OVERLAND STAGE RAIDERS

DIRECTED BY GEORGE SHERMAN
REPUBLIC PICTURES

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INFORMATION FROM IMDb

Plot Summary

After gold shipments from a mining town have been hijacked, the three Mesquiteers buy a plane to fly the gold out. The owner of the shipping line brings in Eastern gangsters to thwart them.

Summary written by Ed Stephan

With the stage being held up regularly, the Mesquiteers decide an airplane would be better so they get the ranchers to sell their cattle and invest in the new airline. But when a gold shipment goes out, the stage line owner has his men hijack the plane. The pilot discharges the gas causing a forced landing and the Mesquiteers must now find the missing plane and recover the gold.

Summary written by Maurice VanAuken

Writing credits
William Colt MacDonald (characters)

Bernard McConville (story) and
Edmond Kelso (story)

Luci Ward (screenplay)

Full Cast

John Wayne .... Stony Brooke
Ray Corrigan .... Tucson Smith
Max Terhune .... Lullaby Joslin
Louise Brooks .... Beth Hoyt
Anthony Marsh .... Ned Hoyt
John Archer .... Bob Whitney (as Ralph Bowman)
Gordon Hart .... W. T.Mullins
Roy James .... Dave Harmon
Olin Francis .... Henchman Jake
Fern Emmett .... Ma Hawkins
Henry Otho .... Sheriff Mason
George Sherwood .... Henchman Clanton
Arch Hall Sr. .... Joe Waddell (as Archie Hall)
Frank LaRue .... Hank Milton (as Frank La Rue)
Chuck Baldra .... Henchman (uncredited)
John Beach .... Henchman Dutch (uncredited)
Fred Burns .... Rancher (uncredited)
Yakima Canutt .... Bus Driver (uncredited)
Burr Caruth .... Evans (uncredited)
Tommy Coats .... Henchman (uncredited)
Curley Dresden .... Rancher (uncredited)
Edwin Gaffney .... Henchman Gat (uncredited)
Milton Kibbee .... Airline Passenger (uncredited)
Jack Kirk .... Henchman (uncredited)
Bud McClure .... Rancher (uncredited)
George Morrell .... Rancher (uncredited)
Bud Osborne .... Rancher (uncredited)
George Plues .... Henchman (uncredited)
Dirk Thane .... Henchman (uncredited)
Slim Whitaker .... Pete Hawkins (uncredited)
Bill Wolfe .... Rancher (uncredited)

Produced by
William A. Berke .... associate producer (as William Berke)

Stunts

Yakima Canutt .... stunts (uncredited)
Tommy Coats .... stunts (uncredited)

Filming Location

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Trivia

* This was 'Louise Brooks' ' final film. Contrary to popular rumor, this was not intended to be her "comeback" to Hollywood; she made it because she needed the money. She was paid $300 for the film. Not long after it was released,
she was found working as a salesgirl at Saks Fifth Avenue at a salary of $40 a week.

Memorable Quotes

[first lines]
[reading a reward poster]
First Bandit: One thousand dollars. I guess we ain't worth much to the Oro Grande Company.
Second Bandit: That ain't no decent reward for a self-respecting bandit. What do you say we send Harmon a donation to boost the ante?
First Bandit: Maybe I will - after we polish off the three o'clock stage!

INFORMATION IMDb

Hi,
After his unhappy spell, with the 6 picture deal with Universal,
things changed for the better.
A series of 'B' Westerns, was being updated, with Duke
being invited into the role of Stony Brooke, recently vacated by
by Bob Livingston.
THE THREE MESQUITEERS
was a popular series for REPUBLIC , and Duke's winning personality, soon worked in, with the established characters, Ray Corrigan, as Tuscon Smith,Max Terhune as Lullaby
Johnson, and Terhune's dummy, Elmer.
Duke made 8 of these and this was his first.
Although, it is said, he found them to be dreary, and a drudgery.

