Moving on now through 1941, The Three Mesquiteers franchise has become a hotbed for actor switches so complex, the best I can do to help is direct you to a helpful graph on Wikipedia. Once again, the final “era” of the series is marked by one actor’s departure, and another’s arrival. For while Bob Steele and Rufe Davis remain, Robert Livingston’s second (or third) departure again meant Stony Brooke had to be recast. This was the start of –
THE TOM TYLER ERA
Tom Tyler did thirteen Mesquiteers, ushering the series all the way to its completion in 1943. Like most of the actors in this franchise, Tyler was a stalwart and dependable B-western star throughout the ‘30s. Like many of the best members of that august fraternity, Tyler’s image was employed to best use in John Ford’s Stagecoach – where Tyler costarred with former-Mesquiteer John Wayne. More interestingly, the man essentially invented filmed superheroes, being the first man in human history to look good in spandex tights. In 1941 he played Captain Marvel in the serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel (the first superhero movie ever), and was in 1943’s similar The Phantom. He also played one of Universal’s lesser mummies.
Still, top billing for the remainder of the Mesquiteers would go to Bob Steele, not Tyler. Tyler was a contract player, pure and simple, and used to this. If only superheroism was more prolific than cowboying back then…
And how many movies do I have to watch from the Tom Tyler and/or Bob Steel Era? None, zero, zilch, zip, nada, squat, bupkiss, belch, burp, fwoozloid. So once again I am limited to providing what little knowledge I can dredge up about the remaining entries. Enjoy!
Outlaws of Cherokee Trail (1941) – Well, all I can figure out about this one is the bad guy: generic, motiveless outlaw Lemar. He lives in the Cherokee Strip, where Rangers fear to tread, and bides his time by killing the jurors on his trial. Yeah, that’ll sway ‘em. One guesses the Mesquiteers come along in some capacity to stop this man.
Gauchos of El Dorado (1941) – This one sounds like the plot of a Johnny Cash song. The Mesquiteers rescue a man from the clutches of evil gauchos (of El Dorado), only for him to die in their collective arms anyway. His dying wish is that they take his money to his mother. Complications arise when she mistakes Tucson for her own dead son – whom I assume was named “Sue.”
West of Cimarron (1941) – We’ve thrice seen the Mesquiteer story where war veterans are kicked about by bad, bad, bad, bad men following the war, in The Three Mesquiteers and Oklahoma Renegades and Prairie Pioneers. Those concerned WWI, the Spanish-American War and the Mexican-American War. Now it’s the Civil War, perhaps because they are Time Lords. In the film’s cutesy colloquialism, it’s a conflict between carpetbaggers and bushwackers. Throw in a little late era Mesquiteer infiltration of the villainous gang, and you’ve got West of Cimarron.
(Interestingly, Cimarron is in New Mexico, while the movie takes place in Texas…decidedly not west of it. Of course, all these titles are pretty arbitrary.)
Code of the Outlaw (1942) – The Mesquiteers shoot it out with more robbers. Most of the gang escapes, but their leader is killed, and their loot remains hidden. The Mesquiteers then adopt the leader’s orphaned son, purely out of the charitable goodness of their hearts…that, and to learn where the loot is hidden. Then the gang returns to also ask the kid about the loot. But when they do it, it’s evil – as usual, an action’s lawfulness is determined by the color of your hat.
Raiders of the Range (1942) – An oil well is being constructed, and one businessman wants it built, while the other opposes it. I wonder which side of this issue the Mesquiteers will take? Well, westerns are often political allegories, and conservative allegories at that. So…Drill, baby, drill!
Westward Ho (1942) – When you rob a bank, you end up with money. But there’s a way to make even more! Simply frame some poor schmoe, then capture him for the reward money. If these villains were thinking more clearly, they’d go the Good the Bad and the Ugly route and save the guy from his own hanging, let the bounty grow larger, then turn him in again. But they do not do that. Instead, they frame Lullaby for their latest robbery, and are then surprised to find they’ve incited the wrath of the – drum roll please – Three Mesquiteers.
The Phantom Plainsmen (1942) – Things seem normal enough at first. The Mesquiteers are herding horses, and selling them to a business associate. They grow skeptical, though, when they find out he is selling the horses to the Third Freaking Reich! Pretty soon, the horse ranches of the Old West are crawling with Nazi agents, because apparently horses do not exist in Germany, and are essential to Hitler’s war machine.
That’s right, by 1942 every cinematic hero was battling Nazis! For the spies and detectives this made sense, but…westerns?
INTERMISSION – Again, for the final time, we get an actor switch. Boy, that’s something I’ve sure missed! Rufe Davis is out (contracts and all), and his replacement…? Well?...The one Mesquiteer who was also a Mouseketeer (and never a Musketeer, somehow). Of all the people in the world, they found the future MC of “The Mickey Mouse Club.”
