New Frontier

Three Mesquiteers film starring John Wayne, Ray 'Crash' Corrigan, and Raymond Hatton. This time around the trio are helping ranchers fight crooked land grabbers. This was Wayne's final entry in this series of B westerns before moving on to bigger and better things. It's also the film debut of Jennifer Jones, billed under her pre-Selznick name of Phylis Isley. She does a fine job. Corrigan and Hatton are fun. Nice support from Eddy Waller. LeRoy Mason plays the heavy for the second consecutive Mesquiteers film. This is a pretty standard B western with a wonky timeline (supposed to be the 1910s but it's more like the 1870s). There's little to recommend about it outside of its appeal to Wayne (and maybe Jennifer Jones) completists.

New Frontier (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The final Three Mesquiteer film for John Wayne has the boys trying to help some settlers who are about to lose their land to some bad men. At the moment I can't recall how many of the Wayne films I've seen from this series but this is just like most of them. The film contains some pretty good action scenes and Wayne is good as usual but the stories aren't really that strong. Jennifer Jones has a small supporting role and does a pretty nice job.

As of now the only way to view these films is by AMC, which also includes commercials.

(1939) Frontier Horizon / New Frontier WESTERN

Starring John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, and Raymond Hatton as "The Three Mesquiteers"- the low budget Western equivalent of "The Three Musketeers". And while I was watching this film, I couldn't believe how original and entertaining this film was in comparison to 2007 "3:10 To Yuma" and Coen's version of "True Grit". It takes place right after the Civil War focusing on a small town called "New Hope" which the residents have so much pride on had just learned that a water damn is needed to go through so that bigger towns or cities can have water, and that a cash settlement is going to be offered to them if they move away from their properties. Of course, the residents refuse to leave and are willing to fight for it, until a better proposal, has been offered on the table. Viewers are not clear who are the bad guys are until shady deals are proposed. Had the budget been higher, my rating would have been higher as well.

New Hope Valley is celebrating its 50th anniversary, but the celebration is short lived by the arrival of assemblyman Proctor and developer Gilbert, who announce that New Hope Valley is being condemned so that the land can be used for the site of a new dam which will give water to nearby developing communities. This riles the residents who attack the developers while they are on construction. Gilbert, who is stopping at no lengths to see the project completed, is convinced that the residents will listen to Stony, Tucson, and Rusty, so he tells them of their plan of moving to a new piece of land where they will have irrigation and the chance to start anew on their farms. However the Three Mesquiteers learn that this was just a dupe by Gilbert & Proctor since they have no plans to carry water to that new valley, and the three go to confront Gilbert and his men before they flood New Hope Valley. Another well done entry in the 3 Mesquiteers series despite the fact that the villainous element isn't seen until 30 minutes into the picture and there is very little in the ways of action until the very end. Like their next film Wyoming Outlaw, this is another entry in the series dealing with issues of the times primarily the leaving of the town versus the use of progress to help nearby communities. Well done with an excellent finale at the dam. Rating, based on B westerns, 7.

This film begins with the residents of a small ranching community being informed that they must relocate from their homes due to the construction of a new dam, which will flood the entire area. Needless to say, the residents are not too happy with this decision, and they have decided to resist any and all attempts by anyone seeking to evict them from their lands forcibly. 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 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.