Bob Livingston Ray Corrigan Syd Saylor Max Terhune John Wayne Ralph Byrd Duncan Renaldo Raymond Hatton Tom Tyler Bob Steele Rufe Davis Jimmie Dodd
Production company	Republic Pictures
Release date	September 22, 1936-May 21, 1943
Country	United States
Language	English

Format

The name was a play on words, referring to mesquite, a plant common in the Western states, and the characters of the 1844 Alexander Dumas novel The Three Musketeers. Each film featured a trio of stars, with the composition of the trio varying according to the individual movie. The series was based on a series of Western novels by William Colt MacDonald, which began with The Law of 45's in 1933.[1]

The series blended the traditional Western period with more modern elements,[2] which was not unknown with other B-Western films and serials. Toward the end of the series, during World War II, the trio of cowboys were opposing Nazis.

Previous Non-Republic Films

• The Law of the 45's (1935, Normandy Pictures)
• Powdersmoke Range (1935, RKO Pictures) starring Harry Carey as Tucson Smith, Hoot Gibson as Stony Brooke, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Lullaby Joslin.

The Mesquiteers

Theatrical release poster for Pals of the Saddle (1938) starring John Wayne

The cast list varied but always focused on a trio of cowboys. The original (and most frequently recurring) trio of characters were:

• Stony Brooke
  (Played by Bob Livingston in 29 films, John Wayne in 8 films, and by Tom Tyler in 13 films.)[3]
• Tucson Smith
  (Played by Ray Corrigan in 24 films, and by Bob Steele in 20 films.)
• Lullaby Joslin
  (Played by Syd Saylor in 1 film, Max Terhune in 21 films, Rufe Davis in 14 films, and by Jimmie Dodd in 6 films.)

The other members of this trio over the entire series were:

• Ralph Byrd as Larry Smith (one film, replacing Bob Livingston, injured during filming)
• Raymond Hatton as Rusty Joslin (nine films)
• Duncan Renaldo as Rico Rinaldo (seven films)
• Elmer as Elmer (Lullaby Joslin's (Max Terhune) Ventriloquist Dummy)
• Kirby Grant as Tex Reilly (one film, Red River Range) (Pretended to be Stony Brooke while Stony Brooke was undercover)

Stars in supporting roles at various times included:

• Yakima Canutt
• Hoot Gibson
• Tom London
• Roy Rogers

Actress Lois Collier was sometimes called the Fourth Mesquiteer because seven of the movies featured her as the female lead.[4]

Reception

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.[5]

Influence

The success of the series led to many "trigger trio" imitators at other studios. The first was The Range Busters (1940–43) from Monogram Pictures which starred original Mesquiteer Ray "Crash" Corrigan as the character "Crash" Corrigan. Monogram also released The Rough Riders (1941–42), again poaching a Mesquiteer in the form of Raymond Hatton, and The Trail Blazers (1943–44). Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) produced two similar series, The Texas Rangers (1942–45) and The Frontier Marshals (1942).[5]

Films

Republic Pictures produced 51 films in The Three Mesquiteers series between 1936 and 1943:

Year	Title	Stars
1936	1. The Three Mesquiteers	Robert Livingston (Stony Brooke)	Ray Corrigan (Tucson Smith)	Syd Saylor (Lullaby Joslin)
	2. Ghost-Town Gold			Max Terhune (Lullaby Joslin)
	3. Roarin' Lead
1937	4. Riders of the Whistling Skull
	5. Hit the Saddle
	6. Gunsmoke Ranch
	7. Come On, Cowboys
	8. Range Defenders
	9. Heart of the Rockies
	10. The Trigger Trio	Ralph Byrd (Larry Smith, Tucson's brother)
	11. Wild Horse Rodeo	Robert Livingston (Stony Brooke)
1938	12. The Purple Vigilantes
	13. Call the Mesquiteers
	14. Outlaws of Sonora
	15. Riders of the Black Hills
	16. Heroes of the Hills
	17. Pals of the Saddle	John Wayne (Stony Brooke)
	18. Overland Stage Raiders
	19. Santa Fe Stampede
	20. Red River Range
1939	21. The Night Riders
	22. Three Texas Steers
	23. Wyoming Outlaw			Raymond Hatton (Rusty Joslin)
	24. New Frontier
	25. The Kansas Terrors	Robert Livingston (Stony Brooke)	Duncan Renaldo (Rico Renaldo)
	26. Cowboys from Texas
1940	27. Heroes of the Saddle
	28. Pioneers of the West
	29. Covered Wagon Days
	30. Rocky Mountain Rangers
	31. Oklahoma Renegades
	32. Under Texas Skies		Bob Steele (Tucson Smith)	Rufe Davis (Lullaby Joslin)
	33. The Trail Blazers
	34. Lone Star Raiders
1941	35. Prairie Pioneers
	36. Pals of the Pecos
	37. Saddlemates
	38. Gangs of Sonora
	39. Outlaws of Cherokee Trail	Tom Tyler (Stony Brooke)
	40. Gauchos of El Dorado
	41. West of Cimarron
1942	42. Code of the Outlaw
	43. Raiders of the Range
	44. Westward Ho
	45. The Phantom Plainsmen
	46. Shadows on the Sage			Jimmie Dodd (Lullaby Joslin)
	47. Valley of Hunted Men
1943	48. Thundering Trails
	49. The Blocked Trail
	50. Santa Fe Scouts
	51. Riders of the Rio Grande

References

1. B-Westerns, retrieved 14 November 2007
2. Powell, Larry; Amsbary, Jonathan H. (2018). Becoming John Wayne: The Early Westerns of a Screen Icon, 1930-1939. McFarland. p. 118. ISBN 978-1-4766-2994-0. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
3. Kehr, Dave (28 Sep 2012). "Tall in the Saddle in 2 Eras at Once". The New York Times. New York, NY, USA. Retrieved 18 Sep 2020.
4. Magers, Boyd; Fitzgerald, Michael G. (2004). Westerns Women: Interviews with 50 Leading Ladies of Movie and Television. McFarland & Co. Inc. pp. 58–62. ISBN 9780786420285. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
5. B-Westerns, retrieved 14 November 2007

External links

• Keywords 'three-mesquiteers-series' at IMDb
• The Three Mesquiteers at B-Westerns