Arthur and I, talked about these pictures on another thread,
and I, can remember seeing them, on the Saturday morning matinees,
with all the kids, yelling, booing and hissing, at every other interval.
I remember Elmer, with great fondness, oh and yes Duke of course.
What an improvement he was, in these, and the Duke we now ,know and love,
was at least shining through.
They were horrible montrosities
he told writer Maurice Zolotow.
Author: Jim Tritten from Corrales, NM
A real solid class "B" western with a pre-John Ford John Wayne at his shooting and roping best. Second of the "Three Mesquiteers"
series, the plot is both far-fetched and intriguing for its ingenuity.
Who would expect to go to a Saturday matinée and see a second billed western
that involves the tactical integration of aerial spotting in defense of overland lines of communication,*
communications deception, gas hand grenades used to defend an improvised landing strip,*
parachuting cowboys and passengers, the hijacking and retaking of a cattle train, a talking ventriloquist's dummy in flight gear,
and an in-flight robbery -- all within less than an hour!
A more thorough examination of the plot reveals that John Wayne is aligned with the common folks
against the evil and unscrupulous capitalist bus company owner who will go to no end to prevent the loss of his lucrative*
contract to carry the gold. I mean this movie introduces some basic economic theory into its entertainment.
Quite a lot to process within such a short time. The bad guys are either shot outright, roped and hog-tied,*
or beaten into submission. Oh yes, Louise Brooks plays a quite forgettable part as the sister of the pilot.
Not your run of the mill film. Not well made with a very lackluster ending, but worth your time.*
This one is a hoot!
However, what Duke didn't realise, is that they had exposed him,
to a much bigger audience, including 'A' pictures, audiences.

They may have been a drudgery, but within months,
the big bang, was there

STAGECOACH

Rating 5/10

Hi

I re-visited this picture to research for my Actor of the Month series it a strange picture a mixture of the old and new.

In his book Brooks by Barry Paris Lois Brooks tells of a shooting competition between Duke and Ray Corrigan.

'One day on the set, Wayne and Corrigan treatyed Louse and the rest of the cast to a Colt.45 demonstration, shootinng dimes off a tree stump at fifty paces. After six perfedt round and the loss of* twelve dimes, they called it a draw'

When Bob Livingston left the Mesquiteers Corrigan expected to get the role of Stony Brooke the leader of trhe trio and wasn't happy when the role was given to John Wayne but I think in the end they got along.


Some of the picture is hard to take in particularly the outlaws robbing the bus and the ranchers riding down and attacking the train. The crooks hi-jacking the plane
and throwing te passengers out all be it with parachutes.

The experts or critics in general liked it.

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regards

Arthur

Hi Arthur,
Thank you for very interesting comments and photos. Unfortunatly this movie is amoung that part of Duke's which I haven't seen yet. But after your article about actor of the mounth I became very interested in it.
Regards,
Vera :rolleyes:

Hi,

I agree Arthur, and I know like myself
you remember these films as a youngster!!

I always thought this set of films as being odd,
and like the Roy Rogers films,
it just seemed strange seeing cowpokes,
riding around shooting each other,
in between petrol driven cars, and electric pylons!!

Arthur you probably included this,
but from my review post

Trivia

* This was 'Louise Brooks' ' final film. Contrary to popular rumor, this was not intended to be her "comeback" to Hollywood; she made it because she needed the money. She was paid $300 for the film. Not long after it was released,
she was found working as a salesgirl at Saks Fifth Avenue at a salary of $40 a week.

([Only registered and activated users can see links]). Site for Bob Livington...
There were 51 Three Mesquiteers yarns churned out by Republic from 1936-1943, and Livingston appeared in 29. John Wayne assuming the Brooke role in eight releases for the 1938-39 schedule, But when STAGECOACH (1939) hit the screen, Wayne gained in popularity and moved on to better films. And Livingston returned to the Mesquiteers as Wayne's replacement.

Here is a poster like the one in Keith's introductory post, though the coloring seems a little different. The second one is a 1953 re-issue.

Here's a small earlier thread I found:-

July 25th 2005
Colorado Bob

I was watching Overland Stage Raiders last night and I thought for sure I saw Yak Canutt driving the Overland Stage (bus). It sure looked like him, but he seemed shorter and it looked like he was completely bald, although he was wearing a hat and it was hard to tell for sure, but from the back there was no hair coming out from under the hat. He only had a couple words to say, and it kind of sounded like him. Also, the credits listed Cliff Lyons. I think that he played one of the outlaw gang, and I think he was doubling for Duke a few times, but it was hard to tell for sure. At any rate, it's a pretty good movie. I'll talk to y'all later.
Colorado Bob

Old July 25th, 2005
ethanedwards


Hi Bob,
Yes it was definitely Yak, driving the bus,
Just five minutes into the film,
he his wearing a peaked bus drivers cap,
and when Duke approaches him, he says, in the unmistakable voice,
'Well you fellas, got here, just in the nick of time, ' 'Sure'
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