The Kansas Terrors

Republic's popular The Three Mesquiteers had several movie incarnations, the most famous being Bob Livingston (as Stony Brooke), Ray Corrigan (as Tucson Smith), and Max Terhune (as Lullaby Joslin). Perhaps the best remembered because of movie icon John Wayne's role consisted of Wayne (as Stony Brooke), Corrigan (as Tucson Smith), and Terhune (as Lullaby Joslin) with Raymond Hatton (as Rusty Joslin) later replacing Terhune. "The Kansas Terrors" consists of a sixth trio that included Robert Livingston (as Stony Brooke), Duncan Renaldo (as Rico, Rico Rinaldo, Renaldo), and Raymond Hatton (as Rusty Joslin). Livingston had been so successful portraying the masked man in the second Lone Ranger serial, "The Lone Ranger Rides Again," that he reprises the performance in "The Kansas Terrors" as the Masked Rider, even riding a white horse that looked a whole lot like Silver. Why waste a good gimmick if it works?

The action in this film is supposed to take place on a Caribbean island, never named, yet the scenery looks much like Southern California with a few palm plants strategically placed here and there. The music in the movie is Mexican (Hollywood style), not Caribbean. The two Kansas Terrors are tough hombres, but I'm not sure that the word "terrors" applies to them. Even the third Mesquiteer (later movie & TV's Cisco Kid) is Spanish-American (from Spain, not the Caribbean). Why quibble when there's so much action to watch?

The plot is a simple one. Two gringos from Kansas deliver horses to the Commandante of a small Caribbean island who turns out to be a dishonest killer. A local rebel, Renaldo, is determined to free the island paradise from this tyrant. In the process he is labeled a bandit. The two Kansas terrors befriend the alleged outlaw and help him put his house in order.

In most B westerns the comical sidekick is not much of a fighter. In fact, many times he is more in the way of a good fight and often gets the hero sidetracked. Not so in "The Kansas Terrors." Rusty Joslin can hold his own against an entire army. He stacks them up like firewood. He is also actually comical this time around. Republic's noted stunt artist, Yakima Canutt, is on hand to keep the action shots exciting. Not a bad way to spend an hour if you like western adventure of the Saturday matinée variety.

This film essentially begins with two of the "Three Mesquiteers", "Stony Brooke" (Robert Livingston) and "Rusty Joslin" (Raymond Hatton) arriving by ship to a small island in the Caribbean to deliver some horses to the ruling government. To that effect, while herding the horses to a nearby military camp, they are ambushed by bandits led by a man named "Renaldo" (Duncan Renaldo) and their horses are stolen. Although they are quite angry at first, they soon make friends with him and even get their horses returned to them. However, after selling them to the local military official in charge, they are soon betrayed by him and have to turn to Renaldo for assistance. What they don't realize, however, is just how far the "Commandante" (George Douglas) is willing to go to enrich himself and obtain power. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a rather standard Three Mesquiteers film which could have easily taken place in Mexico or any other foreign location other than an island in the Caribbean to equal effect. So, the location didn't actually matter. What was interesting is the addition of Renaldo to the Three Mesquiteers lineup to take the place of "Tucson Smith" (Ray Corrigan) who had been a member from the very start. Other than that, however, this was a rather standard Three Mesquiteers movie, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.