Overland Stage Raiders

A 30's Western where there are cars, there is a train... and there is a plane! Well, a Western with an airplane is quite unusual. Despite that, it is a very conventional and unpretensious Western, whitout any deepness or subtancial innovation. This B-Western from "Three Mesquiteers" franchise is starred by John Wayne as the leading man of the three (the three raiders changed from film to film, but the two other actors were the most frequently recurring in the series; Wayne played Stony Brooke in seven other flicks). Young and still cheerful John Wayne, with his long white good-cowboy hat, and with his equally white horse to highlight him among all the others (as if his height were not enough!), has all opportunities to ride, chase, flirt, fight, shoot, propose partnership in aircraft business, investigate, and protect mining company's gold, followed by his two sidekicks. In the very latest film of her career, silent cinema star Loise Brooks has a unremarkable supporting role.

A very competent B western, well edited and scored, but of no consequence, beyond entertainment.

Wayne is charming, Brooks in her 13 scenes in a supporting role, is vocally and facially competent as a sound film actress, but not in any way special. Any back lot actress could have acted the role as well. Her last film, and indeed, it was not a loss. She was special as a silent actress, but on the sound screen, she was mediocre to competent at best.

Seeing Louise Brooks' last film appearance raises more questions than it answers. When I first saw this, I had never heard any LB audio. I supposed that she was one of those silent film stars kept from talkies and from stage success by poor vocal performance. Her speech was just fine, even if she came off as someone more dynamic (and well-dressed) than her character. When LB moved to NYC, surely she could have had all the radio work she might have wanted. It makes her actual choices all the more baffling.

There is an inanimate co-star: a Spartan Executive Model 7W airplane. That was a very advanced, fast four-seater. Googling the tail number, I learned much about its interesting subsequent history--and that it still flies! As the plot called for an air transport plane, there are interior shots of a good-sized airliner cabin. It is like the tardis--with an interior incongruously larger than its exterior.

After several buses carrying a large payroll are ambushed by some bandits on horseback, a man by the name "Ned Hoyt" (Anthony Marsh) convinces the company that depends on the bus line, to utilize his new airplane instead. Needless to say, this doesn't sit well with the owner of the bus company who has been secretly working with the bandits all this time. So, when he learns that Ned will be transporting almost $100,000 on his next flight, he sends some men to skyjack that flight and steal the money it is transporting. What he doesn't count on, however, is that Ned is a good friend of the Three Mesquiteers who have invested a large amount of their own money on Ned's new airline, and they are determined to make sure it's a success. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay Western which seemed to lean more heavily upon John Wayne (as "Stony Brooke") than the other two Mesquiteers. Not that this was a bad thing, necessarily, as he put in a reasonably solid performance overall. Be that as it may, even though the film is rather short (55 minutes) and rather dated, it still managed to pass the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

During the course of the Three Mesquiteers series from Republic Studios, the lineup of the three leads changed often. For a short time, John Wayne even was the main star in this series.....and "Overland Stage Raiders" is one of these films.

The story is a weird sort of amalgum of the old west and modern times....sometime Republic also sometimes did with their Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns. For example, you see folks riding about on their horses, using their six-shooters and sporting cowboy hats....but you also have buses, airplanes and telephones! Weird...that's for sure.

Well, this odd plot begins with an attempted robbery on the bus...and the Mesquiteers manage to arrive just in time to thwart it. Stony (Wayne) has an idea to avoid such robberies...to fly the gold shipments out instead of taking them by bus. The local ranchers all agree to help fund the air service...but, of course, you have a baddie who is determined to make it fail. And, in a ridiculous scene, you have a member of this air service griping and saying that he'll one day get his revenge. Take a WILD guess who the turncoat will happen to be who helps the baddies steal the plane?! Can the Mesquiteers manage to make things right?

This is pretty much what you see in any Mesquiteer film...a fast-paced plot, decent acting AND bad plot holes as well as Max Terhune using his ventriloquism skills! I have no idea WHY they had Terhune's character bringing his dummy Elmer with him everywhere and it's pretty stupid. It ONLY might have worked if in the final showdown you see Elmer taking shots at the baddies with a gun...that would have been marvelous. As it is, it's a flawed but agreeable B-western and no more...and a chance to see Wayne just before he hit super-stardom.