I may be starting with the fourth entry (damn this lack of availability), but we are starting a new franchise here. That franchise – The Range Busters.
Cast our minds back to The Three Mesquiteers series which I considered not long ago. These were B-westerns about a trio of cowboys, a western subgenre known as “trigger trio.” The reason it is a subgenre, and not simply one franchise, is because of the Mesquiteers’ success. It’s also because two of the biggest, earliest Mesquiteer stars – Ray “Crash” Corrigan and Max “I own a freakishly terrifying dummy” Terhune – had a falling out with producers at Republic. Basically, it was over money – the most expected, and least interesting, source of all conflict in the movie business (and really, just in general). So off they went to form their own series, which would continue to flourish for many years more.
Corrigan had big ideas around the turn of the decade. He had recently set up for himself a “movie” ranch in the Simi Valley, Corriganville. In monopolizing the western genre (and branching out from acting and stunts), Corrigan hoped to control the very thing oater auteurs most needed – a set. Actually, it could be his set, which meant the opportunity for starting an entirely “new” series of “trigger trio” westerns.
Corrigan laid out a career path many other B-stars would follow in the 40s – he abandoned one studio, and promptly sold his proverbial soul to the villains over at Monogram Pictures (makers of nothing good I’ve seen yet). See Sidney Toler’s similar transference of the Charlie Chan name. Producer George W. Weeks saw to realizing Corrigan’s vision, even promising Corrigan a whole 50% of the upcoming franchise’s profits. That’s a really good deal!
Initially, this series was to be called Three Pals. Man, that’s just…inane. Rather, they wisely avoided Mesquiteer litigation over creative ownership of the word “Three,” and went with The Range Busters. Why “Range Busters?” They bust ranges. That is, I think they destroy stoves.
Corrigan was to star, of course. But it’s a trio, and needs two other guys. Max Terhune has enormously good buddies with Corrigan, due in part to the fact that Corrigan had become the earthly slave to Terhune’s wicked and evil dummy, Elmer. Oh yeah, Elmer’s comin’ along too, because I surely can’t get enough of him. (That doll is one of the most terrifying things in God’s domain, and was even the direct influence of Howdy Doody.) Still, a third Buster will need to be found.
That would be fellow singin’ cowboy John “Dusty” King. (Man, was it a law that every 40s western star needed a folksy nickname?) But nickname aside, King’s lowly Hollywood career preceding The Range Busters hardly even concerned westerns – he appeared mostly in serials, notably Ace Drummond. This was for Universal. Like all other actors under Monogram’s icy, tyrannical grip, King moved to that studio to salvage a floundering career. This saw him in a stand-alone 1939 western, The Gentleman from Arizona, whose relative success led directly to King’s “Busterhood.”
There were in all 24 Range Busters movies, spanning a short four-year timeline. That’s six movies a year (which still doesn’t match The Three Mesquiteers’ unfathomable eight-per)! Here they all are, with those in bold being those still available:
1. The Range Busters (1940)
2. Trailing Double Trouble (1940)
3. West of Pinto Basin (1940)
4. Trail of the Silver Spurs (1941)
5. The Kid’s Last Ride (1941)
6. Tumbledown Ranch in Arizona (1941)
7. Wrangler’s Roost (1941)
8. Fugitive Valley (1941)
9. Saddle Mountain Roundup (1941)
10. Tonto Basin Outlaws (1941)
11. Underground Rustlers (1941)
12. Thunder River Feud (1942)
13. Rock River Renegades (1942)
14. Boot Hill Bandits (1942)
15. Texas Trouble Shooters (1942)
16. Arizona Stage Coach (1942)
17. Texas to Bataan (1942)
18. Trail Riders (1942)
19. Two Fisted Justice (1943)
20. Haunted Ranch (1943)
21. Land of Hunted Men (1943)
22. Cowboy Commandos (1943)
23. Black Market Rustlers (1943)
24. Bullets and Saddles (1943)
In the series’ start (like all B-western franchises, there would be upcoming actor shake-ups), the lead actors don’t even have original names; they’re simply called by their actor names. I would expect no less creativity from the good folks at Monogram. Hence, “Crash” Corrigan plays “Crash” Corrigan. “Dusty” King plays simply “Dusty,” the “King” part perhaps being unnecessarily confusing in a democratically-elected nation. Max Terhune, who has no alias, is simply called…well, they must’ve confused “alias” and “alibi,” ‘cause he’s called “Alibi.” Cle-ver!