[Strike chorus!]
Who’s the actor with the role of playing Lullaby?
J-I-M-M-I-E D-O-double-D.
Hey there, hi there, ho there! Aren’t you glad they cast this guy?
J-I-M-M-I-E D-O-double-D.
Jimmie Dodd! [Donald Duck!]
Jimmie Dodd! [Donald Duck!]
Forever let the Mesquiteers ride – ride – ride!
Of all the crazy things in the world! Here’s the guy who spearheaded the show which gave us Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears (and, er, Christina Aguilera), starring as the third-string hero of a 1940s B-western series.
Shadows on the Sage (1942) – We’ve seen this plot like three or four times already. The trio battles outlaws, whose leader looks exactly like a Mesquiteer. In the past it’s always been Stony, but now that Tucson’s actor is the lead, it’s Tucson. Really, the only difference here is it’s Bob Steele playing dual roles instead of Robert Livingston.
Valley of Hunted Men (1942) – Oh god, it’s Nazis again!
Let me get this one straight: It’s 1941 now (pretty far in the past for a 1942 movie), and the Nazis have escaped from a Canadian prison which may or may not have anything to do with Ilsa. And this time, it’s the Nazi who has the doppelganger – that man being a friend of a friend of the Mesquiteers. Can you see where this is going? The Nazi poses as a rancher, finds the Old West woefully lacking in Jews, and instead preys upon the local mad scientist who has developed a secret formula to extract rubber from rubber plants. SAY WHA’?! So…not only does every movie from 1942 – 1944 have to be about ze Germans, but they’re always, always after some scientist’s secret formula. To go by Hollywood, approximately 1,389 new chemical elements were discovered during this era.
Thundering Trails (1943) – The date is now 1871, and the Nazis are – I’m kidding, no film studio would be stupid enough to place Nazis in the 19th century…well, maybe Monogram.
Actually, it’s the Mafia, Old West-style. How that works is the old “paying for protection” gambit: Pay for police protection, otherwise the outlaws (who are also the police) will beat you up, and kill you if it’s a Wednesday.
The Mesquiteers stop this.
The Blocked Trail (1943) – The Mesquiteers are seeking a three-foot-high horse named Brilliant which can find a gold mine…I – wait – who – what – That don’t make no sense! It seems pretty clear at this point, the 49th entry, the series is running low on ideas.
Santa Fe Scouts (1943) – A squatters rights bill is about to pass, causing all the evil businessmen to come out of the woodwork to start squatting. The Mesquiteers, rather than doing squat, rally together to fight this evil scourge of – whatever bad thing is being done here. I guess the Mesquiteer people were politically opposed to squatters, or something, and could only propagandize against them by having businessmen murder random people for no reason. I hate it when this series has a message.
Riders of the Rio Grande (1943) – Bank robbery. Just…bank robbery. And the Mesquiteers have to stop the bank robbers. Yup!, the inspiration went bye-bye!
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With even the synopses revealing this franchise as languishing in Nazi-soaked first gear, it seems clear the thing is at an end. This was obvious to Republic, which chose to let their actors’ contracts expire – hence the last few entries were produced with the series’ conclusion already a foregone…conclusion.
On its own, this is not a very inspiring or notable franchise finishing. But The Three Mesquiteers had done what is was designed to do – it put Republic Pictures in a position of popular power, where they could produce pictures with success far in excess of the Mesquiteers. The Mesquiteers were to get Republic’s foot in the door; that done, the series could bow out. From now on, Republic could focus on their other western interests instead, with actors such as Roy Rogers and Wild Bill Elliott.
Of course, the B-western remained viable for the remainder of the B-era, through to the end of the 40s. The Three Mesquiteers were largely to thank for that. They’d help create the careers of many notable western stars, including none less than John Wayne. And multitudes of other western trio series arose from the Mesquiteers’ ashes – The Rough Riders, The Trail Blazers, The Range Busters. And at least one of these (The Range Busters) was practically a direct, semi-parallel continuation from The Three Mesquiteers. That one we’ll be visiting sooner rather than later.
Related posts:
• No. 1 The Three Mesquiteers (1936)
• No. 3 Roarin’ Lead (1936)
• No. 4 Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937)
• No. 5 Hit the Saddle (1937)
• No. 6 Gunsmoke Ranch (1937)
• No. 7 Come On, Cowboys! (1937)
• No. 8 Range Defenders (1937)
• No. 9 Heart of the Rockies (1937)
• No. 10 The Trigger Trio (1937)
• No. 13 Call of the Mesquiteers (1938)
• No. 14 Outlaws of Sonora (1938)
• No. 19 Santa Fe Stampede (1938)
• Nos. 29 – 38 (1940 – 1941)
• No. 35 Prairie Pioneers (1941)
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