New Frontier

This film essentially begins with the residents of a small ranching community being told that they must move from their homes due to a new dam being built which will flood the entire area. Needless to say, the residents are not too happy with this decision, and they decide to resist any and all attempts by anyone seeking to forcibly evict them from their lands. So, rather than take a loss on their investment by having the matter delayed any further, the greedy corporate developers decide to trick the ranchers into accepting worthless land in the desert under the false promise that a huge irrigation pipeline will be built to satisfy all of their water requirements. And to further assist them in their underhanded scheme, the Three Mesquiteers are duped into convincing the local ranchers that the deal is actually legitimate. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was the last film to feature John Wayne in the role of "Stony Brooke" with Robert Livingston being called back afterward. Apparently, John Wayne was a much too valuable of a commodity to waste on grade-B westerns of this type. And judging by this rather mediocre addition to the series, I can certainly understand that reasoning. Be that as it may, although this wasn't a terribly bad film necessarily, I honestly didn't care that much for it, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.