(To be honest, though, I must blame Corrigan for most of these decisions, as he was the true producer. Monogram was simply the distributor here, like Pixar and Disney.)
Before moving on to Trail of the Silver Spurs, the first Buster of 1941, let us briefly mull the 1940 trio of “trigger trios.”
The Range Busters (1940) – Some sort of “phantom” is running rampage through the Circle T Ranch (read: Corriganville), and there’s only one team to call! After cycling down the list, realizing the Mesquiteers are unavailable, and the Ghostbusters and Scooby are several decades away, the owner settles upon the Range Busters. In they come to analyze all the suspects, like The Three Mesquiteers meet Charlie Chan meet, yes, “Scooby Doo.” Yes, as suspected, the creativity isn’t at world-shattering levels here.
Trailing Double Trouble (1940) – This time, Corriganville doesn’t play the Circle T Ranch. No, it plays the Bar H Ranch. Ooh, variation! This ranch is also under attack, and only the Range Busters can help – I think I sense formula here. The threat this time is from attorney James Moreland, who employs an obscure “script twists the law to necessitate the plot” clause in the will of dead ranch head Bob Horner to take control of the ranch. For villainous purposes, surely. As per that nebulous clause, the Rangers have to take care of a random baby – Oh hoh!, it’s Three Men and a Baby, 40s-style!
Also, at this point, the ghastly Elmer is getting his own credit (fourth, above hard working humans such as Tom London, or Jimmy Wakely and His Rough Riders). He also has a full name – Elmer Sneezeweed. To my ear, that sound a lot like “Pennywise the Dancing Clown.” Elmer is eeeeee-vil.
West of Pinto Basin (1940) – The only synopsis of West of Pinto Basin I can find is as follows, in its entirety: “Three cowboys fight a saloon owner who is trying to grab up all the local land by engineering stagecoach robberies so an irrigation dam can’t be built.” What is this, western Mad Libs?
And now, series well established (and ancient, in 40s terms, being all of part of a year old), we come to Trail of the Silver Spurs…
Trail of the Silver Spurs opens as all Range Busters shall: with the recurring cast and crew introduced in interactive opening credits – perhaps the most playful thing Monogram has ever done. Indeed, consider (given my low opinion of the studio) how fun the image above is. Throw in a public domain recording of “Home on the Range,” somehow appropriated as The Range Busters’ theme song, and we’ve got our series-wide opening.
Follow that up, in this case at least, with our three heroes riding along, themselves also singing “Home on the Range,” and we’re underway. Astoundingly, in this one they’re not defending some danged ranch, but rather serving as vaguely-defined marshals for the U.S. Treasury. Posing as gold prospectors (that is, riding nags, but otherwise just clad in their already consistent Range Buster garb), the Range Busters have been charged with tracking down and apprehending a notorious gold bandit known only as “The Jingler.” Tee hee!
Happening upon the “ghost town” of Bottleneck that is all too obviously just building facades (most movies at least succeed in hiding such trickery), the trio decides to bed down for the night in a hotel set. There’s some degree of spookiness about this set, with freshly applied cobwebs everywhere like a Halloween haunted house, evidence they were at least trying. This is merely a feint towards the 1940s ghost story subgenre, with Alibi taking on the role usually enjoyed by racist black stereotypes – that is, he’s frightened. But before the second reel is up, the Range Busters have discovered the hotel’s permanent residents…
Meet Dan Nordick (Milt Morante), an elderly feeb still convinced this old boom town might yet become bustling. Loyally by his side, patiently awaiting a Range Buster to romance, is Dan’s daughter Nancy (Dorothy Short). Dusty King was a noted baritone and radio star, so he is allowed an opportunity to croon for the lass. “All Because of You,” the tuneless ballad that is like 98% of all 40s songs, is unique at least in that it concerns rainbows, like the theme song to some 1980s girls’ show.
Meanwhile, the Jingler (I. Stanford Jolley, a prolific actor with a prolific mustache) has been creeping all about, and getting into abortive shootouts with Crash. Little shall come of his involvement for now, but I’ll explain his purpose: For apparently no reason, the Jingler’s secret lair is hidden in a hollow beneath Dan’s hotel, accessed through the lobby. Since all he’s doing is hiding a few bars of gold he’s stolen, this seems just a mite arbitrary.
Really, there’s not much content to bide us over with, meaning scenes are filled out with characters expositing and re-expositing the plot so far. This is a common fact in 1940s cinema, as audiences were expected to come and go as they pleased, with sufficient inattention. Still, I expect at least 20 minutes between expository scenes, not two minutes.
Finally, Alibi gets a scheme to cheer up Old Man Dan: with a vial of gold nuggets he has on him, Alibi shall fake a gold rush. So…let me get this straight…Alibi, a good guy, our hero, is committing massive fraud, all to make an old man feel happier. Never mind the hundreds of people who stampede into Bottleneck, seeking gold. Sure, Dan’s casino may be successful now (oh, right, Dan also runs a casino), but just wait until those prospectors learn they’ve been had…
Bottleneck’s sudden inhabitance it portrayed through the beloved twin 40s tactics of stock footage and spinning newspaper montages. I never tire of those. But amazingly, some of these crowd scenes are way too choreographed for that. It’s as if Monogram (or simply Corrigan) actually hired extras. The script may be confused, trite and incoherent, and the overall exercise plagiaristic, but this shows effort! It also shows a chance for song, from a sudden one-scene casino band, “I’m a-Leavin’ Cheyenne.”
But predictably, the new townsfolk soon grow keen to the Range Busters’ random, unnecessary chicanery, and actively run them and the Nordicks out of town! And none of this has anything to do with the Jingler!
Soon the town vacates, a reversal of the same stock footage montage from before. This only leaves time for a quick and perfunctory comeuppance for the dastardly Jingler. And even when plots fail me, I’ve seen enough Mesquiteer movies to expect at least some fun western action in my climaxes. This makes the de rigueur face-punching Mr. Jingler receives all the more anticlimactic.
But at least in their so-called conflict with the Jingler, the Range Busters have discovered a convenient and idiotic solution to Dan’s problems. Hidden in the walls of the Jingler’s lair, completely unseen by him, are the rich veins to an untapped gold lode. So once again repeat the stock footage hegira, and Bottleneck is once again thriving. The film closes out with a site nowhere near the lode being mined. The trio rides into the sunset, promising a solid twenty more entries to come.
I’ve been fairly brief in my consideration of Trail of the Silver Spurs (at least, by my standards). It’s just the start of a franchise, after all, one which I fear there won’t offer much content to discuss. I mean, this is pretty much just “Mesquiteer Light” (“The champagne of ‘Busters’”). There are indeed differences, which I’ll get to. And we’ll see how long my enthusiasm for such scant treasures can last against my fearful ennui of all things Monogram. Let the epic struggle begin!
Related posts:
• No. 8 Fugitive Valley (1941)
• No. 9 Saddle Mountain Roundup (1941)
• No. 10 Tonto Basic Outlaws (1941)
• No. 11 Underground Rustlers (1941)
• No. 13 Rock River Renegades (1942)
• No. 16 Arizona Stagecoach (1942)
• No. 17 Texas to Bataan (1942)
• No. 18 Trail Riders (1942)
• No. 20 Haunted Ranch (1943)
• No. 24 Bullets and Saddles (1943)
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